As we approach Earth Day this Tuesday, it’s easy to believe that the world is on the verge of environmental collapse. We are constantly flooding us with warnings about climate catastrophes and the imminent destruction of the planet. [emphasis, links added]
But this is misleading.
Instead of spiral panic, We should take a moment to appreciate the significant progress we have made in improving the environment and acknowledge that the key factor is prosperity.
When Earth Day was first marked 55 years ago, the world faced some serious environmental challenges.
The river caught fire and the city was caught in smoke. Air and water pollution is rampant, especially in the industrialized western region.
Today, outdoor air pollution in wealthy countries has dropped significantly. Over the past three decades, the risk of death from air pollution has dropped significantly by more than 70%, while waterways have become cleaner and the country has been forested by forests.
Chinese example
However, in poorer countries, the situation is even more complicated. That's because Industrialization first increased pollution as the country emerged from poverty before it became rich enough to deal with the country.
But even in developing countries, progress is being made. Look at China: Once notorious for its severe pollution, it is now actively cleaning up the air and water.
Outdoor air pollution got worse around 1990-2015 for the 7 billion people who do not live in a wealthy world.
However, as sulfur emissions peak and start to decline, outdoor air pollution deaths in poor countries actually decline slightly.
Furthermore, when focusing on photos of sleepy Asian cities, we miss out on the deadliest air pollution that happens indoors to the poorest people in the world.
This neglected problem stems from energy poverty, where people are forced to rely on traditional biomass (wood, cardboard and feces) to cook and keep warm.
The World Health Organization estimates that, like the worst outside days in Delhi or Beijing, 2.1 billion people live in houses, the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.
Even today, indoor air pollution still kills more than 3 million people every year.
Look inside
However, a spectacular Earth Day fact that few people celebrate is that indoor air pollution in non-wealthy worlds has been reduced in half since 1990. This means more than 4 million lives are saved each year.
How did this progress happen? By thriving, this means fewer poor people rely on feces and cardboard to cook and keep warm. Instead, they use more clean and better energy, such as natural gas and electricity.
Indeed, in many ways, the biggest polluter is poverty. Environmental problems can regress when people struggle to survive.
The richer a country becomes, the more it copes with its environment…
But as the country becomes richer, they can invest in clean technology, regulate the industry, and focus on improving public health.
Prosperity not only brings better living standards and nutrition, but people become more resilient to environmental challenges and actively improve the environment.
There is a clear link between a country's income and its environmental performance. Yale’s environmental performance index shows that the richer a country is, the more it copes with the environment.
A society focused on economic development will not only lift people out of poverty, but will also address pollution and invest in sustainable practices.
Unfortunately, Earth Day and its wider environmental movement often overlook practical solutions and prefer sensation. In the 1970s, many environmental predictions that received widespread attention proved to be alarmists and errors.
We were told that we would run out of most resources, that too much population would lead to global disasters, and that we would need to wear gas masks outside until 1985.
None of these predictions are achieved, but they still fuel a culture of fear and misallocated resources.
Top photo of Javier Miranda
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