Delhi is world’s most polluted megacity.
Live life ling size, life in the last lane, live today, screw tomorrow. These are the dictum modern humans live by and they’re living dangerously, indeed dangerously as more than 90 percent of world breathing bad air, says WHO (See: http://www.france24.com/en/20160927-who-air-pollution-health-breathing)
Nine out of 10 people globally are breathing polluted air, the World Health Organization made this ominous declaration yesterday, and wanted to take effective measures to curb air pollution, blamed for more than six million deaths a year.
The problem is most acute in cities, but air in even rural areas is not totally free on pollutants.
And, the poorer countries are worst off as they have much dirtier air than the developed world, but as polluted air cannot be stopped at geographical borders, it affects practically all countries in the world and all parts of society as it indeed a public health emergency as the study finds that 92 percent of the world’s population lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO limits.
The data focuses on dangerous particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, or PM2.5 that includes toxins like sulfate and black carbon, which can penetrate deep into the lungs or cardiovascular system.
The air pollution causes six million deaths a year that are linked to exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution and outdoor pollution is really lethal as it causes more than three million fatalities annually, although indoor pollution can be equally as harmful, especially in poorer developing world homes where cooking often involves burning charcoal.
Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific region, including China, Malaysia, India and Vietnam are the hardest hit, according to the report.
A few counties are taking half-hearted measures to curb air pollution, which is clearly ineffective, says Carlos Dora, coordinator at the WHO’s public health and environment department, like daily air quality warnings sometimes issued in Beijing does little to help the average person, since the real threat is exposure to sub-par air over extended periods.
Earlier also, the WHO had warned the world about the ill-impact of air pollution in May when it reported that 80 percent of the world’s city dwellers breathe poor quality air, a figure that rose to 98 percent in poorer countries.
This is clearly visible in Delhi where more than a third of people have trouble breathing. Thousands of residents have been tested as New Delhi’s pollution levels reach historic highs, making this city as the world’s most polluted city again, according to the WHO.
And, the policymakers must know that bad air kills poor and rich alike as outdoor pollution is a great social leveler and it doesn’t discriminate between rich and poor, between VIPs and ordinary souls and between celebrities and commoners.
It kills them all!