2 thoughts on “Claim: ‘Invisible’ air pollution reduces lifespan by six months in the UK”
It’s possible to have invisible but real pollution, yes. That might be more true in water than in air. Carbon monoxide is invisible and is a real pollutant; some solvents in water wouldn’t be visible.
That doesn’t mean we can demonstrate any deaths due to “invisible” pollutants nor that we can say, with any precision, that it’s reducing typical life-spans by six months. That’s like the “health” website which predicted I’d live three weeks longer if I lost ten pounds.
The article is about the “invisibility of modern air pollution”, but the picture that goes with the article is “the smog in central London” partially obscuring a cathedral. Hm.
It turns out the “invisible pollution” is actually “effective at scattering light, creating a blue-white haze.” You can’t see the pollution, you can only see the haze. Hm.
Sometimes the “invisible pollution” is brown. Hm.
“Another place to see air pollution is in our health statistics.” No source given for the statistics. Maybe the health statistics are invisible, too.
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It’s possible to have invisible but real pollution, yes. That might be more true in water than in air. Carbon monoxide is invisible and is a real pollutant; some solvents in water wouldn’t be visible.
That doesn’t mean we can demonstrate any deaths due to “invisible” pollutants nor that we can say, with any precision, that it’s reducing typical life-spans by six months. That’s like the “health” website which predicted I’d live three weeks longer if I lost ten pounds.
The article is about the “invisibility of modern air pollution”, but the picture that goes with the article is “the smog in central London” partially obscuring a cathedral. Hm.
It turns out the “invisible pollution” is actually “effective at scattering light, creating a blue-white haze.” You can’t see the pollution, you can only see the haze. Hm.
Sometimes the “invisible pollution” is brown. Hm.
“Another place to see air pollution is in our health statistics.” No source given for the statistics. Maybe the health statistics are invisible, too.