Study: Coronavirus Lockdown Likely Saved 77,000 Lives In China Just By Reducing Pollution

China’s coronavirus lockdown likely saved tens of thousands of lives by slashing air pollution from factories and vehicles, according to a new analysis by a Stanford University scientist.

Earth Systems Professor Marshall Burke used data from U.S. government sensors in four Chinese cities to measure levels of PM2.5, the tiny particulate matter considered the primary cause of death from air pollution. He averaged the drop in pollution levels and calculated the subsequent effect on mortality nationwide.

Two months of pollution reduction “likely has saved the lives of 4,000 kids under 5 and 73,000 adults over 70 in China,” he writes on G-Feed, a blog maintained by seven scientists working on Global Food, Environment and Economic Dynamics.

To keep his calculations conservative, Burke assumed no additional deaths for people between the ages of 5 and 70. Burke tested his prediction with a more conservative mortality calculation and still emerged with 1,400 kids saved and 51,700 elderly.

“Even under these more conservative assumptions, the lives saved due to the pollution reductions are roughly 20x the number of lives that have been directly lost to the virus,” Burke writes, using statistics current on March 8….

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2020/03/16/coronavirus-lockdown-may-have-saved-77000-lives-in-china-just-from-pollution-reduction/