With air pollution reaching alarming levels, only 13 nations and regions globally will have “healthy” air quality in 2022, according to a new analysis released on Tuesday local time by IQAir, a Swiss information technology business that measures global air quality.
The survey, as reported by Voice of America, indicated that the average annual air pollution in roughly 90% of countries and areas around the world surpasses the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines used to advise governments in setting air quality targets to protect public health.
The research indicated that only six nations (Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, and New Zealand) and seven Pacific and Caribbean areas (Guam and Puerto Rico) satisfied the WHO’s air quality index of 5 micrograms per cubic meter or less of average air pollution.
The average air pollution in Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Kuwait, and India is 50 micrograms per cubic meter, significantly higher than the WHO index.
This research focuses on the most minor and hazardous pollutants, PM2.5. PM2.5 particles can travel deep into the lungs and even into the blood if breathed. Burning fossil fuels, dust storms, and wildfires mainly produce it. Asthma, heart disease, and other respiratory disorders are only some of the issues it can cause.
In September, the World Health Organization tightened its 2021 annual average air pollution target from 10 micrograms per cubic meter to 5 micrograms per cubic meter, as reported by CNN on Tuesday.
According to the study, air pollution causes the premature deaths of millions of people annually. The World Health Organization estimates that over 4.2 million premature deaths can be attributed to exposure to PM2.5.
China’s air quality continues to improve
The IQAir report continues by pointing out a concerning phenomenon: the acute lack of air quality monitoring stations in developing countries in Africa, South America, and the Middle East.
China has been among the most polluted countries in air pollution for several decades. Still, the survey indicated that air quality would continue to improve in 2022. Reduces in the annual PM2.5 index were seen in over 64% of China’s 524 cities.
While some gains have been made, IQAir emphasizes that only some Chinese cities achieve the WHO air quality targets and that coal use in China continues to be a severe climate and environmental problem.
As reported by Reuters, Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan, will overtake Beijing as the most polluted metropolis in the world in the year 2022. The average PM2.5 concentration in Lahore rose from 86.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2021 to 97.4 micrograms per cubic meter the following year.
With a PM2.5 score of 94.3 in 2022, better than 101.5 in 2021, Hotan in Xinjiang, China, the only city in China to make it into the top 20 most polluted cities for air, is just behind Lahore.
Bhiwadi, India, and Delhi, India, are the two most polluted cities, with a PM2.5 rating of 92.7 and 92.6, respectively.
The most polluted in Chad, Africa
Reuters noted that Chad has the highest PM2.5 index (average levels of air pollution) of any country, at 89.7, followed by Iraq (moderate levels of air pollution: 80.1).
With a national average rating of 70.2, with two of Pakistan’s five cities (2022) experiencing the most severe air pollution, Pakistan is ranked third worldwide.
Since 2021, when it was 76.9, air pollution in Bangladesh has decreased to its current level of 65.8. As of that year, Bangladesh was the worst nation in the world. Middle Eastern Bahrain comes in second with a PM2.5 rating of 66.6.
While India is home to some of the world’s most polluted cities, the country will not even crack the top ten regarding PM2.5 levels until 2022.
The PM2.5 index concentrations in these locations are at least seven times higher than the WHO norm. The research claims that over 60% of the population in India and Pakistan lives there.
