Editing Fossil fuel (section)

==Illness and deaths==
[[File:2021 Death rates, by energy source.svg|thumb |Deaths caused as a result of fossil fuel use (areas of rectangles in chart) greatly exceed those resulting from production of [[renewable energy]] (rectangles barely visible in chart).<ref name=OWID_SafestEnergy_2021>{{cite journal |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |last2=Roser |first2=Max |title=What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy? |url=https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy |journal=Our World in Data |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115112316/https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy |archive-date=15 January 2024 |date=2021 |url-status=live }} Data sources: Markandya & Wilkinson (2007); UNSCEAR (2008; 2018); Sovacool et al. (2016); IPCC AR5 (2014); Pehl et al. (2017); Ember Energy (2021).</ref>]]

Environmental pollution from fossil fuels impacts humans because [[particulates]] and other air pollution from fossil fuel combustion may cause illness and death when inhaled. These health effects include premature death, acute respiratory illness, aggravated asthma, chronic bronchitis and decreased lung function. The poor, undernourished, very young and very old, and people with preexisting respiratory disease and other ill health are more at risk.<ref>{{cite conference|last1=Liodakis|first1=E|title=The nuclear alternative: Energy Production within Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia|year=2011|volume=1342|issue=1|page=91|doi=10.1063/1.3583174|conference=AIP Conference Proceedings|last2=Dashdorj|first2=Dugersuren|last3=Mitchell|first3=Gary E.|bibcode=2011AIPC.1342...91L}}</ref> Global air pollution deaths due to fossil fuels have been estimated at over 8 million people (2018, nearly 1 in 5 deaths worldwide)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chaisson |first=Clara |date=19 February 2021 |title=Fossil Fuel Air Pollution Kills One in Five People |url=https://www.nrdc.org/stories/fossil-fuel-air-pollution-kills-one-five-people |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=NRDC |language=en}}</ref> at 10.2 million (2019),<ref name=EnvRsch_20210400>{{cite journal |last1=Vohra |first1=Karn |last2=Vodonos |first2=Alina |last3=Schwartz |first3=Joel |last4=Marais |first4=Eloise A.|author4-link=Eloise Marais |last5=Sulprizio |first5=Melissa P. |last6=Mickley |first6=Loretta J. |title=Global mortality from outdoor fine particle pollution generated by fossil fuel combustion: Results from GEOS-Chem |journal=Environmental Research |date=April 2021 |volume=195 |page=110754 |doi=10.1016/j.envres.2021.110754 |pmid=33577774 |bibcode=2021ER....19510754V |s2cid=231909881 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935121000487 }}</ref> and 5.13 million excess deaths from ambient air pollution from fossil fuel use (2023).<ref name=BMJ_20231129>{{cite journal |last1=Lelieveld |first1=Jos |last2=Haines |first2=Andy |last3=Burnett |first3=Richard |last4=Tonne |first4=Cathryn |last5=Klingmueller |first5=Klaus |last6=Munzel |first6=Thomas |last7=Pozzer |first7=Andrea |title=Air pollution deaths attributable to fossil fuels: observational and modelling study |journal=The BMJ |date=29 November 2023 |volume=383 |page=e077784 |doi=10.1136/bmj-2023-077784 |pmid=38030155 |pmc=10686100 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

While all energy sources inherently have adverse effects, the data show that fossil fuels cause the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions and are the most dangerous for human health. In contrast, modern renewable energy sources appear to be safer for human health and cleaner. The death rates from accidents and air pollution in the EU are as follows per [[terawatt-hour]] (TWh):

{|class=wikitable
!Energy source || Nos. of deaths<br />per TWh || Greenhouse gas<br />emissions<br />(thousand tonnes/TWh)
|-
|Coal||24.6||820
|-
|Oil||18.4||720
|-
|Natural gas||2.8||490
|-
|Biomass||4.6||78–230
|-
|Hydropower||0.02||34
|-
|Nuclear energy||0.07||3
|-
|Wind||0.04||4
|-
|Solar||0.02||5
|}
<ref>{{Cite web|title=What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy?|url=https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy|access-date=2020-12-29|website=Our World in Data}}</ref> As the data shows, coal, oil, natural gas, and biomass cause higher death rates and higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions than hydropower, nuclear energy, wind, and solar power. Scientists propose that 1.8 million lives have been saved by replacing fossil fuel sources with nuclear power.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jogalekar|first=Ashutosh|title=Nuclear power may have saved 1.8 million lives otherwise lost to fossil fuels, may save up to 7 million more.|url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/nuclear-power-may-have-saved-1-8-million-lives-otherwise-lost-to-fossil-fuels-may-save-up-to-7-million-more/|access-date=2020-12-29|website=Scientific American Blog Network|language=en}}</ref>