2020 World Air Quality Report | 10 most polluted cities in the world
Research suggests that people exposed to air pollution, particularly long-term air pollution, are more vulnerable to serious health impacts of COVID-19, the 2020 World Air Quality report analyzes PM2.5 data reported by ground-level monitoring stations around the world, as aggregated through IQAir’s air quality information platform.
Air pollution contributes an estimated seven million deaths worldwide every year as per the World Health Organization. The phenomenon is estimated to cost the global economy upwards of $2.9 trillion per year (3.3 percent of global GDP) due to fossil fuel emissions alone, while also contributing to a range of severe environmental problems. India continues to dominate the annual PM2.5 ranking by city. The recently released IQAir AirVisual 2020 World Air Quality report states that 22 of the top 30 most polluted cities globally are located in India. The major sources of India’s air pollution include transportation, biomass burning for cooking, electricity generation, industry, construction, waste burning, and episodic agricultural burning. Here are the ten most polluted cities on earth as per the data aggregated from over 80,000 data points. (Image: Reuters)
Rank 10 | Delhi, India | Average level of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution: 84.1
Rank 9 | Lucknow, India | Average level of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution: 86.2 (Image: PTI)
Rank 8 | Kanpur, India | Average level of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution: 89.1 (Image: AFP)
Rank 7 | Greater Noida, India | Average level of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution: 89.5
Rank 6 | Noida, India | Average level of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution: 94.3 (Image: AFP)
Rank 5 | Bhiwadi, India | Average level of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution: 95.5 (Image: AFP)
Rank 4 | Bisrakh, India | Average level of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution: 96
Rank 3 | Bulandshahr, India | Average level of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution: 98.4
Rank 2 | Ghaziabad, India | Average level of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution: 106.6 (Image: AFP)
Rank 1 | Hotan, China | Average level of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution: 110.2 (Image: Reuters)
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