by Dish Staff
Brian Merchant highlights a disturbing report (pdf) on India’s coal industry, which is “expected to triple by 2030”:
Today, ambient particulate matter found in pollution is already one of India’s leading killers. According to data presented by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, outdoor air pollution kills nearly 700,000 Indians a year—the next worst killer is smoking. Of that, 80,000 to 115,000 deaths are attributed to emissions from coal plants. By 2030, the toll will have risen to 186,500 to 229,500 a year.
So, by 2030, a given five year period will mean a million dead. And by then more than 42 million will have come down with asthma. The report advocates stricter emissions standards and monitoring, which could help reduce the projected tolls.
The Dish 