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Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal Air quality and early-life mortality: Evidence from Indonesia's wildfires

Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal

Jayachandran S
2009
The Journal of Human Resources. 44 (4): 916-954

Smoke from massive wildfires blanketed Indonesia in late 1997. This paper examines the impact that this air pollution (particulate matter) had on fetal, infant, and child mortality. Exploiting the sharp timing and spatial patterns of the pollution and inferring deaths from "missing children" in the 2000 Indonesian Census, I find that the pollution led to 15,600 missing children in Indonesia (1.2 percent of the affected birth cohorts). Prenatal exposure to pollution drives the result. The effect size is much larger in poorer areas, suggesting that differential effects of pollution contribute to the socioeconomic gradient in health. © 2009 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

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Resource Description

    Air Pollution, Ecosystem Change, Extreme Weather-Related Event or Disaster, Human Conflict/Displacement
    • Air Pollution, Ecosystem Change, Extreme Weather-Related Event or Disaster, Human Conflict/Displacement: Particulate Matter
    • Air Pollution, Ecosystem Change, Extreme Weather-Related Event or Disaster, Human Conflict/Displacement: Wildfire
    Tropical
    Non-United States
    • Non-United States: Asia
    Developmental Impact, Morbidity/Mortality
    • Developmental Impact, Morbidity/Mortality: Birth Outcome
    Outcome Change Prediction
    Inter-Annual (1-10 years)
    Research Article
    Climate Justice/Climate Equity, Sociodemographic Vulnerability, Vulnerable Population
    • Climate Justice/Climate Equity, Sociodemographic Vulnerability, Vulnerable Population: Children, Low Socioeconomic Status
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