In the News
January 30, 2019
The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) is developed by Michael Greenstone, professor of economics at the University of Chicago, and his team at EPIC, and calculates the effect of air quality on life expectancy. In a study released last November, EPIC had highlighted how the current pollution levels would impact the life expectancy of people across the country. It has clarified that the latest study provides a real-time indicator of how much life-expectancy can be salvaged or ‘increased’ based on the previous study.
“The payoffs from the successful implementation of NCAP could be substantial, with people in the most polluted areas like Delhi living almost three years longer,” said Greenstone, who directs EPIC. “For this reason, the programme has the potential to become a historic moment in Indian environmental policy.” The AQLI report, titled India’s ‘War Against Pollution’: An Opportunity for Longer Lives, also shows that if India reduced particulate pollution by 25%, the country would be in compliance with its national standard, and be about 30% of the way in meeting the World Health Organization’s guidelines for safe level of exposure. The study singled out 102 cities that have pollution levels higher than the national average.