A 2007 Nature study found that 11% of Chinese air pollution deaths could be traced to goods and services consumed in the United States and Western Europe.
Where this was said
At 9:09 · chapter starts 6:55
Greenstone, who co-directs the Climate Impact Lab and spent a year working on climate policy in the Obama White House, introduces the Air Quality Life Index — a satellite-data tool that calculates how much longer people would live if local pollution met WHO standards. The answer is striking: 2.2 years per person on average globally. [2] — Michael Greenstone "Average life lost to pollution: 2.2 years: Michael Greenstone's Air Quality Life Index estimates the average person on Earth lives 2.2 year…" 07:26 The WHO estimates roughly 7 million people die every year from fine particle exposure — more than double COVID deaths in 2020 and more than five times annual car-crash fatalities. [1] — Michael Greenstone "It's worse than cigarette smoking. It's worse than wars. It's worse than auto accidents." 07:40 The economic cost is estimated as high as $6 trillion per year, about 5% of global GDP. Greenstone's framing sets the episode's central tension: we know pollution is catastrophic for physical health, but have we been systematically ignoring its effects on the brain?
Michael Greenstone's Air Quality Life Index calculates how much longer people would live if local pollution met WHO standards. The answer: the average person on Earth loses 2.2 years of life to dirty air.
Michael Greenstone's Air Quality Life Index estimates the average person on Earth lives 2.2 years less than they would if local pollution met WHO standards.
The WHO estimates roughly 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air — at least double global COVID deaths in 2020.
One estimate places the annual economic cost of air pollution at $6 trillion — about 5% of global GDP.
The U.S. Surgeon General's 2023 report on loneliness found that half of American adults report feeling lonely, marking a widespread epidemic of social isolation.
In a peer-reviewed study, Brain.fm's audio technology was shown to increase focus-related brainwave activity by 119%, according to the show's sponsor read.
The Easterlin Paradox shows that wealthier nations — and the wealthiest neighborhoods within them — tend to have the highest rates of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and suicide.
Mental health challenges are nearly universal — BetterHelp's own research found the majority of Americans experiencing symptoms right now.
When applying for Medicaid to cover nursing home costs, there is a 5-year look-back period that can disqualify applicants who gave away or spent down assets.
A broken pipe filled the Bad Friends studio with what the hosts identified as hydrogen sulfide — microscopic fecal aeroparticles — that the crew denied smelling.
Fei-Fei Li's father's liver surgery performed by a da Vinci robot resulted in 10 times less blood loss than a typical open liver surgery, thanks to laparoscopic precision.
Approximately 115 million adults in the US currently have prediabetes, most of whom are unaware, according to the Lingo sponsor segment.
Drug overdose deaths in the US fell from 110,000 to 80,000 in 2024, and then to roughly 70,000 — the largest single-year drop the CDC has ever recorded.
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