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It hasn't happened yet, but it's quite true, as of 2018 there were about 300,000 utility-scale wind turbines world-wide, one day somebody might be killed by a falling wind turbine blade – meanwhile the World Health Organisation tells us that air pollution, largely from the burning of coal, has been linked to seven million deaths each year. That was nearly one in eight deaths in 2012! Many of the deaths were due to outdoor air pollution from coal fired power stations and many others were from indoor cooking fires using coal. Another cause of illnesses and deaths is the air pollution from the use of kerosene (paraffin) for lighting in third-world countries. Electricity from renewable sources can displace or even replace that from coal fired power stations, see for example South Australia's great success in replacing fossil fuels with renewables. Electricity from renewable sources can also be used to power electric stoves that replace coal fires in homes, and to light homes – replacing kerosene lamps. So, which is the greatest risk, someday someone might be killed by a falling wind turbine blade, or millions of people each year being killed by air pollution from burning coal? Even more importantly, if we replace coal fired power stations with renewable energy, we will greatly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are one of the main causes of climate change, ocean acidification, ocean warming and sea level rise. Those who oppose wind power (and other forms of renewable energy) must accept some of the responsibility for the millions of people killed each year by pollution from the burning of coal and other fossil fuels and for the billions of people whose lives will be harmed in the future by climate change. On top of that there are the thousands of species that will be forced into extinction by climate change, the coral reefs that will be lost due to our warming oceans, and the damage caused by ocean acidification. |
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