Lahore in Pakistan has risen more than 10 places to become the city with the worst air in the world by 2022, according to an annual global survey by a Swiss air purifier manufacturer.
According to the report published by IQAir on Tuesday, Pakistan ranks third among countries with the most polluted air, while Bangladesh ranks fifth and India eighth.
IQAir measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5. The annual survey is frequently cited by researchers and government organizations.
Lahore’s air quality deteriorated to 97.4 micrograms of PM2.5 particles per cubic meter from 86.5 in 2021, making it the most polluted city in the world.
Hotan, the only Chinese city in the top 20, trailed Lahore with PM2.5 levels of 94.3, an improvement from 101.5 in 2021.
The next two cities in the ranking were in India: Bhiwadi, on the outskirts of New Delhi, had a pollution level of 92.7, and the national capital followed closely behind with 92.6.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum PM2.5 concentration of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.
While Chad had an average level of 89.7, Iraq, which had the second most polluted air in any country, averaged 80.1.
Pakistan, which had two of the five worst air cities in 2022, ranked third in the nationwide ranking with 70.9, followed by Bahrain with 66.6.
Bangladesh’s air quality has improved from 2021, when it was labeled as the country with the worst air. It ranks fifth in the latest report, with PM2.5 levels falling from 76.9 to 65.8.
India’s air is seven times worse than WHO’s
India has some of the most polluted cities in the world, but ranked eighth in the latest report, with PM2.5 levels of 53.3.
According to the report, India and Pakistan experience the worst air quality in the Central and South Asian regions, where nearly 60 percent of the population lives in areas where the concentration of PM2.5 particles is at least seven times higher than the WHO recommended. Levels.
It said one in ten people worldwide live in an area where air pollution poses a threat to health. According to WHO, around seven million people worldwide die prematurely each year as a result of air pollution.
The US Pacific region of Guam had cleaner air than any other country, with a PM2.5 concentration of 1.3, while Canberra had the cleanest air for a capital city, with 2.8.
The IQAir Index was created using data from more than 30,000 air quality monitors in more than 7,300 locations in 131 countries, territories and regions.
Meanwhile, another study published by the journal Lancet Planetary Health said nearly all of the world’s population breathes polluted air, with only 0.001 percent living in places where PM2.5 levels don’t exceed annual air quality limits.
On average across the globe, the WHO’s recommended daily limit for exposure to PM2.5 particulate matter in the environment was exceeded on more than 70 percent of days in 2019, according to the findings.
The research group, led by Yuming Guo of Monash University in Melbourne, determined the particulate pollution for the years 2000 to 2019 on the basis of measured values and computer models.
According to their findings, the global PM2.5 annual average was 32.8 micrograms per cubic meter of air, with the highest measured value in East Asia, at 50, followed by South Asia at 37.2 and North Africa at 30.1 .
PM2.5 levels were lowest in Australia and New Zealand (8.5), the rest of Oceania (12.6) and South America (15.6).
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