Cutting Carbon Emissions
Would Save Millions of Lives, New Study Finds.
The study was conducted by a
Columbia University doctoral candidate... .
and published in the journal
'Nature Communications' on July 29.
It found that reducing greenhouse gas emissions
could potentially save tens of millions of lives.
One key takeaway is that there are a significant number of lives that can be saved by reducing emissions, R. Daniel Bressler, Columbia University Study Author, via NPR News.
By combining recent data on the harmful effects of carbon emissions with recent research on mortality, .
the study found that cutting emissions to zero by 2050 would save roughly 74 million lives.
The results could have profound implications on how the "social cost" of carbon is interpreted.
The "social cost" of carbon
is a key metric that has been used
in recent years to steer federal policy... .
... and allocate trillions of
dollars of federal funding.
There have been over 100 U.S. government regulations where the social cost of carbon was used, Maureen Cropper, Climate Economist University
of Maryland, via NPR News.
Imagine you're looking at the cost-benefit analysis of building
a new power plant, R. Daniel Bressler, Columbia University Study Author, via NPR News.
You're trying to compare a coal plant to a wind farm. And that coal-fired power plant is producing a lot more carbon dioxide emissions. , R. Daniel Bressler, Columbia University Study Author, via NPR News.
How do we think about the costs associated with that?, R. Daniel Bressler, Columbia University Study Author, via NPR News.
Factoring in the results of the study,
which details how cutting carbon emissions
has the potential to save human life, .
could significantly affect how those
costs are considered