--- title: How Air Pollution Contributes to Millions of Early Deaths description: Outdoor air pollution leads to more than 3 million premature deaths each year, mostly in China and India, according to new research canonical: https://time.com/4035670/air-pollution-death/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-16T18:08:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:56.367Z article:section: Health og:title: How Air Pollution Contributes to Millions of Early Deaths og:description: Outdoor air pollution leads to more than 3 million premature deaths each year, mostly in China and India, according to new research og:url: https://time.com/4035670/air-pollution-death/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bd5f65ce9355211/698863dce20a879e9da8d410/air-pollution.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: air pollution og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Air Pollution Contributes to Millions of Early Deaths twitter:description: Outdoor air pollution leads to more than 3 million premature deaths each year, mostly in China and India, according to new research twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bd5f65ce9355211/698863dce20a879e9da8d410/air-pollution.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Air Pollution Contributes to Millions of Early Deaths > Sponsored content. 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[Watch (HLS stream): Should I Drink Red Wine?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JLVLyuEq.m3u8) (1:35)  _Published 2015-03-12. Cheers to your health! All five of our experts give red wine a purple-stained smile._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 16, 2015 6:08 PM UTC  Factory Emitting Smoke Against Cloudy Sky Factory Emitting Smoke Against Cloudy Sky Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 16, 2015 6:08 PM UTC Outdoor air pollution leads to more than 3 million premature deaths each year, and more than two thirds of them occur in China and India, according to new research. The authors estimate that without government intervention, the total number of deaths could double by 2050. The [study](http://www.nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature15371), published in the journal _Nature,_ identifies particulate matter as the prime pollutant leading to premature mortality. Particulate matter, a substance formed as a combination of different materials released into the air, is thought to be harmful to human health once it exceeds 2.5 micrometers in diameter. Researchers also identified ozone as a contributor to dangerous air quality. The causes of air pollution vary dramatically from place to place. In India and China, the study says, emissions from residential heating and cooking drive air pollution by creating unhealthy quantities of smoke. Overall, residential heating emissions cause one third of air pollution-related deaths worldwide. In highly regulated areas, like the United States, Europe and Japan, emissions from agriculture tend to be primary contributors to air pollution. Fertilizer used in agriculture releases ammonia into the atmosphere, a process that creates harmful particulate matter. Globally, air pollution from agriculture kills more than 600,000 people annually, the study finds. The findings are consistent with a 2014 report from the World Health Organization that suggested that 7 million deaths occur annually due to both indoor and outdoor air pollution. The study’s conclusions give a sense of urgency to efforts to reduce air pollution but present challenges because of difficulty regulating heating activity in people’s homes, according to study author Jos Lelieveld. People who live in the most affected areas should be provided with information about less toxic heating methods, he said. “It’s important to reduce emissions from residential energy use,” Lelieveld said on a conference call for journalists. “You can’t ask people to stop eating and cooking, but you can provide better technologies.” Air pollution contributes to a variety of ailments that eventually lead to premature mortality like lung cancer, stroke and heart failure, according to the study. Another [study](http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1509676/) published this week in the journal _Environmental Health Perspectives_ reached similar conclusions showing the devastating effects of pollution on individual health. Researchers found that chronic exposure to particulate matter increases the chance of early death by 3%. That risk is especially high for heart disease; the chance a person will die of heart disease increases by around 10% with chronic exposure to particulate matter. Researchers found that the number of deaths is expected to double by 2050 without new government policies. Nearly all of the increase will occur in Asia, according to the report. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Should you drink red wine? It's your lucky day. All five of our experts give red wine a purple stained smile. A standard pour has 125 calories, so it's lighter than beer and mixed drinks, says Julia Zunpano. And of course it's packed with antioxidants. Alcohol is actually good for you if you drink it moderately. Drinking alcohol is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality compared to drinking too much or drinking not at all says Luigi Ferrucci. Ferrucci. Red wine might be particularly beneficial, but some recent studies suggest that we shouldn't give the famous compound resveratrol all the credit. There's likely not enough of it to make a difference, says resveratrol researcher Juan Carlos Espin. But we do know is that David Katz. Is that drinking habitually but moderately is part of the Mediterranean diet and linked to a long life. Just ask cardiologist James O'Keefe who loves red wine for its ability to lower the risk of coronary artery disease, diabetes, congestive heart failure and stroke. His grandmother Dorothy lived to be be 103, and she enjoyed the happy hour drink every night. The key to a long healthy life, Dorothy O'Keefe used to say, is to not drink too much. 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