Coal is a filthy energy source responsible for a host health problems around the world and the time has come for it to be phased out, according to report released Wednesday by WorldWatch Institute. Coal use has declined during the 1990s, experiencing a 2.1 percent drop in 1998. While coal's market price is at a historic low, its environmental and health costs have never been higher. Two main ingredients of coal smoke are particulate and sulfur dioxide pollution, which cause 500,000 premature deaths and millions of new respiratory illnesses each year in urban areas worldwide.
Particulates penetrate deep into lungs.
Prolonged inhalation causes a range of respiratory and cardiovascular problems, such as emphysema, asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease. On the environmental front, coal emissions account for 2.7 billion tons carbon released into the atmosphere - the most pervasive of the greenhouse gases. Coal releases 29 percent more carbon per unit of energy than oil and 80 percent more than natural gas. It accounts for 43 percent of the annual global carbon emissions but supplies only 26 percent of the world's energy. Higher smokestacks, built to lessen coal's local air pollution, have led to widespread acid rain and deposition.