Air pollution: Animal-based food production on farms linked to 12,700 deaths each year, study says

Of those, an estimated 12,700 deaths — around 80% — are connected to production of animal-based foods.

Scientists have known for years that farming contributes to harmful air pollution, but experts say this study offers the first full accounting of deaths connected to the production of certain types of food.

“When we think of the big sources of air pollution in the U.S., our imagination usually turns to smokestacks and tailpipes,” said Joshua Apte, an assistant professor at the University of California-Berkeley, who was not involved in this study. “But it turns out that agriculture is also…