Air pollution is a major cause of disease. It is estimated that, globally, at least 5 million people die prematurely due to bad air quality. Although pollution is a global problem, the health burden is not evenly distributed across countries. Underdevelopment is often linked with bad air. Emissions produced by low-technology devices used for cooking and heating deteriorate household air quality. Outdoors, air pollutants result from excessive use of fossil fuels by inefficient motor engines or thermoelectric power plants, making urban streets and their vicinity an unhealthy space for urban dwellers. Traffic congestion, a consequence of urban transportation systems, poses an additional risk to urban commuters, because they are unavoidably exposed for longer periods of time to the smoky exhaust pipes in traffic jams.
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