93 percent of Indians are breathing death air pollution reduced life expectancy by one and half years

93 percent of Indians in India are dying, that is, they live in areas where the level of air pollution exceeds the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO). This has been said in a recently released global report. The report showed that as a result, life expectancy in India has reduced by about 1.5 years.

Recently, the annual State of Global Air report has been released by the Health Effects Institute (HEI). This study showed that with an average annual population-weighted PM 2.5 of 83 micrograms/cubic meter (mg/cubic meter) in 2019, PM 2.5 can be attributed to 9,79,700 deaths in India.

The report revealed that nearly 100 percent of the world's population lives in areas where PM 2.5 levels exceed WHO recommendations, which is an average annual PM 2.5 exposure level of 5 mg/cubic metre. On average, more than 40 percent of the world's population lives in areas where ozone levels exceeded WHO's least stringent interim target in 2019. Air pollution is a major risk factor for death and disability worldwide, the authors wrote in the study. Exposure to air pollution caused 6.7 million deaths in 2019 alone.

India ranked ninth

India ranks ninth globally after countries such as Congo, Ethiopia, Germany, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey are exposed to ozone (98 per cent). China is ranked 10th.

Reduced life expectancy in these countries

Large exposure to PM 2.5 has also reduced life expectancy for countries and territories. Egypt (2.11 years), Saudi Arabia (1.91 years), India (1.51 years), China (1.32 years) and Pakistan (1.31 years).

a look at the report

>> No country reported an average national PM 2.5 level based on 2019 estimates, which is below the WHO AGQ 5 µg/m3, and only 25 of the 204 (12%) countries analyzed reported 10 µGa/m3 target.

>> 49 countries also did not meet the stringent WHO interim target of 35 micrograms per cubic metre. These were mostly countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (25), North Africa and the Middle East (17), and South Asia (7).

>> More than half of the world's population lives in areas where PM 2.5 levels exceed WHO limits in 2019, while in high-income countries, less than 1% of the population is exposed to levels above this value .

>> India ranks 5th in terms of exposure with 93% of its population, followed by Egypt (1st), Pakistan (2nd), Bangladesh (3rd) with 100% of their population and Nigeria 4th with 95% of the population Is.