Global pollution is the world's biggest killer and a threat to survival of mankind, study finds

Pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world, accounting for three times more deaths in 2015 than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, according to a sweeping global study published Friday in The Lancet medical journal.

The report by the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health blames pollution for an estimated 9 million premature deaths, about 15 times more than all wars and other forms of violence. It concludes that pollution "endangers the stability of the Earth's support systems and threatens the continuing survival of human societies."

More than 40 researchers from governments and universities worldwide worked on the study funded by the United Nations, the European Union and the United States. The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal.