AQLI News
September 12, 2024
Our latest report from the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) reveals the immense toll air pollution can have on life expectancy. Explore ten easy-to-digest charts that uncover the most compelling findings. These findings show the severity of the problem, but also the benefits strong policies could bring to improve our health and lengthen our lives.
#1 – Pollution is highly unequal around the world, and so are policy ambitions
Whether pollution is increasing or decreasing, it’s clear that some regions of the world are much more polluted than other regions. People living in the most polluted places (the top quintile) breathe air that is six times more polluted than the air breathed by those living in the least polluted places (bottom quintile). That means that pollution in the most polluted places is cutting 2.7 more years off the lives of those living in them compared to those in the cleanest places.
#2 – The Global Decline in Pollution in Recent Years is No Longer Entirely Due to China
Over the past two decades, particulate pollution (PM2.5) levels have remained fairly constant for most of the world. However, since 2013, air pollution’s course has been made up of two competing regional trends. China has had staggering success in combating pollution since declaring a “war on pollution” in 2014, reducing its pollution by 39 percent from 2013 to 2021—a drop that pushed average global pollution into a decline. Meanwhile, the South Asian countries of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan saw their pollution increase by almost 10 percent from 2013 to 2021.
#3 – Consistent Wildfire Smoke’s Heavy Toll: California is Home to 9 of the Top 10 Most Polluted Counties
As record wildfires raged in areas around the world this summer—from Greece to Canada to Indonesia—California’s consistent exposure to wildfire smoke is proving its deadly toll. AQLI’s most recent report shows that out of the top 10 most polluted U.S. counties, 9 of them were in California in 2022.
#4 – While Particulate Pollution is the Greatest External Risk to Human Health Globally, Funding to Confront it Remains Largely Unbalanced
Measured in terms of life expectancy, the AQLI reveals that ambient particulate pollution (PM2.5) is consistently the world’s greatest external risk to human health. While particulate pollution is set to reduce global average life expectancy by 1.9 years, smoking, for instance, reduces global life expectancy by about 1.7 years. Child and maternal malnutrition reduces life expectancy by about 1.4 years; alcohol use by 5 months; transportation injuries from vehicle accidents and unsafe water, sanitation and handwashing, 4.8 months; and HIV/AIDS, 3.4 months.. Thus, the impact of particulate pollution on life expectancy is comparable to that of tobacco use, 1.3 times that of childhood and maternal malnutrition, 4.4 times that of high alcohol use, 5.8 times that of transport injuries like car crashes and unsafe water, and 6.7 times that of HIV/AIDS, 4.4 times that of alcohol use, 5.8 times that of transport injuries from vehicle accidents or unsafe water, sanitation and handwashing, 6.7 times that of HIV/AIDS, and 26.7 times that of nutritional deficiencies.
#5 – As the EU Tightens its Pollution Standard, Most Eastern European Countries Won’t be Complying, Cutting Their Lives Shorter than their Western Neighbors
Despite improvements in air quality over the last two decades, Europeans today are breathing starkly different air. The western portion of the continent experiences generally cleaner air compared to the eastern part, where virtually all of the populations of Poland, Belarus, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Armenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina do not meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guideline for particulate pollution (PM2.5). If particulate pollution was reduced to meet the WHO guideline, 61.3 million total years of life expectancy would be gained.
#6 – China’s air quality policies have swiftly reduced pollution, improved life expectancy
Despite significant increases in particulate pollution (PM2.5) in many regions of the world, global pollution has declined since 2013. That decline is due entirely to China’s success in steeply reducing pollution. In 2013, China experienced some of its highest pollution levels to that point, and public awareness and criticism reached new heights. The following year, at the 2014 annual meeting of the People’s Congress, Premier Li Keqiang declared a “war against pollution.”
China’s strict policy action led to a swift reduction in pollution. Particulate pollution in China declined by 41 percent between 2013 and 2022 and by 3.4 percent from 2021 to 2022 alone. Because of these air quality improvements, the average Chinese citizen can expect to live 2 years longer, provided the reductions are sustained.
#7 – Particulate Pollution is as Much of a Threat as Communicable Diseases in West Africa
The health focus in Sub-Saharan Africa has largely centered on infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria – which is supported by a $5 billion global fund. But the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) shows that the region, home to five of the top 10 most polluted countries, impacts life expectancy in a comparable and sometimes more devastating way than these other causes. Yet, it receives just $238,000 annually on the whole African continent—far less than the average price of a single-family home in the United States. That is certainly the case in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—the most polluted country in the region and sixth globally—where particulate pollution in 2022 was nearly 6.9 times higher than the World Health Organization guideline. As a result, the average resident of the DRC is losing 2.9 years off their life expectancy. That’s compared to just 3.6 months due to HIV/AIDS. Across Central and West Africa—home to 660.5 million people living in 27 countries—the average person is set to lose 1.7 years off their lives, translating to 1.9 billion total life years lost, if the current levels of pollution persist.
#8 – The Middle East and North Africa emerge as new pollution hotspots
Pollution has been on the rise in the Middle East and North Africa—2022 was no exception, with pollution increasing 13 percent compared to 2021—making these areas of the world 3.7 times more polluted than what is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The 466.5 million residents of this region stand to gain 1.3 years in life expectancy, if the pollution level is reduced to meet the WHO guideline.
#9 – When countries enforce and meet their national standards, life expectancy improves
National pollution standards are a powerful tool to reduce pollution. Yet, a third of the world’s population lives in regions that don’t meet their country’s own standards. If those countries did meet their own benchmarks, those 2.5 billion people would live an average of 1.2 years longer.
#10 – Air Pollution’s Threat to Health and the Tools to Combat It Remain Unequally Distributed Worldwide
Particulate air pollution (PM2.5) remains the world’s greatest external risk to human health, according to EPIC’s latest Air Quality Life Index report. Yet, the countries that are most impacted by air pollution lack the fundamental resources to combat it. Asia and Africa contribute 91.7 percent of life years lost due to pollution. But according to OpenAQ, just 4.6 and 3.7 percent of governments in Asia and Africa, respectively, provide fully open air quality data. That same type of information is available in 62.9 percent of Europe, the United States and Canada, which contribute only 4.2 percent of life years lost to pollution. Sustained air quality monitoring is an inexpensive way to lay critical groundwork for policy action.