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September 1, 2023

Air pollution and its threat to health unequally spread, data shows

New data from the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) shows that while particulate air pollution remains the world’s greatest external risk to human health, its impact on global life expectancy is uneven.

New data from the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) shows that while particulate air pollution remains the world’s greatest external risk to human health, its impact on global life expectancy is uneven.

“Three-quarters of air pollution’s impact on global life expectancy occurs in just six countries, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and Indonesia, where people lose one to more than six years off their lives because of the air they breathe,” says Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and one of the creators of the AQLI.

The AQLI also found that countries most impacted by air pollution lack the tools to improve air quality.

Continue reading on the United Nations Environment Programme…