Air pollution still the greatest external risk to human health

The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago has released its Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) 2025 report, confirming that air pollution remains the world’s greatest external threat to human health. The findings show that if fine particulate pollution were permanently reduced to meet World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, the average person would gain 1.9 years of life expectancy—equivalent to a collective 15.1 billion life-years worldwide.

The report also highlights regional trends. Most striking: in 2023, the United States and Canada recorded the world’s largest increase in particulate pollution, fueled by the most severe wildfire season in North American history.