The study published in the journal Environmental Research revealed that parts of China, India, Europe, and the northeastern United States are experiencing a disproportionately high number of annual deaths, totaling 8.7 million, due to fossil fuels. This research provides the most detailed assessment to date of premature deaths caused by air pollution from fossil fuels. In comparison, a study from 2017 estimated 4.2 million deaths annually from all outdoor airborne particulate matter, including dust and smoke from agricultural burns and wildfires. Eloise Marais, a co-author of the study and an expert in atmospheric chemistry at University College London, expressed surprise at the large number of deaths attributed to fossil fuel pollution. Previous studies had difficulty distinguishing pollution caused by fossil fuels from other sources of harmful particulates, such as wildfires or dust, using satellite data and ground observations. The team from three British universities and Harvard University aimed to address the issue by using a high-resolution model to identify the specific pollutants people were inhaling in a certain area. With increasing concern about the impact of burning fossil fuels on climate change, the authors hoped that their study, based on 2018 data, would encourage governments to speed up the transition to cleaner energy sources. Co-author Joel Schwartz, an environmental epidemiologist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, stated that by assessing the health consequences of fossil fuel combustion, they aim to emphasize the advantages of switching to alternative energy sources to policymakers and stakeholders.