New Delhi (NVI): At least one in eight deaths in Europe can be linked to environmental factors such as pollution and heatwaves driven by climate change, according to a new report.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) report said, the factors such as air and noise pollution, as well as poor water quality and exposure to chemicals, contributed to 13 per cent of all deaths in Europe.
Nearly, 6,30,000 deaths in the European Union’s 27 countries plus Britain were attributable to environmental factors in 2012, the latest year for which data are available, the agency said in a report.
“These deaths are preventable and can be significantly reduced through efforts to improve environmental quality,” it added.
Air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk in Europe, contributing to more than 4,00,000 premature deaths each year.
While prolonged exposure to pollutants can cause diabetes, lung disease and cancer, and early evidence suggests air pollution may be linked to higher death rates among COVID-19 patients too, the report stated.
Moreover, the Europe’s pollution levels decreased amid lockdowns imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the dip is expected to be temporary and most EU countries are on course to miss their targets to cut air pollutants in the next decade.
The report also said the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the connection between the environment and human health, demonstrating the increased risk of passing diseases from animals to humans as a result of environmental degradation and meat production.
Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety said, “COVID-19 has been yet another wake-up call, making us acutely aware of the relationship between our ecosystems and our health.”
Meanwhile, the European Commission has proposed EU targets to make agriculture more sustainable, by ringfencing natural habitats and curbing pesticide use, although farming groups have warned the goals could curb crop yields.
The report further stated, drinking water quality is consistently high across the EU, but it raised the alarm over the release of antibiotics through waste water treatment plants, which can spread antimicrobial resistance. However, infections from drug-resistant bacteria cause roughly 25,000 deaths in the EU each year.
Climate change will also have an adverse effect on health, with current scenarios suggesting that additional deaths due to heatwaves could reach over 130,000 per year, the EEA report said.
In addition to this, the agency calls for creating more green and blue spaces as they “cool cities during heatwaves, alleviate flood waters, reduce noise pollution and support urban biodiversity.”
-RJV
