Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Language and measures
- Acknowledgements
- Permissions
- Part I The Litany
- Part II Human welfare
- Part III Can human prosperity continue?
- Part IV Pollution: does it undercut human prosperity?
- 15 Air pollution
- 16 Acid rain and forest death
- 17 Indoor air pollution
- 18 Allergies and asthma
- 19 Water pollution
- 20 Waste: running out of space?
- 21 Conclusion to Part IV: the pollution burden has diminished
- Part V Tomorrow's problems
- Part VI The Real State of the World
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
21 - Conclusion to Part IV: the pollution burden has diminished
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Language and measures
- Acknowledgements
- Permissions
- Part I The Litany
- Part II Human welfare
- Part III Can human prosperity continue?
- Part IV Pollution: does it undercut human prosperity?
- 15 Air pollution
- 16 Acid rain and forest death
- 17 Indoor air pollution
- 18 Allergies and asthma
- 19 Water pollution
- 20 Waste: running out of space?
- 21 Conclusion to Part IV: the pollution burden has diminished
- Part V Tomorrow's problems
- Part VI The Real State of the World
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Pollution is not in the process of undermining our well-being. On the contrary, the pollution burden has diminished dramatically in the developed world. As regards air pollution, the improvement has been unequivocal. Human health has benefited phenomenally from reductions in lead and particle concentrations. Contrary to common intuition, London has not been as clean as it is now since 1585.
Indoor air pollution, on the other hand, has remained more or less constant, although it much more depends on individual responsibility – most markedly in relation to smoking. Asthma frequency has increased, but this is primarily because we have sealed our homes so effectively and spend much more time indoors; the increase has had nothing to do with air pollution.
Air pollution has got worse in the developing world, mainly because of the strong economic growth. However, the developing countries are really just making the same tradeoffs as the developed countries made 100–200 years ago. It turns out that when we look at the problems over time, the environment and economic prosperity are not opposing concepts, but rather complementary entities: without adequate environmental protection, growth is undermined, but environmental protection is unaffordable without growth.
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Skeptical EnvironmentalistMeasuring the Real State of the World, pp. 210 - 212Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001