--- title: How Your Surroundings Could Be Killing You description: New research from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows how your environment could be killing you. canonical: https://time.com/4258353/environmental-health-deaths-who/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-15T04:01:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:04.098Z article:section: Health og:title: How Your Surroundings Could Be Killing You og:description: "A healthy environment underpins a healthy population" og:url: https://time.com/4258353/environmental-health-deaths-who/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1a1c4ddbeb55930/69888af22dce012cba9e82fa/pollution-los-angeles-smog.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Los Angeles Smog Air Pollution og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Your Surroundings Could Be Killing You twitter:description: "A healthy environment underpins a healthy population" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1a1c4ddbeb55930/69888af22dce012cba9e82fa/pollution-los-angeles-smog.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Your Surroundings Could Be Killing You > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=39afcd4c-842c-431c-b35f-719642888220&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Is Climate Change Causing Extreme Weather? [Watch (HLS stream): Is Climate Change Causing Extreme Weather?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LQufbOt9.m3u8) (2:04)  _Published 2013-11-11. Is the frequency of extreme weather events a sign that global warming is gaining pace and exceeding predictions? Climate scientist Bill Patzert explains._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 15, 2016 4:01 AM UTC  Downtown highrise buildings are shown cloaked in dirty air shortly after sunrise Sept. 11, 2002 in Los Angeles, California. Downtown highrise buildings are shown cloaked in dirty air shortly after sunrise Sept. 11, 2002 in Los Angeles, California. David McNew—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 15, 2016 4:01 AM UTC The air you breathe, the water you drink and the surroundings where you work, play and sleep may go largely unnoticed on a day-to-day basis. But—visible or not—they constitute your living environment. Now, [new research](http://who.int/quantifying%5Fehimpacts/publications/preventing- disease/en/index.html) from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows how that environment could be killing you. More than 12.5 million deaths globally each year can be attributed to unhealthy environments, according to the WHO study. That’s nearly a quarter of all the deaths that occur around the world in a given year. Stroke, heart conditions, diarrhea and cancer rank among the top deadly conditions tied to environmental health. The report’s findings contain both good and bad news. Unfortunately, concerned individuals may have little control of environmental health outcomes in the given area where they live. But, unlike many diseases, environmental health can be addressed with well-understood public policy interventions that include improved water treatment, clean energy policies and reconfigured urban spaces. Indeed, the number of deaths related to communicable diseases has declined in the past decade thanks to these types of programs. “A healthy environment underpins a healthy population,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, in a press release. “If countries do not take actions to make environments where people live and work healthy, millions will continue to become ill and die too young.” Ailments related to environmental health take the hardest toll on low- and middle-income countries, according to the report. Those countries may lack the resources to implement some of the regulations that have saved lives elsewhere. South-East Asia and the Western Pacific Region experience the most deaths with 3.8 million and 3.5 million deaths occurring in two regions, respectively. Young children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to poor environmental health conditions. Still, even in the wealthiest countries people can be affected by poor environmental health. [Pollution](http://time.com/4219575/air-pollution-deaths/)—air, water and otherwise—remains a particularly thorny challenge for policymakers. Nearly 850,000 die annually in the Americas of conditions connected with environmental health. “One of the unique things about air pollution is that you can’t run, you can’t hide from it,” said Michael Brauer, a professor at the University of British Columbia, after publishing a [study on air pollution](http://time.com/4219575/air-pollution-deaths/). “But we know that if you improve air quality, everybody benefits from it.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Extreme weather was more frequent in recent years. Is it a sign that global warming is gaining pace and exceeding predictions? Now, has extreme weather been more frequent in recent years? The evidence is definitely to the contrary. The United States has always had extreme weather. We look back on our weather history. It's been punishing. Floods, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, great forest fires. Is global warming happening? No doubt about it. We're living in a warmer world. We're living in a melting world, sea levels are rising. Now, direct evidence of the foot print or the finger print of global warming, we're seeing more frequent, more intense and longer lasting heat waves. As far as hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, floods and drought; the evidence is definitely not in. The consensus among almost all scientists is, is that it's a small finger print, not a large foot print. But what is true is that in this country, in the United States, we live in many areas with great risk to drought, [ NOISE ] to tornadoes, to hurricanes. And so part of the dialog is not only extreme weather and global warming but is the amount of risk we can tolerate. Now, looking to the future, global change, global warming it definitely is accelerating and it will have an impact on extreme weather. But at this point, not much. 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