Two-Fifths of World's Trash Burned in Pits, Emissions Largely Unreported, Study Finds

摘要

Unregulated, open-air burning of trash accounts for more than 40 percent of garbage disposal worldwide and significantly contributes to poor air quality, according to a new study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Open-pit burning of trash releases particulates, carbon monoxide and mercury into the atmosphere and also contributes greenhouse gases that worsen the effects of climate change, according to the study. Trash burning is especially prevalent in the developing world, where there are fewer landfills and incinerators. Trash burning is unlikely to be fceportedtsto national environmental agencies and therefore is excluded from national air pollution inventories, meaning harmful air pollution is probably much higher than estimated in many of the nations. Those emissions are also not factored into environmental policies, according to the study.