Daily Telegraph 17/04/17

Michael Fitzpatrick GP

As somebody who groped his way to school through winter smogs in
Sheffield in the Fifties and Sixties, I have always been sceptical
about the claims of environmental campaigners that air pollution in
British cities is now reaching critical levels of toxicity. I recall
playing football on pitches where neither goal was visible from the
halfway line. No doubt any therapeutic benefits were outweighed by the
damage to our youthful lungs.

Yet recent headlines proclaim that our children are being exposed to
illegal levels of toxic air, and London mayor Sadiq Khan has declared
a public health emergency. He quotes epidemiological studies claiming
9,000 Londoners are dying prematurely each year due to poor air
quality. Estimates of national fatalities have increased from 40,000
to 60,000 per year.

It is worth recalling that the Great Smog of December 1952, widely
regarded as an environmental catastrophe, killed only 4,000 people in
London. Can it really be true that air pollution is now killing more
than twice that number every year in the capital, and 10 to 15 times
as many nationwide?

Well, no. On closer inspection, it turns out that these are not actual
deaths, but estimates, produced by mathematical modelling, of the
number of premature deaths that can be attributed to air pollution.
The figures are derived from calculations of the "years of life" lost
across the whole population resulting from the increased risks
associated with particular pollutants. According to Cambridge risk
statistician Prof David Spiegelhalter, another way of presenting the
same data would be to state that the average loss of life expectancy
over the whole adult population is… three days.

It is true that the character of air pollution has changed. Whereas we
inhaled soot and sulphur oxides as the by-products of burning coal,
our children are now inhaling particulates and nitrogen oxides, partly
because of the last Labour government’s "green" incentives to persuade
us all to switch to diesel-fuelled cars.

However, levels of particulates and nitrogen oxides have been falling
steadily for decades – they are now about a quarter of what they were
in 1970. It is also worth noting that air pollution in London is about
one eighth of that in Delhi, a quarter of that in Beijing, and lower
than that in Paris.

In the words of Brighton respiratory physician Prof Anthony Frew, who
served on the original Royal College of Physicians’ working party on
air pollution, the claim of 9,000 deaths in London is a "zombie
statistic – however much you try to kill it, it comes back and it’s
simply not true".

Further reference H/T Paul Withrington.

http://ift.tt/2tgyrXj

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy and environmental policies. Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science (please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information).

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every three weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and the environment. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

Some of the more important articles in this issue are:

Superior: New EU proposals would kill solar and wind

Study: Turbine Effects on Bats Likely Worse Than Thought

Study: Solar Energy’s Dirty Little Secret

Study: Evaluation of a proposal for grid power with 100% wind, water, and solar

Study: A Looming Disaster in Energy Security

Wind Turbines Are NOT Clean or Green, and Provide Zero Global Energy

Storage Burden Should Fall on Wind and Solar Projects, not the Grid

Wind Power’s Future in U.S. Could Be Thwarted by Grassroots Opposition

The Wind Lobby’s Attack on Unreleased DOE Study

President Trump Unleashes America’s Energy Potential

The Appalling Delusion of 100 Percent Renewables, Exposed

How Science Is Losing Its Humanity

Serious quality problems in the surface temperature data sets

To Put America First is to Put Our Planet’s Climate First

New Scientific Study Questioning the Greenhouse Effect

One Lonely Molecule

The Real Deniers

Short Video: Climate Science Peer-Review Is Complete Garbage

5 Prominent Scientists Skeptical of Climate Change

The Bank of England is Enslaved by Green Groupthink

EPA’s Prior Suspect Science

EPA launching initiative to ‘critique’ climate science

 

Greed Energy Economics:

Very Good: New EU proposals would kill solar and wind

Study: Evaluation of a proposal for grid power with 100% wind, water, and solar

Climate Change has cost you at least $166 Billion so far

Solar Power Stops Working Well When It’s Hot Outside

Study: The Bottomless Pit — The Economics of Carbon Capture & Storage

Utility suspends work on coal gasification units

 

Turbine Health Matters:

Falmouth Wind Turbines Shut Down By Courts in Massachusetts

 

Renewable Energy Destroying Ecosystems:

Study: Turbine Effects on Bats Likely Worse Than Thought

Wind Power: High Environmental Costs, Limited Energy Delivered

RI Offshore Wind Turbine May Have Killed Young Whale

Bird Conservation Groups Win Fight Against Great Lakes Wind Project

Study: Solar Panels a Looming Toxic Crisis

Study: Solar Energy’s Dirty Little Secret

 

Misc Energy:

Study: A Looming Disaster in Energy Security

Wind Turbines Are Not Clean Or Green And Provide Zero Global Energy

Storage burden should fall on wind and solar projects, not the Grid

The Wind Lobby’s Attack on Unreleased DOE Study

President Trump Unleashes America’s Energy Potential

Wind Power’s Future in U.S. Could Be Thwarted by Grassroots Opposition

Japanese technology squeezes more power out of coal, with less CO₂

The Chinese have seen the future — and it’s still coal!

Leaked Memo Details Wind Industry Campaign Against A Major DOE Study

Why Trump is right about wind power and his detractors are wrong

The Scourge of Unelected Regulators

How Government Really Works – Politics & Legal Graft (applies to wind & solar)

$100M wind project suspended following Tennessee moratorium

Scientists Sharply Rebut Influential Renewable-Energy Plan

Another Congressional bill to restrict wind projects near military facilities

Protecting NC Military Facilities from Wind Projects

NC Legislators pass a statewide 2 year wind energy moratorium (see here)

The AWEA view: 30 years of wind energy acceptance research —what have we learned?

The Philosophic Roots of the Paris Agreement Part V: “Small is Beautiful”

Letter to Rick Perry (cosigned by AWED)

Monumental, Unsustainable Environmental Impacts

Wind power’s big bet: turbines taller than skyscrapers

The Appalling Delusion of 100 Percent Renewables, Exposed

Did Solar Company Obtain Land Legally?

Christian School Opposes Proposed Nearby Solar Project

 

Miscellaneous Nuclear-Energy Articles:

Nuclear power booms in Asia as US scientists innovate new technologies

Cut the Gordian Knot

IEA: Policy change needed to raise nuclear capacity

Trump To Abolish Obama’s Green Legacy By Boosting Nuclear Projects

Recommended Actions to Get Nuclear Back on Track

Does Nuclear Energy Have a Future in the US?

New Nuclear Matters Homepage

Should We Pass Gas for Nuclear?

Fail Safe Nuclear Reactors

 

Manmade Global Warming Articles:

How Science Is Losing Its Humanity

Serious quality problems in the surface temperature data sets

To Put America First is to Put Our Planet’s Climate First

New Scientific Study Questioning the Greenhouse Effect

One Lonely Molecule

The Real Deniers

Short Video: Climate Science Peer-Review Is Complete Garbage

5 Prominent Scientists Skeptical of Climate Change

The Bank of England is Enslaved by Green Groupthink

EPA’s Prior Suspect Science

EPA launching initiative to ‘critique’ climate science

The Truth about the Global Warming Pause

Manipulated IPCC Science supported by Manipulated Appeals to Authority

Two Short Comedic Videos on Global Warming

The Science Police

Falsification Of The Atmospheric CO2 Greenhouse Effects Within The Frame Of Physics

Response to Comments about Falsification Report

NASA not publicizing 8 months of cooler temperatures

Unusual 400+ year flow history of a Colorado River

Historical Perspective on Climate Change

Climategate Scientist — The Pause in Global Warming is Real

Climatologist: “CO2 A Scapegoat” …IPCC “A Marketing Organization”

U.S. Mayors on Climate: This Time Will Be Different

Peer Reviewed Paper Says It’s OK To Lie About Climate Change

The New Global Warming Consensus

Why I Spend So Much Time and Effort on Climate Skepticism

Why wind energy does not consequentially reduce emissions

Open Letter to Australia’s Chief Scientist

The unquotable Judith Curry

Global Warming: The Imminent Crisis That Never Arrives

Honest Climate Debate Will Exposed Rigged Science

President Trump Revives Space Council

Germany Waters Down G-20 Climate Plan

Canada Cutting Back on Climate Studies

Sea Level Expert Rips Study Claiming Fastest Rise in 2800 years

Short Video: Fake News About Sea Level Rise

 

See Prior AWED Newsletters