CNN
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Air pollution has surged to unhealthy levels globally in 2021, according to a new report.
A report from IQAir, a company that tracks air quality around the world, found that 97% of all countries and cities had average annual air pollution levels higher than the World Health Organization's Air Quality Index, which is designed to help governments draft regulations to protect public health. It was found that the guidelines were exceeded. .
Of the 6,475 cities analyzed, only 222 had average air quality that met WHO standards. Three regions were confirmed to have met WHO guidelines: French New Caledonia, US Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands.
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are among the countries with the most air pollution, exceeding guidelines by at least 10 times.
The Scandinavian countries, Australia, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom were ranked as the countries with the best air quality, with average levels exceeding guidelines by one to two times.
In the United States, IQAir found that air pollution in 2021 exceeded WHO guidelines by two to three times.
“This report highlights the need for governments around the world to help reduce global air pollution,” Glory Dolphin Hammes, CEO of IQAir North America, told CNN. “(Fine dust) is claiming the lives of too many people every year, and governments must set more stringent national air quality standards and explore better foreign policies that promote better air quality.”
Above: IQAir analyzed the average annual air quality for more than 6,000 cities and categorized air quality from the best, blue (meets WHO PM2.5 guidelines) to the worst, purple (exceeds WHO PM2.5 guidelines by more than 10 times). interactive map can be used in IQ Air.
This is the first major global air quality report based on WHO's new annual air pollution guidelines, updated in September 2021. The new guidelines halve the allowable concentration of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from 10 to 5 micrograms per cubic meter.
PM 2.5 is one of the smallest pollutants and yet one of the most dangerous. When inhaled, it can travel deep into the lung tissue and enter the bloodstream. It comes from sources such as burning fossil fuels, dust storms and wildfires, and is linked to a variety of health threats, including asthma, heart disease and other respiratory diseases.
Millions of people die every year from air quality problems. According to WHO, in 2016, approximately 4.2 million premature deaths were linked to ultrafine dust. WHO found that pollution-related deaths could have been reduced by nearly 3.3 million if the 2021 guidelines had been applied that year.
IQAir analyzed pollution monitoring stations in 6,475 cities across 117 countries, regions and territories.
In the United States, air pollution surged in 2021 compared to 2020. Of the more than 2,400 U.S. cities analyzed, Los Angeles' air remained the most polluted despite a 6% decline compared to 2020. Atlanta and Minneapolis have seen significant increases in pollution. The report showed.
“America's dependence on fossil fuels, the increasing severity of wildfires, and varying enforcement of the Clean Air Act from administration to administration have all added to U.S. air pollution,” the authors wrote.
Researchers say America's major sources of pollution are fossil fuel-fueled transportation, energy production and wildfires, which take a heavy toll on the country's most vulnerable and marginalized communities.
“We are very dependent on fossil fuels, especially on the transportation side,” said Hammes, who lives a few miles from Los Angeles. “We can take smart steps to produce zero emissions, but we're not doing it yet. And this is having a huge impact on the air pollution we are seeing in major cities.”
Wildfires caused by climate change played a significant role in lowering air quality in the United States in 2021. The authors point to several fires that have resulted in dangerous air pollution, including the Caldor and Dixie fires and the Bootleg fire in California. Oregon, where smoke swept all the way to the East Coast last July.
China, one of the worst air polluting countries, saw air quality improve in 2021. More than half of the Chinese cities analyzed in the report had lower air pollution levels compared to the previous year. According to the report, the capital Beijing has continued its trend of improving air quality over the past five years due to policy-driven reductions in polluting industries.
The report also found that the Amazon rainforest, which has been the world's main defender against the climate crisis, emitted more carbon dioxide than it absorbed last year. Deforestation and wildfires threaten vital ecosystems, pollute the air, and contribute to climate change.
“This is all part of the equation that is causing or is causing global warming.” Hammes said.
The report also revealed several inequalities. Some developing countries in Africa, South America and the Middle East lack monitoring stations, resulting in a lack of air quality data in those regions.
“If you don’t have that data, you’re really in the dark,” Hammes said.
Hammes noted that the African country Chad was included in the report for the first time due to improvements in its monitoring network. IQAir found that last year our country's air pollution was the second highest in the world after Bangladesh.
Tarik Benmarhnia, a climate change epidemiologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography who has studied the health impacts of wildfire smoke, also noted that relying solely on monitoring stations can lead to blind spots in these reports.
“I think it’s great that they relied on a variety of networks, not just government sources,” Benmarhnia, who was not involved in the report, told CNN. “But in many areas there are not enough stations and alternative technologies exist.”
In addition to slowing the rate of global warming, curbing fossil fuel use would have the added benefit of improving air quality and public health, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded in a 2021 report.
Hammes said the IQAir report is more reason for the world to move away from fossil fuels.
“We get the report, we can read it, we can internalize it and commit to actually taking action,” she said. “We need a major move towards renewable energy. We must take bold steps to reverse the trend of global warming. Otherwise, the shock and train we are on will be irreversible.”