Communications Manager at @ImpUrbanHealth, focusing on air pollution and making cities better places to live. Views are my own.
Dec 15, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Burning wood:
💸It’s the expensive option
💵In cities, mostly wealthy people do it
❤️🩹It poisons air for everyone
🌲It’s not the sustainable option
🫰It adds to our tax burden
🧵
theguardian.com/environment/20…
"Wood burners are more expensive than both gas boilers and air source heat pumps in almost every scenario."
🔥 Burning wood is the more expensive way of heating a home 🔥
Not only is burning wood almost always more expensive than central heating, but it also has huge hidden costs for everyone in society. We all pay the bill!
🏡 more affluent households (typically from the highest AB grades)
🔥 and burn wood for aesthetic reasons, to create a cosy atmosphere.
Oct 2, 2023 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
As the Government meets at #CPC23, they should take time to think about how to improve...
🤑the economy
⚕️public health
🏙️towns and cities
🔥 and the environment
...by improving air quality.
Here is a thread of tried and tested ways they can do just that 🧵👇
Give councils the powers they need to restrict burning wood in cities.
And show leadership on public health to help councils and councillors communicate clearly about wood burning and air pollution.
Burning wood is devastating people's health, especially in cities 🔥
Despite that, sales of wood burning stoves are increasing 🚨
So how can councils and campaigners inform people about the connections between wood burning and air pollution? 🧵👇
Research shows that most people who burn wood do so for aesthetic reasons.
Considering air pollution contributes to up to 43,000 deaths per year in the UK, it's obvious that reducing wood burning is an urgent public health crisis.
Jun 7, 2023 • 8 tweets • 1 min read
In the entire 20th century, there were only five fires that burned more than 100,000 acres.
In 2020, wildfires accounted for more than half of the air pollution in the western United States.
By 2050, the extent of those fires is, at least, expected to double. Each tree burned releases carbon just as coal does, along with particulate matter.
Apr 20, 2023 • 19 tweets • 7 min read
Lots of talk about air pollution and it seems a lot of disagreement about why poor air quality is such a big deal.
So, what are the health effects of air pollution? (Brace yourself, it's a difficult read but links to research included). 👇🧵
The more air pollution you breathe, the more likely it is you'll develop cancer.
For every 10 microgram per cubic meter (µg/m³) of increased exposure to PM2.5, the risk of dying from any cancer rises by 22 percent.
The more air pollution you breathe, the more likely it is you'll develop cancer. 