A 'pandemic' of air pollution shortens lives worldwide by nearly three years on average and causes 8.8 million premature deaths annually, scientists said Tuesday.*Air pollution is a larger public health risk than tobacco smoking,* lead author Jos Lelieveld of the Max Planck Institute in Mainz, Germany told AFP.*Much of it can be avoided by replacing fossil fuels with clean renewable energy.*Compared to other causes of premature death, air pollution kills 19 times more people each year than malaria, nine times more than HIV/AIDS, and three times more than alcohol, the study found.

Source: Standard Media