Millions of people die from air pollution

The World Health Organization has reported that air pollution is now the biggest danger in the world of environmental health . A new report has found 7 million people who have died from exposure to air pollution in 2012 , twice the previous number measured in 2008 . They said the new data show that young people exposed to indoor air pollution and external die prematurely from cardiovascular disease , such as stroke and ischemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer . The World Health Organization has reported that the majority of deaths from air pollution occurs in countries with low and middle-income countries in East Asia and the Western Pacific where about half the world's population cook and heat their homes using open fires . Health officials say that the use of coal and biomass fuels , such as wood , animal dung is responsible for 4.2 million people die prematurely in 2012 .