Submitted by YOUR NEW REALITY

Maybe the old joke about “I only smoke to filter polluted city air” wasn’t too far from the mark, after all :

    Traffic pollution is contributing to thousands of deaths a year caused by pneumonia, research suggested yesterday.

    A study, which looked at almost 390,000 deaths from pneumonia over eight years found that exhaust fumes were linked to more people dying from the condition.

    The researcher, Professor George Knox said the annual death toll caused by air pollution was comparable to that caused by the London smog of 1952, which killed 4,000 people.

    Environmental campaigners said the research highlighted the need to urgently address traffic congestion and pollution in Scotland and the UK as a whole.

    The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, gathered data on causes of death and atmospheric emissions in 352 local authority areas in England between 1996 and 2004.

    Deaths from diseases such as pneumonia, peptic ulcer, heart disease and other conditions were found to be linked to levels of emissions in different areas, which varied widely. Prof Knox, from the University of Birmingham, said the main culprits were emissions linked to oil combustion, such as vehicle exhaust fumes.

    Over the eight years of the study, there were 386,374 deaths from pneumonia. Prof Knox said the link between emissions and pneumonia deaths was “exceptional”.

    “Road transport was the chief source of the emissions responsible…”

I don’t know if you’ve seen any news footage on the completion of Beijing’s ‘Bird Cage’ Olympic stadium, but a report aired on ABC in Australia tonight not only showed a heavy veil of gray smog inside the stadium, but a visible cloud inside the corridors leading into the main arena. Incredible. Olympic organisers claim they will clear the city’s air in the weeks leading up to the Olympics by shutting down major industries and building sites they blame for causing such lung-crippling levels of pollution. Good luck!

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