WHO Reports Cities in India Have Worst Air Pollution

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization released a report on urban air quality worldwide that analyzed 1,600 cities in 91 countries and found that many cities fail to meet WHO guidelines for safe levels of air pollution.

The latest report features 500 new cities compared to the last database that was analyzed in 2011. WHO officials discovered that half of the urban population in the study is exposed to 2.5 times the recommended levels of air pollution. Such evidence was supported in a previous WHO study that found 7 million people died in 2012 due to lingering effects of air pollution. A total of 3.7 million of those people were under the age of 60.

The WHO bases their air quality recommendations on the concentration of particulate matter (PM), which are extremely small particles and liquid droplets. Levels of particulate matter should not exceed 10 micrograms per square meter over the course of a year. Earlier this year, Beijing recorded levels over 400 micrograms per square meter over the course of 24-hour period.

Despite this bad news, cities worldwide have been taking appropriate measures to mitigate the problem of air pollution. The United States is cutting greenhouse gas emissions and plans to reach a goal by 2020. China changed their environmental law last week to impose strict penalties on companies that exceed pollution restrictions. Many countries face difficult decisions in switching to different sources of energy that are more efficient.

In the long term, these measures would be beneficial to nearly everyone in society. The official Earth Day website urges governments to "rethink old conventions, improve energy efficiency, and invest in green technology." Inefficient electricity grids and dirty power plants both waste money and worsen pollution, whereas new sources of energy would create more businesses and new jobs for ailing economies worldwide.

And all of this begins with further developing the urban landscape. The WHO report states, "measures include ensuring that houses are energy efficient, that urban development is compact and well served by public transport routes, that street design is appealing and safe for pedestrians and cyclists, and waste is well managed."

You can read more about the WHO report on urban air pollution in this BBC News article as well as this Reuters article.