Smart Air is dedicated to providing free educational content on the dangers of air pollution and helping people breathe safely. We analyzed data published by the World Air Quality Index project and put together the 2024 updated ranking of the “25 Cities with the Worst Air Pollution in the World”.
Air pollution remains a prevalent health crisis around the world, with many cities recording dangerous levels of air pollution; some over 15 times the recommended annual limit of 5µg/m3 by the World Health Organisation. Studies have found evidence that air pollution levels are positively correlated with the risk of disease from stroke, lung cancer, heart disease, and respiratory diseases.
Read More: The 25 Least Polluted Cities in the World?
Analysis
Of the 25 most air-polluted cities in the world, 10 were located in China, 8 in India, and 2 in Pakistan.
The number of Indian cities on the top 25 list decreased from 9 to 8 since 2023. China saw a significant jump from 4 to 10 cities joining our annual ranking this year.
Read More: 20 Most Polluted Cities in India (2024 Rankings)
All of the ranked cities had average air quality many times above the WHO recommended annual limit. Many of the cities with the worst air quality are located in similar geographical areas on the globe. Other countries featured on the list in this 2024 update include Bangladesh, Iraq, Tajikistan, Nepal, and UAE.
This article serves as a stark reminder of the pressing issue faced by urban populations worldwide. With Dhaka, Bangladesh, topping the list at 114.5 µg/m3 of PM2.5, and several other cities closely following suit, it’s evident that air quality remains a significant concern in densely populated regions.
Data bias
Africa and South America have fewer public air quality monitoring stations, so it is difficult to know the pollution levels on the ground in these regions.
The fact that so many Indian cities are featured on the list is a testament to the fact that they have large and wide air pollution monitoring networks set up to detect pollution levels.
How Air Pollution Was Measured to Find Most Polluted Cities in the World
These rankings of the 2024 most polluted cities in the world use data on average PM2.5 pollution levels from the 12 months before the publication date.
These small particles are under 2.5 micrograms in width and are considered to be one of the moredangerous pollutantsdue to their ability to enter deep into the lungs and bloodstream.
Open Data
The PM2.5 AQI 2023 world pollution data used for the rankings of the world’s worst polluted cities are openly available. To download the complete raw data visit https://aqicn.org/data-platform/covid19/.
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Bangladesh, with an average PM2. 5 concentration of 83.3 µg/m³, ranks as the most polluted country. This pollution level is nearly eight times the WHO's annual exposure recommendation, clearly posing severe health risks to its population.
Bangladesh, with an average PM2. 5 concentration of 83.3 µg/m³, ranks as the most polluted country. This pollution level is nearly eight times the WHO's annual exposure recommendation, clearly posing severe health risks to its population.
Science has proven that the purest air in the world is measured in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. The importance of clean air for quality of life and lifespan has been scientifically verified. Air pollution concentrations in Lapland are typically about half compared to southern Finland.
Los Angeles-Long Beach, California. The Los Angeles-Long Beach area is the country's worst city for ozone pollution, or smog. A combination of factors, including heavy traffic, industry and wildfires have contributed to high levels of smog.
What are the main causes of air pollution in Florida? With such a huge population coupled with large amounts of industry, Florida would see much of its pollution arise from these two factors. The mass movement of people requires the use of vehicles, which in turn requires some form of combustion to take place.
The world's least polluted countries are a mixture between countries and island countries, with the top three being Cape Verde, the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) and Finland. Despite having low levels of PM2. 5, none of these countries are the least populated areas on Earth.
According to the new report, people in the U.S. experienced the most days with “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” air quality due to particle pollution in 25 years. In total, the report finds that 131 million people (39%) are living in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution.
Vehicle emissions, fuel oils and natural gas to heat homes, by-products of manufacturing and power generation, particularly coal-fueled power plants, and fumes from chemical production are the primary sources of human-made air pollution.
In summary, the mass of Earth's atmosphere is distributed approximately as follows: 50% is below 5.6 km (18,000 ft). 90% is below 16 km (52,000 ft). 99.99997% is below 100 km (62 mi; 330,000 ft), the Kármán line.
Iceland. The country has one of the cleanest airs as it's the least population density and the greenery combines with the scenic beauty makes this one of the most popular travel destinations for people. This is also a widely popular shooting location. It is located in Northern Europe and is a famous travel destination ...
RED: Substantial increases in sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions are likely to occur in the key emerging economies in the coming decades. Compared to the year 2000, emission levels of SO2 are projected to be 90% higher and NOx 50% higher in 2050.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), some of the worlds most polluted cities are Karachi, Pakistan; New Delhi, India; Beijing, China; Lima, Peru; and Cairo, Egypt. However, many developed nations also have air pollution problems. Los Angeles, California, is nicknamed Smog City.
Air pollutants such as ground-level ozone tend to be higher in the summer due to sunny, hot weather that supports ozone formation, while pollutants like particulate matter and carbon monoxide tend to increase in cold winter months due to heating and the impact of inversion layers.
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Introduction: My name is Cheryll Lueilwitz, I am a sparkling, clean, super, lucky, joyous, outstanding, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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