But in other ways, rising GDP actually alleviates environmental problems, because poverty is often the biggest cause of pollution. One of the deadliest environmental problems today is indoor air pollution, produced almost entirely because the world’s poorest 2.8 billion people are forced to cook and heat their houses by burning dirty fuels like wood, dung, and cardboard. Breathing this foul pollution is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes each day, and women and children are the worst affected.
