A report released on October 28 in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) once again draws attention to the global burden of disease brought upon humankind by air pollution. The report was anchored by the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet and prepared by 128 experts and 71 academic institutions.

Let’s begin with the findings of the report. In India, the report says, over 1.7 million deaths occurred due to air pollution in 2022. The fatalities were caused by the most dangerous kind of pollutant—suspended particulate matter 2.5 microns in diameter or less (PM2.5). This was an increase of 38 per cent since 2010. Fossil fuels contributed 43.7 per cent, followed by coal (22.93 per cent), mainly used in thermal power plants, and road transportation (15.65 per cent). The economic cost of premature deaths was estimated at $339.4 billion, which is 9.5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

The report also noted a global rise in extreme heat events, with heat-related deaths surging by 23 per cent since the 1990s. India was also affected by heat waves, with every Indian experiencing, on average, 20 super-hot days in 2024. A third of extreme heat days were a result of climate change.

The UN, too, sounded a warning about climate change and global warming. In a recent report ahead of the next Conference of Parties (COP-30), the annual climate-change summit, to be held in Brazil from November 10 to 21, it........

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