Delhi remained the most polluted capital city in the world. Across India, average annual PM2.5 (particulate matter) levels are higher in 2019 than in 2019, according to a report by IQ Air, a Swiss air quality technology company, specializing in protection against air pollution, and air quality. Develops monitoring. And air cleaning products.
The concentration level of Delhi was 84.1 µg / m³, mainly based on data from the Central Pollution Control Board, which was a 15% improvement from 98.6 ³g / m³ recorded last year and was responsible for the lockdown. Although pollution levels were higher – 51.9 ³g / m higher this year compared to 58.9 ³g / m only last year – India was only the fifth most polluted country compared to last year, when its air was the third most toxic.
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The report noted that Bangladesh, Pakistan, Mongolia and Afghanistan were the countries with worse average PM2.5 levels than India this year. China ranked 11th this year, a drop from the 14th the previous year in the table of 106 countries evaluated. Pollution levels are weighted on average, meaning that the population of a country affects the reported pollution values.
In 2020, 84% of all monitored countries saw improvement in air quality. Other reforms in major cities in 2019 include an 11% drop in Beijing, a 13% drop in Chicago, a 17% drop in Paris, and a 16% drop in London and Seoul.
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However, of the 106 monitored countries, only 24 met the World Health Organization’s annual guidelines for PM 2.5, the report underlined.
When ranked among cities, Hotan was the most polluted in China with an average concentration of 110.2 citiesg / m Ghaziabad, followed by 106 of Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad in 106 most polluted cities. 13 were in India.
Despite being an epidemic year, 2020 was a particularly severe year for burning agriculture, an illegal but common practice in which farmers fire crop residues after harvest. Farm fires in Punjab increased by 46.5% in 2019.
Air pollution is the world’s largest environmental health threat, contributing to more than 7 million deaths per year globally (three times more than COVID-19 deaths).
In 2020, the proliferation of COVID-19 gave rise to new concerns as to the risk of particle pollution, an increase in vulnerability to the virus and its effect on health was observed. Initial reports suggest that the ratio of COVID-19 deaths to the risk of air pollution ranges from 7% to 33%.
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