The City of Boston has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, mainly by cutting emissions. But what if Boston eliminated all emissions now?
That is the question asked by a new School of Public Health study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
The estimated answer: over 200 deaths avoided in Boston (and the rest of Suffolk County) each year, with reductions in fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular and respiratory illness extending far beyond the city, from Worcester to Barnstable and into southern New Hampshire and northern Rhode Island.
The researchers also estimated that the resulting decrease in medical costs and lost/reduced work could save $1.7 billion in Suffolk County, and $2.4 billion for the entire 75-square-mile zone modeled in the study.
Read more at Boston University
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