Only seven countries met WHO air quality standards last year. Chad and Bangladesh topped the list of the most polluted nations, exceeding standards by over fifteen times. The U.S.’s closure of its global air quality monitoring program has heightened concerns about pollution data reliability, especially in developing countries.
In 2023, only seven countries adhered to the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards, as per new data. The United States’ recent discontinuation of global air quality monitoring has intensified the struggle against smog. According to Swiss monitoring firm IQAir, Chad and Bangladesh were identified as the most polluted nations, with smog levels exceeding WHO guidelines by over fifteen times.
Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia, and Iceland were the only countries rated positively by IQAir. Significant data deficiencies, particularly in Asia and Africa, obscure the global air quality landscape. Many developing nations previously depended on air quality measurements from U.S. embassy sensors, a resource now compromised due to budget cuts, which removed seventeen years of data from official monitoring platforms, including readings from Chad.
Christi Chester-Schroeder, IQAir’s air quality science manager, noted, “Most countries have a few other data sources… it’s going to impact Africa significantly, because oftentimes these are the only sources of publicly available real-time air quality monitoring data.”
Chad, the most polluted country in 2022, faced issues related to Sahara dust and uncontrolled agricultural burning, with PM2.5 concentrations reaching 91.8 mg/cu m last year. The WHO recommends a maximum of 5 mg/cu m, a standard met by merely 17% of cities. India ranked fifth overall in pollution levels, with average PM2.5 dropping to 50.6 mg/cu m, while accounting for a large number of the most polluted cities.
Climate change is increasingly exacerbating pollution issues, as noted by Chester-Schroeder, who cited that rising temperatures contribute to longer and more severe forest fires globally. Christa Hasenkopf from the University of Chicago’s EPIC warned that at least 34 nations will face a decline in reliable pollution data following the U.S. monitoring program’s closure, emphasizing that the program had previously enhanced air quality and public health in monitored cities. “(It) is a giant blow to air quality efforts worldwide,” she stated.
The latest data reveals a worrying trend in global air quality, with only seven nations meeting WHO standards, predominantly fueled by the cessation of U.S. monitoring programs. Countries like Chad and Bangladesh face extreme pollution levels, while developing nations particularly suffer from data gaps. As air quality deteriorates globally, the impact of climate change continues to exacerbate these conditions, diminishing efforts to ensure public health and environmental safety.
Original Source: www.firstpost.com
