Last week, the Lancet Commission on pollution and public health (free registration required) released a study on the annual costs of pollution. There’s bound to be argument about the specifics, but it’s difficult to argue with the conclusion that those costs are really, really, big. The study estimates the annual global welfare loss 
due to pollution at $4 trillion – $6 trillion. The Lancet says that this is more than 6% of global economic output. … More