Almost 1,000 people in Britain die prematurely every week from diseases related to air pollution, a government report revealed Wednesday. In their report on air quality, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, comprising lawmakers, pressed for new “clean air zones” in dozens of English towns and cities, Xinhua reported. In a report on Wednesday, The Guardian wrote of a “public health emergency” for air pollution in the UK, declared by the same cross-party committee of MPs. The government’s own data shows air pollution causes 40,000-50,000 early deaths a year and ministers were forced to produce a new action plan after losing a supreme court case in 2015, the article said. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has drawn up plans for new clean air zones for five of the most polluted cities in Britain. But the MPs said more is needed to cut the health and environmental impacts of pollutants, including particulates and nitrogen dioxide.
