Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, March 22: According to an assessment of pollution statistics from 6,475 localities released on Tuesday, not a single country met the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality benchmark in 2021, and smog even rose in certain areas after a COVID-related decline.
After modifying its standards last year, the WHO now recommends that average yearly readings of microscopic and harmful airborne particles known as PM2.5 be no more than 5 micrograms per cubic metre, claiming that even low concentrations posed significant health hazards.
According to data compiled by IQAir, a Swiss pollution technology company that monitors air quality, only 3.4 percent of the studied towns reached the threshold in 2021. PM2.5 levels were 10 times the permissible threshold in 93 cities.
According to the report, India’s overall pollution levels deteriorated in 2021, and New Delhi remained the world’s most polluted capital. Bangladesh placed at number 1, unchanged from the previous year, but Chad came in second when statistics from the African country was added for the first time.
China, which has been fighting pollution since 2014, was ranked 22nd in the PM2.5 rankings in 2021, down from 14th the year before, with average readings improving marginally to 32.6 micrograms, according to IQAir.
Hotan, in Xinjiang’s northwestern area, had the worst air quality in China, with average PM2.5 readings of more than 100 micrograms, mostly due to sandstorms.
It was overtaken by Bhiwadi and Ghaziabad, both in India, for third place on the list of the world’s most polluted cities.
