In countries where air pollution levels are below the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO), people lose, on average, 2.2 years of their lives.
In northern India, 480 million people breathe pollution levels more than ten times higher than anywhere else on the planet. In some parts of this region, including the cities of Delhi and Calcutta, residents could lose up to nine years of their lives, on average, if the levels of pollution documented in 2019 persist.
The index calculates the years lost according to what life expectancy would be if a country complied with the clean air guidelines set by the WHO.
The top five countries with the highest average number of years lost were in Asia. After India came Bangladesh, where residents lose an average life expectancy of 5.4 years, followed by Nepal (5 years), Pakistan (3.9 years) and Singapore (3.8 years). ).
The report’s authors said air pollution was primarily based on the use and production of fossil fuels creating “a global problem that requires strong policies on all fronts.”
The study also notes how the world has enjoyed cleaner skies and air, as the pandemic forced a pause in air travel and reduced traffic and road manufacturing. But at the same time, some parts of the world experienced high levels of air pollution from forest fires, exacerbated by warmer, drier weather conditions. In the United States, smog caused by relentless wildfires in some Western states traveled across the country, affecting air quality as far as New York City.
“These remarkable facts illustrate that air pollution is not only a global challenge, but also intertwined with climate change. Both are mainly caused by the same culprit: fossil fuel emissions from power plants, vehicles and other industrial sources, ”the report states. . He called on governments around the world to urgently implement policies to reduce their dependence on fuels such as coal, oil and gas.
“The air quality of life index shows that strong pollution policies pay off in extra years of life for people around the world.”
World leaders will meet in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November for international climate talks, known as COP26, and putting an “unstoppable coal” end date is an important topic on the agenda. Some fossil fuel companies defend their future by “capturing” enough of the greenhouse gases from their fuels to prevent them from entering the atmosphere, causing air pollution and climate change.
Asian megacities at risk
Populations in Asian megacities suffer from some of the highest levels of pollution and, with them, have the greatest impact on life expectancy.
In the Indonesian city of Bandung, for example, people lose an average of almost seven years of their lives and in the country’s capital, Jakarta, almost six years ago.
In Central and West Africa, the harmful effects of air pollution on life expectancy were “comparable to those of known threats such as HIV / AIDS and malaria,” the report found.
And more than half of the 611 million people living throughout Latin America are exposed to levels of air pollution that exceed WHO guidelines. Across the region, air pollution reduces life expectancy by an average of five months, but this varies greatly by location. In the Peruvian capital, Lima, people can expect to lose an average of 4.7 years out of their lives.
China’s “war on pollution.”
But there is some cause for hope. China ranked among the five most polluted countries each year from 1998 to 2016. But since it began its so-called “war on pollution” in 2013, it has reduced its particulate pollution by 29%, which accounts for three-quarters of air pollution. reductions worldwide.
This reduction, if maintained, has regained 1.5 years of life expectancy for the Chinese, reducing them to an average loss of 2.6 years.
“To put China’s success in context, it took several decades and recessions for the United States and Europe to achieve the same pollution reductions that China was able to achieve in six years,” the report said.
In fact, there was a time when London was widely referred to as “the big smoke” for its dirty air, and that Los Angeles was once the “smog capital of the world.”
Today, Americans are exposed, on average, to 62% less particulate pollution than in 1970. Similarly, Europeans are exposed to 27% less than two decades ago, and earn four months. of life expectancy because of this, according to the report.