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These were the best and worst places for air quality in 2021, new report shows
Solely 222 cities of the 6,475 analyzed had common air high quality that met WHO’s commonplace. Three territories had been discovered to have met WHO pointers: the French territory of New Caledonia and the US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh had been among the many international locations with the worst air air pollution, exceeding the rules by at the very least 10 occasions.
The Scandinavian international locations, Australia, Canada, Japan and United Kingdom ranked among the many greatest international locations for air high quality, with common ranges that exceeded the rules by 1 to 2 occasions.
In the US, IQAir discovered air air pollution exceeded WHO pointers by 2 to three occasions in 2021.
“This report underscores the necessity for governments around the globe to assist scale back world air air pollution,” Glory Dolphin Hammes, CEO of IQAir North America, advised CNN. “(Advantageous particulate matter) kills far too many individuals yearly and governments have to set extra stringent air high quality nationwide requirements and discover higher international insurance policies that promote higher air high quality.”
IQAir analyzed pollution-monitoring stations in 6,475 cities throughout 117 international locations, areas and territories.
“The (United States’) reliance on fossil fuels, growing severity of wildfires in addition to various enforcement of the Clear Air Act from administration to administration have all added to U.S. air air pollution,” the authors wrote.
Researchers say the principle sources of air pollution within the US had been fossil fuel-powered transportation, vitality manufacturing and wildfires, which wreak havoc on the nation’s most susceptible and marginalized communities.
“We’re closely depending on fossil fuels, particularly when it comes to transportation,” mentioned Hammes, who lives a couple of miles from Los Angeles. “We will act neatly on this with zero emissions, however we’re nonetheless not doing it. And that is having a devastating affect on the air air pollution that we’re seeing in main cities.”
“That is all part of the system that can result in or is resulting in world warming.” Hammes mentioned.
The report additionally unveiled some inequalities: Monitoring stations stay scant in some growing international locations in Africa, South America and the Center East, leading to a dearth of air high quality knowledge in these areas.
“When you do not have that knowledge, you are actually at midnight,” Hammes mentioned.
Hammes famous the African nation of Chad was included within the report for the primary time, on account of an enchancment in its monitoring community. IQAir discovered the nation’s air air pollution was the second-highest on the planet final 12 months, behind Bangladesh.
Tarik Benmarhnia, a local weather change epidemiologist at Scripps Establishment of Oceanography who has studied the well being affect of wildfire smoke, additionally famous that relying solely on monitoring stations can result in blind spots in these stories.
“I believe it’s nice that they relied on completely different networks and never solely governmental sources,” Benmarhnia, who was not concerned on this report, advised CNN. “Nonetheless, many areas shouldn’t have sufficient stations and various methods exist.”
Hammes mentioned the IQAir report is much more cause for the world to wean off fossil gas.
“We have got the report, we will learn it, we will internalize it and actually dedicate ourselves to taking motion,” she mentioned. “There must be a significant transfer in direction of renewable vitality. We have to take drastic motion with the intention to reverse the tide of world warming; in any other case, the affect and the practice that we’re on (can be) irreversible.”