New estimates by Melbourne Climate Futures researchers shows that health impacts from vehicle emissions are likely to be far higher than previous figures informing policy decisions, as a broad group of air pollution experts call for urgent action to clear the air.
New estimates by Melbourne Climate Futures researchers shows that health impacts from vehicle emissions are likely to be far higher than previous figures informing policy decisions, as a broad group of air pollution experts call for urgent action to clear the air.
Speaking at today's Vehicle Pollution Forum, Melbourne Climate Futures Academy fellows Ms Clare Walter and Dr Kelvin Say said the latest research shows that vehicle emissions in Australia may cause:
- 11,105 premature deaths in adults per year;
- 12,210 cardiovascular hospitalisations per year;
- 6,840 respiratory hospitalisations per year;
- 66,000 active asthma cases per year.
The numbers were formulated by scaling the most recent research on New Zealand vehicle-emission impacts, the New Zealand HAPINZ 3.0 study, to the Australian population.
While significant public funds are rightly spent raising awareness for the accident road toll, traffic pollution causes ten times more premature deaths than road accidents, which killed 1,123 people in 2021.
Read more at University of Melbourne
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