Mostly Asian Cities in the List of Most Polluted by Air, Report Says
The world's health is threatened by alarming air pollution, which is humankind's most significant health hazard. Only air pollution leads to over six million deaths yearly, and economic costs are over USD 8 trillion.
According to the reports, the survey found that only 13 countries out of surveyed 131 countries, regions, and territories met World Health Organization air guidelines of annual PM2.5 at or less than 5 μg/m3 in 2022. Many of these places belong to Oceania.
The cities of Asian countries like India's Delhi and Pakistan's Lahore, with 92.6 and 97.4 μg of PM2.5 particles per m3, respectively, have exceeded WHO guidelines more than ten times. But cities like Iceland's Reykjavik and Estonia's Tallinn record 3.3 and 4.8 μg of PM2.5 particles per m3, respectively.The reports add that air pollution affects vulnerable communities more because 90 percent of pollution-related deaths occur in middle-income and low-income countries. South Asia and Africa are overly presented for having the highest annual average of PM2.5 concentration loaded by population. Again, this led to only 19 African countries out of 54 having sufficient data usable in the paper.
PM2.5 concentration is the amount of particulate aerosol particles you to 2.5 microns in diameter as defined by IQAir. It is widely considered harmful in terms of its prevalence in the environment. It harms health, including cancer, lung illness, asthma, heart disease, and premature deaths, as per the reports.
