In the News
August 12, 2020
While Poland has the highest levels of air pollution in Europe, according to the newly released Air Quality Life Index – an international ranking that charts air quality around the world – it also had the most to gain if pollution levels were reduced.
The index, drawn up by researchers from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, is one of the first studies to quantify the causal relationship between long-term human exposure to air pollution and life expectancy, charting air pollution developments in Europe over 20 years.
And despite Poland’s poor scoring for air quality, the report says that if pollution levels met the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guideline of 10μg/m³, residents in the capital of Warsaw would add 1.2 years to their life expectancy, with a potential 0.8 increase nationwide.