As a yellow alert for poor air quality in China that has been in place for several days causes shuttering of some factories and restrictions for driving, it is worth a reminder that air pollution killed 336,000 people in the nation during 2013.

According to data from a partnership between Tsinghua University, the Health Effects Institute, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and the University of British Columbia:

The GBD MAPS study took advantage of enhanced satellite data and China’s growing network of air pollution monitors, and was the first to estimate the impact of different air pollution sources province by province throughout China. It found that coal combustion — from industrial, electricity, and domestic sources — was the largest contributor to PM2.5 population exposure and health burden across China

“Coal-burning was the most important contributor to ambient PM2.5, causing an estimated 366,000 premature deaths in 2013,” according to Professor Wang Shuxiao of Tsinghua University, a lead investigator for the study. In addition she noted that “industrial sources and household solid fuel combustion, from both coal and non-coal emissions, were the largest sectoral contributors to disease burden attributable to ambient PM2.5 in China, responsible for 250,000 and 177,000 premature deaths, respectively.”

Without any action, the problem is forecast to worsen such that deaths could reach above 1,000,000 by 2030.

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