Regulations targeting particulate matter and other air borne pollutants are resulting in longer, healthier lives for Americans. Well, duh. From Wired News:

Clean air doesn’t just give Americans a pleasant, smog-free view. It’s added an average of five months to our lives.

In a study of three decades of health data from 51 U.S. cities, researchers found that people are living about three years longer than they did before. Controlling for changes in income, education, demographics and smoking, about five months of that can be chalked up to air improvements.

“Our efforts in the past 20 years to reduce air pollution through better technology and regulation have actually worked,” said Majid Ezzati, an international health expert at the Harvard School of Public Health. “People are living longer as a result of it.”

—
Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::