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Cities with the worst air pollution in 2024
Breathing in bad air can promote the onset of stroke, lung cancer, heart disease, and respiratory disorders
© Getty Images
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 99% of the global population breathes unclean air, and air pollution causes seven million premature deaths a year. Indeed, air pollution remains a prevalent health crisis around the world.
PM2.5 concentration (measured as micrograms per cubic meter, or µg/m3), which refers to inhalable particulate matter with a diameter equal to or less than 2.5 micrometers, poses the greatest health threat and is often used as a metric in legal air quality standards. WHO sets a recommended annual limit of 5µg/m3 as an indicator of clean air. However, many cities are recording dangerous levels of air pollution, in some cases 15 times above safe levels!
Using average PM2.5 levels, the Air Quality Index (AQI) project has recently put together the 2024 updated ranking of the 25 cities with the worst air pollution in the world. As a general guide, air quality with a PM2.5 (μg/m3) of between 0-12.0 is considered good; 12.1-35.4 is moderate; 35.5-55.5 is unhealthy for sensitive groups; 55.6-150.4 is unhealthy; PM2.5 150.5-250.4 is very unhealthy; and 250.5 or greater is hazardous.
Are you holding your breath? Click through and discover the world’s most polluted cities.
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