Pollution: Deadlier Than War, Disaster and Hunger

Here in Arizona yet another alert/ADVISORY for HIGH POLLUTION:  [adding a Blogger's Note] when the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality creates a haze around the issue while the patterns of housing, job locations and commuter-driven car culture create more endless suburbia on top of commercial transportation relying in toxic emissions from fossil fuels . . .  We need to SPEAK UP, folks!      PM10 Air Pollutant The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is issuing a dust High Pollution Advisory (HPA) for Friday, October 20, 2017, for coarse particulate matter (PM10) for the Yuma area in Arizona. This HPA is due to particle pollutant levels expected to accumulate enough to exceed the federal health standard for PM10. People with heart or lung diseases, older adults and children are most likely to be affected by particle pollution. PM10 particles are so small they are able to travel into the respiratory tract where they can cause short-term health effects such as eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath. Exposure to these particles can also affect lung function and worsen medical conditions such as asthma and heart disease. ADEQ recommends that the general public limit outdoor activity while the HPA is in effect, especially children and adults with respiratory problems. BACKGROUND High Pollution Advisory (HPA): Notifies the public that the level of an air pollutant is expected to exceed the federal health standard. Health Watch: Notifies the public that the level of an air pollutant is expected to approach the federal health standard. Particulate Matter: State and county agencies measure levels of particulate matter (PM) in the air. PM is extremely small solid particles and liquid droplets that circulate in air. PM comes from combustion (cars, industry, wood burning) or dust stirred up into the air. High levels of PM occur when air is especially stagnant or windy. Two types of PM are measured: PM10, commonly called dust, and PM2.5, commonly called soot. PM10 refers to dust particles 10 microns or less and PM2.5 to soot particles 2.5 microns or less. For perspective, one strand of human hair is 70-100 microns in size.    Meanwhile from Maricopa Association of Governments MAG Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee You can subscribe [note the last meeting was cancelled] to Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee for Maricopa Association of Governments. This information has recently been updated, and is now available on the MAG site and at ftp://ftp.azmag.gov/AirQualityTechnicalAdvisoryCommittee/. _________________________________________________________________________________

"Pollution kills at least nine million people and costs trillions of dollars every year, according to the most comprehensive global analysis to date, which warns the crisis 'threatens the continuing survival of human societies,'" The Guardian writes of the study, released by The Lancet medical journal: "Toxic air, water, soils and workplaces are responsible for the diseases that kill one in every six people around the world." "The deaths attributed to pollution are triple those from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined." "The vast majority of the pollution deaths occur in poorer nations and in some, such as India, Chad and Madagascar, pollution causes a quarter of all deaths. The international researchers said this burden is a hugely expensive drag on developing economies." Go deeper.