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Description of  The Silent Epidemic: Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health (Mit Press)

026201789X pdf Why our dependence on coal-produced energy is bad for our health: a physician maps the connections of burning coal to death and disease. We will not find "exposure to burning coal" listed as the cause of death on a single death certificate, but tens of thousands of deaths from asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and other illnesses are clearly linked to coal-derived pollution. As politicians and advertising campaigns extol the virtues of "clean coal," the dirty secret is that coal kills. In The Silent Epidemic, Alan Lockwood, a physician, describes and documents the adverse health effects of burning coal. Lockwood's comprehensive treatment examines every aspect of coal, from its complex chemical makeup to details of mining, transporting, burning, and disposal--each of which generates significant health concerns. He describes coal pollution's effects on the respiratory, cardiovascular, and nervous systems, and how these problems will only get worse explains the impact of global warming on coal-related health problems and discusses possible policy approaches to combat coal pollution. Read more