"Call to tackle pollution 'role in 50,000 early deaths' "
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From: Doug on 22 Mar 2010 03:17 These are the deaths caused by motorised transport we don't often hear about because they are not recorded as such. Cyclists be proud! "More could be done to prevent the early deaths of up to 50,000 people each year hastened by air pollution, MPs say. A Commons Environmental Audit Committee report said failure to reduce pollution had put "enormous" cost on the NHS and could cost millions in EU fines. It said the UK should be "ashamed" of its poor air quality which was contributing to conditions such as asthma, heart disease and cancer. The government accepted more could be done and would consider the report.." "...Pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides and "particulate matter" - tiny particles - from transport and power stations have been blamed for contributing to early deaths. Particulate matter is estimated to reduce people's lives by an average seven to eight months, while in pollution hotspots vulnerable residents, such as those with asthma, could be dying up to nine years early, the report says. Air pollution also leads to damage to wildlife and agriculture, with ground-level ozone estimated to reduce wheat yields in the south of Britain by 5% to 15%..." "...The committee said major changes were needed to policies on transport, which accounts for up to 70% of pollution in towns and cities..." "...The report added more research was needed to understand the impact of particulates created by wear on tyres and brakes and those lying on the road which are whipped up into the air by passing vehicles..." Ooh er! How inconvenient! So even if they computerise their engines to make them more efficient, though less reliable, it still doesn't begin to solve the problem? More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8578952.stm -- UK Radical Campaigns www.zing.icom43.net "The car, more of a toilet than a convenience".
From: ashley filmer on 22 Mar 2010 05:27 On 22 Mar, 07:17, Doug <jag...(a)riseup.net> wrote: > These are the deaths caused by motorised transport we don't often hear > about because they are not recorded as such. Cyclists be proud! > > "More could be done to prevent the early deaths of up to 50,000 people > each year hastened by air pollution, MPs say. > > A Commons Environmental Audit Committee report said failure to reduce > pollution had put "enormous" cost on the NHS and could cost millions > in EU fines. > > It said the UK should be "ashamed" of its poor air quality which was > contributing to conditions such as asthma, heart disease and cancer. > > The government accepted more could be done and would consider the > report.." > > "...Pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides and "particulate matter" > - tiny particles - from transport and power stations have been blamed > for contributing to early deaths. > > Particulate matter is estimated to reduce people's lives by an average > seven to eight months, while in pollution hotspots vulnerable > residents, such as those with asthma, could be dying up to nine years > early, the report says. > > Air pollution also leads to damage to wildlife and agriculture, with > ground-level ozone estimated to reduce wheat yields in the south of > Britain by 5% to 15%..." > > "...The committee said major changes were needed to policies on > transport, which accounts for up to 70% of pollution in towns and > cities..." > > "...The report added more research was needed to understand the impact > of particulates created by wear on tyres and brakes and those lying on > the road which are whipped up into the air by passing vehicles..." > > Ooh er! How inconvenient! So even if they computerise their engines to > make them more efficient, though less reliable, it still doesn't begin > to solve the problem? > > More:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8578952.stm > > -- > UK Radical Campaignswww.zing.icom43.net > "The car, more of a toilet than a convenience". The most obvious thing to do would be to just ban all heavy diesel vehicles from the urvan environment to stop the fine particulates getting into peoples lungs.. This would also help to stop the roads from wearing out so fast. Did you know that one HGV making a single pass does the equvalent damage to the road as 44,000 car movements over the same stretch. The down side is that we would also have to ban buses as they fall into this category as well. All is not lost though because they could then return all of the virtually empty bus lanes back to regular lanes and the traffic flow for regular vehicles would then speed back up again. We all know what free flowing traffic means - less pollution. Win - Win don't you think ?
From: boltar2003 on 22 Mar 2010 06:18 On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:27:43 -0700 (PDT) ashley filmer <ash.filmer(a)googlemail.com> wrote: >The most obvious thing to do would be to just ban all heavy diesel >vehicles from the urvan environment to stop the fine particulates >getting into peoples lungs.. Unfortunately the obsession with diesel vehicles has set the pollution clock back 20 years. If petrol or LPG were used city centre pollution would be a damn site lower. B2003
From: ashley filmer on 22 Mar 2010 06:33 On 22 Mar, 10:18, boltar2...(a)boltar.world wrote: > On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:27:43 -0700 (PDT) > > ashley filmer <ash.fil...(a)googlemail.com> wrote: > >The most obvious thing to do would be to just ban all heavy diesel > >vehicles from the urvan environment to stop the fine particulates > >getting into peoples lungs.. > > Unfortunately the obsession with diesel vehicles has set the pollution > clock back 20 years. If petrol or LPG were used city centre pollution would > be a damn site lower. > > B2003 I would be interested to see how air quality has changed in London since they brought in the low emission zone given it has been in place for over 2 years now. If it hasn't made a difference, I'd say it is yet another one of Kens ways of hitting the motorist unneccessarily.
From: Adrian on 22 Mar 2010 06:54
ashley filmer <ash.filmer(a)googlemail.com> gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying: > I would be interested to see how air quality has changed in London since > they brought in the low emission zone given it has been in place for > over 2 years now. If it hasn't made a difference, I'd say it is yet > another one of Kens ways of hitting the motorist unneccessarily. I very much doubt it's changed at all, since very few HGVs still in active use would have been old enough to be affected. As for "hitting the motorist unnecessarily - you do know it only applies to stuff bigger than "large van", don't you? |