Africa has the potential of contributing as much as 55% of the world`s particle pollutants by 2030 said a study on Tuesday.
The urban population of Africa is burning more coal and wood.
By 2005, the continent’s global share of these atmospheric pollutants ranged from a five percent for sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide to 20 percent for organic carbon, according to the findings published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
“A considerable increase in emissions from Africa is… expected in 2030 if no regulations are implemented,” wrote the study authors from France and the Ivory Coast.
Particles are released in burning petrol and diesel for car and motorcycle combustion, and coal, fuel wood, charcoal and animal waste incinerated for heating and cooking.
According to the study, Africa could represent 40 percent of the world population by 2100 and its urban population could double from 2000 to 2030 — along with rapid growth in mining, oil and industrial activities.
“In western and eastern Africa, action on biofuels would be the most efficient way to decrease domestic emissions… not to mention the decrease in the use of two-wheeled vehicles,” the authors wrote.
“In southern Africa, action on coal would be the most efficient way to decrease industrial and power plant emissions.”
These tiny particles can cause asthma and allergies, respiratory and cardiovascular ailments and the smallest among them, which can enter the bloodstream and lungs, have been classified as cancer-causing by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
More than two million people die every year from breathing in tiny particles in indoor and outdoor air pollution according to statistics by the UN.
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