Only 7 Countries Meeting Air Quality Standards
Most of the world's countries aren't meeting international air quality standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
That's according to a report by IQAir, a Swiss air filter maker that also monitors air quality around the world.
Only seven countries and three territories, out of 134 that were included in the report, met the WHO standard for levels of fine particulate matter — known as PM2.5 — in the air.
These tiny particles are produced by vehicles, fires and factories, and they have been linked with a number of health problems.
Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand, as well as the territories of Bermuda, French Polynesia and Puerto Rico, were found to have fallen below the WHO limit of 5 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter of air.
The report even showed that some countries have gone backward after travel and industrial activity returned to pre-COVID levels. Greenpeace called it a "global health catastrophe."
The WHO estimates that 7 million people die every year from diseases linked to air pollution, and IQAir said we're not acting fast enough to fight it.
Bangladesh was found to have the highest levels of air pollution, at more than 15 times the WHO's suggested safe level.
Pakistan and India were next on the list, ahead of Tajikistan and Burkina Faso. All of the top 10 most polluted cities were in Central and South Asia.
However, IQAir said there are "significant gaps" in monitoring air quality around the world. It said about a third of the population of Africa doesn't have access to air quality data, while in Latin America and the Caribbean, 70% of the data comes from low-cost sensors.
To reduce air pollution, IQAir said governments need to make cities more walkable, reduce car use and increase the use of clean energy.
