Air pollution has been increasing day by day due to many factors like global warming and climate change. However, the extent of that was reflected in a recent study.
According to a recent study published in the Lancet Planetary Health, only 0.001% of the world's population breathes air considered to be acceptable.
About 99.82% of the global land area is exposed to particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), that are above the safety limit recommended by the WHO. Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) refers to the tiny particles or droplets in the air that are two and a half microns or less in width (for example, dust, smoke, and ash).
PM2.5 are considered to be dangerous because they bypass many of the body's defenses like nose hair or mucus. They have been linked with dangerous conditions like heart disease and lung cancer.
The study was conducted by scientists in Australia and China. They used more than 5000 monitoring stations, meteorological data, geographical factors, and machine learning simulations to estimate global daily PM2.5 concentrations.
The researchers found out that on a global level, on more than 70% of days in 2019, the PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the WHO-recommended daily limit of 15 micrograms of gaseous pollutants per cubic meter.
The results were particularly worrying for South Asia and East Asia regions as more than 90% of days had PM2.5 concentrations above the 15 microgram threshold.
(Input from various media sources)