--- title: "Something Else Killed Three Times as Many People As COVID This Year" description: "The death count as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been astronomical — but there may be an even bigger threat facing humanity today." date: "2021-04-02" modified: "2021-04-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/something-else-killed-people-covid" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "air pollution" - "climate change" - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "the digest" --- # Something Else Killed Three Times as Many People As COVID This Year ![The death count as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been astronomical — but there may be an even bigger threat facing humanity today.]() *\Image: cslmedia888 via Flickr\* ## Air Raid The death count as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been astronomical — but there may be an even bigger threat facing humanity that often goes unnoticed: air pollution, as *Guardian* columnist Rebecca Solnit argues in a [recent opinion piece]() for the newspaper. She points to one [recent study]() that found that air pollution caused by the use of fossil fuels results in the deaths of around 8.7 million people worldwide each year, with 62 percent of deaths occurring in China and India — meaning it kills roughly three times annually as many people as the COVID-19 pandemic did last year. ## Pollution Killer Solnit argues that while the death toll of COVID-19 has been brought to the forefront of every discussion, the same can't be said about air pollution and climate change. "We have learned to ignore other forms of death and destruction, by which I mean we have normalized them as a kind of moral background noise," Solnit argues. "What if we treated those 8.7 million annual deaths from air pollution as an emergency and a crisis," she writes, "and recognized that respiratory impact from particulates is only a small part of the devastating impact of burning fossil fuels?" ## Impact Assessment Solnit suggests we could use the same amount of funds made available to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and use them to fight climate change. "In response to the pandemic, we in the US have spent trillions of dollars and changed how we live and work," she argues. "We need the will to do the same for the climate crisis." It's certainly not an argument to look away as thousands succumb to the deadly coronavirus every day. More than 2.8 million people have died from the virus, according to the [*New York Times* tracker](), since the start of the pandemic. But our mobilizing efforts prove that we have the resources to make a dent in much bigger problems facing humanity today — like climate change. **READ MORE:** [There's another pandemic under our noses, and it kills 8.7m people a year]() \[*The Guardian*\] **More on air pollution:** *[This $350 Breathing Mask Is Cashing in on Climate Change]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()