DID YOU KNOW THAT AIR POLLUTION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MORE DEATHS THAN HEART DISEASE OR COVID?

From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

          DAY  USA  WORLD    Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82

July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572

Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130

Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82

Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30       3880    14748       1224       299      465

Jan     14        4142    15512        1151         189      712

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194

April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37

May     4        853     13667        3025      3786     59 

June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95

 July    7         251      8440        1595        817      411

Aug     4         656    10120        1118         532      423 

Sept   22      2228      9326          839       279     124

Oct      6       2102      8255          543       315       59

Nov    3        1436      7830         186        458       23

Dec     1       1633      8475          266        477       28

Jan     7        2025      6729         148         285     140

Feb     2        2990   12012          946        991      175

Mar     2        1778     7756          335         173       28 

Apr     1          439      4056         290          52       12

May    5          225      2404          151            ?       64 

         12          222      1995           136           9       21

         18          273      1734            99          10       55

         19          201      1801           115           20      31

Summary:

• Most new cases yesterday (and in new cases/million in parentheses):
• #1  North Korea  262,280 (10,088)
• #2  Taiwan  90,347 (3764)
• #3  USA  88,149 (392)
• #4  Germany  56,446 (372)
• #5  Australia  54,352 (2094)
• #6  Japan  41,527  (330)
• World  794,624 (10)...but many countries are not submitting accurate numbers
• Most new deaths yesterday (and in new deaths/million in parentheses):
• #1  Canada  240 (6.3)
• #2  USA  201 (0.6)
• #3  UK  169 (2.5)
• #4  Germany  139 (1.6)
• #5  Brazil  115 (0.5)
• #6  Italy  108 (1.8)
• World  1801 (0.2)...but many countries are not submitting accurate numbers

• The USA has the most total cases and most total deaths in the world, and on a deaths per million population basis:
• World  808
• USA  3073
• Germany  1643
• UK  2595
• Russia  2589
• South Korea  464
• Argentina  2801
• Japan  240
• Australia  306
• Thailand  423
• Israel  1161
• South Africa 1662
• Canada  1059
• Peru  6298
• Norway  556
• Singapore  231
• The U.S. is worse than most countries, and ten times that of nations in the Orient?  Why?  I will devote a whole posting later to this question, but in summary.
• The Trump administration screwed things up.
• He personally not wearing a mask sent the wrong signal.
• His press conferences were abominable.
• He did press forth on a vaccine, which is a big plus.
• More than a year ago a panel blamed him for increasing our COVID deaths by 40%.
• There is legacy today, for Trump counties continue to have higher death rates than Biden counties.  To quote:

NPR examined COVID deaths per 100,000 people in roughly 3,000 counties across the U.S. from May 2021, the point at which most Americans could find a vaccine if they wanted one. Those living in counties that voted 60% or higher for Trump in November 2020 had 2.26 times the death rate of those that went by the same margin for Biden. Counties with a higher share of Trump votes had even higher mortality rates.

So continuing on with the death theme, it's now been around 2.5 years, and the world tally for COVID-19 deaths is more than 6 million.  So that would be around 2.4 million/year.  The World Counts indicates that 60 million/year die each year globally:

• Ischaemic heart disease 5.3 million (ischaemic means the heart does not get enough blood)
• Stroke 3.4 million
• Lower respiratory infection  1.9 million
• Pulmonary disease  1.9 million
• Lung cancer  1 million

Thus this headline caught my attention:

     POLLUTION'S FATAL THREAT GAINS URGENCY AFTER 9 MILLION DIE/YEAR

• That figure was for 2015.
• Air pollution is responsible for 6.5 million deaths/year.  What happens is that this increases the risk of dying from heart disease, cancer, etc.
• Since 2000:
• Household air and water pollution declined
• Outdoor air pollution and toxic chemical death rose more than 66%.
• Air quality in the U.S. improved 78% from 1990 to 2020.
• 
  India now has worse air pollution than China.
• At least 140 million in India are breathing air 10 times more than the safe limit.
• Breathing Delhi is dangerous for 300 days of the year.
• But China is only in 12th place in this world comparison.
• Guess what?  The authors indicated that N95 masks offer the best protection from air pollution.
• Another solution is to shift to renewable energy.
• Lead kills more people than HIV

So I checked the World Air Quality Index:

• Honolulu  30
• Nome, Alaska  3
• Numerous cities in the Middle East, India and China above 300, Chongqing at 476
• San Jose, Costa Rica  790
• Mexico City  881 
• Valle Escombreras, Chile  894

Sometimes these super-high numbers are caused by forest fires, etc.  Can't find any link to those for the high values.

Changing subjects, the U.S. Soccer Federation finally announced that a deal has been reached to pay women and men players equally.  The women will get an additional $22 million in back pay.  After all:

• U.S. women are today ranked #1 in the world, to #2 Sweden and #3 France.
• U.S. men are ranked #25 to #1 Brazil and #2 Belgium.
• The U.S. women have won four World Cups.  Men? Zero.
• The men's team finally qualified this year for the competition, to be played later this year in Qatar.  They actually reached the semifinals one year, but that was in 1930.

Our national team governors were reluctant for a simple fact:

• In 2018-19 the first place prize money for the men's world cup was $38 million.  Women?  $4 million.
• What was the previous difference?
• Women players average $40,000/person, with a $800,000 cap.
• Men averaged $60,000.
• Of course, they both also play pro ball, and Alex Morgan, who has been on the women's team since 2010 makes a ton of endorsements.  Why?  She was dominant in the 2019 World Cup, which the USA won, and has other attributes.

The Mekong River has some of the rarest fish in the world.  Earlier this month in Cambodia, a 13-foot long giant freshwater stingray weighing nearly 400 pounds was caught, measured and released.

The Mekong is around 3000 miles long, starting in China, and flowing through Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand and Cambodia, before forming a nine-headed dragon in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, before dispersing into the South China Sea.

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