A car boom in India and China has caused outdoor air pollution, along with obesity, to become the world's fastest growing causes of death, according to a study published by Lancet. A record 3.2 million people died from air pollution in 2010, compared with 800,000 in 2000, ranking it for the first time in the top ten list of killer diseases. Most of the air pollution in Asia that killed 2.1 million people prematurely in 2010 was from cars and trucks, with construction and industry being major causes as well. Head of the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment Anumita Roychowdhury said that the full effects of pollution in Asian cities may not be known for years. "Toxic effects like cancer surface after a long latency period. Therefore, exposure to air pollution will have to be reduced today to reduce the burden of disease," she said. According to the report, if the outdoor air pollution numbers were caused by the figures from indoor air pollution, largely from wood burning stoves, dirty air would rank second only to blood pressure as the biggest killer in the world. Meanwhile, Beijing's ongoing inititative to take old cars off the road has succeeded in removing 458,000 heavily polluting vehicles, according to the China Daily. An upgraded scheme will raise the average subsidy from around $720 for an old vehicle to about $1,040 next year. For the full story, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/17/pollution-car-emissions-deaths-china-india. For the story on China's subsidy system, see http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-12/26/content_16054928.htm.