How pollution crisis drives millions to early deaths

Concept of pollution and toxic pollutants inside the human body. [Courtesy/GettyImages]

Pollution and environmental degradation now kill nine million people every year. That is the scale of harm outlined in the new Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7) report released in Nairobi during UNEA-7.

The figure exceeds deaths from war, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. It illustrates how the planet’s environmental emergency has become a global public-health crisis, especially in low- and middle-income countries.