Latest news with #WorldAirQualityReport
Time of India
5 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
‘Isotopic study of dust particles undertaken to understand their impact on environment'
With several cities in the state being hotspots of air pollution, Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) has initiated some necessary steps to reduce the load and ensure a safe environment for people. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In an exclusive interview by B K Mishra, BSPCB chairman Devendra Kumar Shukla has said the board has recently launched an isotopic study of dust particles in collaboration with National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, for identifying their source. Excerpts: Bihar is ranked among one of the most polluted regions in the world. Why? Some pockets of Bihar are certainly considered hotspots of air pollution mainly due to the large concentration of dust particles in atmosphere, but due to the recent initiatives of the BSPCB, the position has improved considerably. Recently released World Air Quality Report, 2025, by Swiss firm IQAir has shown signs of improvement in several towns. Notably, Patna's position has improved significantly, dropping from 20th place in 2023 to 37th this year. What initiatives have been taken by the board to combat air pollution? Most recently, the board, in collaboration with National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), has undertaken an isotopic study of dust particles in the air to understand their sources, transport and impact on the environment. The NIO has already started collecting samples of dust particles from Patna region in the first phase. After collecting samples from different parts of the state, the work will focus on using isotopic ratios, particularly Sr and Nd isotopes, to trace the origins of the dust particles, especially those transported from river Ganga. Q. You are also making some studies in collaboration with the IITs? A. Earlier, last year, the board started the study of dust particles in three most polluted cities of the state, namely, Patna, Muzaffarpur and Gaya, in collaboration with the IITs. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The study will identify the "seasonal mass concentration level of PM2.5 and PM10 in ambient air" of the extended urban areas of the thee cities. PM 2.5 and PM 10 are minute particles present in the air, and exposure to these is harmful to health. Real-time source apportionment studies help identify factors, such as vehicles, dust, biomass burning, and emissions from industries, responsible for an increase in air pollution in an area. The study on dust particles of Patna region is likely to be completed this year. What about water pollution in the state? Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali scheme of the state has not only provided the people with drinking water supply but also enhanced the rate of groundwater recharge. About 1.85 lakh hectare area has benefited under eco-restoration scheme with focus on watershed development. Further, more than 3,500 ahar pynes (a traditional water management and irrigation system) will be restored under the fourth agricultural road map of the state. All these will result in the total groundwater reserve of 34.15 BCM, of which 30.95 BCM can be extracted. At present, only 14.1 BCM of groundwater is being extracted. Hence, there is no problem of groundwater pollution in 473 blocks of the state. Do you think groundwater is being misused in urban areas? As many areas of the state are water-surplus, people are in habit of misutilising this resource. But, its overexploitation can be checked by introducing water meter in the supply system. People will try to save water, if they have to pay for it.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Report reveals 2024's most polluted cities, countries: Which US cities made the list?
The South Asian countries of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are among the most polluted countries in the world while Australia, New Zealand and Iceland are among the least polluted countries, a new study by IQAir had determined. IQAir, a Swiss technology company that studies air quality and pollution and specializes in protection against airborne pollutants, released its seventh annual World Air Quality Report Tuesday, which highlighted "alarming trends of the world's most polluted countries, territories, and regions in 2024." All but one of the world's top 20 most polluted cities last year were in Asia, with the majority of these cities – 13 – in India, the world's most populous country. Neighboring Pakistan followed with four of the most polluted cities, with China and Kazakhstan having one each. Data from more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across 8,954 locations in 138 countries, territories and regions were analyzed by IQAir's air quality scientists for this year's report, IQAir said. The Excerpt: Could the ocean be our solution to climate change? "Air pollution remains the greatest environmental threat to human health," the report said, adding 99% percent of the global population lives in areas that do not meet recommended air quality guideline levels, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Air pollution is also the second leading global risk factor for death, and the second leading risk factor for deaths among children under five, following malnutrition, because of its significant impact on respiratory and developmental health, as per the WHO. "Air pollution remains a critical threat to both human health and environmental stability, yet vast populations remain unaware of their exposure levels," Global CEO of IQAir Frank Hammes said in a statement. "Air quality data saves lives. It creates much needed awareness, informs policy decisions, guiding public health interventions, and empowers communities to take action to reduce air pollution and protect future generations." Only 17% of global cities meet WHO air pollution guidelines, with 126 countries and regions out of 138 exceeding the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline value of 5 micrograms/cubic meters. Here's a look at which countries and regions are the most polluted and which are the least, including in the United States. While Ontario, California was the most polluted city in the U.S. in 2024, the most polluted major U.S. city was Los Angeles, according to the report. In fact, the top five most polluted cities in the U.S. were in California. Here a list of the 10 most polluted cities in the U.S.: Ontario, California Bloomington, California Huntington Park, California San Bernardino, California Fontana, California Visalia, California Mission, Texas Glendora, California Hanford, California Conroe, Texas Map: How is the air quality near me? Track AQI in the U.S. Seattle, Washington was the cleanest major city in the U.S., though Waimea, Hawaii was the least polluted regional city in the U.S., which overall ranked 116 on the World Air Quality Report 2024. Here a list of the 10 least polluted cities in the U.S.: Waimea, Hawaii Ocean View, Hawaii Seaside, California Stanwood, Washington Mountain View, Hawaii Lander, Wyoming Astoria, Oregon Tillamook, Oregon Silverdale, Washington Kihei, Hawaii The twenty most polluted countries in the world are: Chad: More than 18 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline. Bangladesh: More than 15 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline. Pakistan: More than 14 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline. Democratic Republic of the Congo: More than 11 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline. India: More than 10 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline. Tajikistan Nepal Uganda Rwanda Burundi Nigeria Egypt Iraq Ghana Indonesia Gambia United Arab Emirates Bahrain Uzbekistan Qatar Byrnihat in eastern India was the most polluted metropolitan area of 2024, with India home to six of the nine most polluted global cities. The region of Central and South Asia, meanwhile, is home to the top seven most polluted cities in the world. Here's a list of the 10 most polluted cities in the world: Byrnihat, India Delhi, India Karaganda, Kazakhstan Mullanpur, India Lahore, Pakistan Faridabad, India N'Djamena, Chad Loni, India New Delhi, India Multan, Pakistan Only seven countries met WHO's annual average PM2.5 guideline. These include: Australia Bahamas Barbados Estonia Grenada Iceland New Zealand The cleanest cities in the world in 2024 include: Mayaguez, Puerto Rico Nieuwoudtville, South Africa Dexter, Oregon, U.S. Haines, Alaska, U.S. Chu, Kazakhstan Hawaiian Ocean View, Hawaii, U.S. Waimea, Hawaii, U.S. Volcano, Hawaii, U.S. Emu River, Australia Kapaau, Hawaii, U.S. While there has been notable progress in expanding air quality monitoring across various countries, regions, and territories over the past 12 months with low-cost air quality monitors — used by citizen scientists, researchers, community advocates, and local organizations — proven to be effective tools for data collection, "considerable gaps still exist in government-operated regulatory systems in many parts of the world," IQAir said. For example, in Africa, real-time, publicly accessible air quality monitoring data is so scarce that there is only one monitoring station for every 3.7 million people. "The World Air Quality Report underscores how this urgent, data-driven approach is crucial in driving policy changes and collective efforts to reduce pollution for future generations," IQAir said in its report. Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@ and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New report reveals 2024's most polluted countries and cities
Zawya
12-03-2025
- General
- Zawya
Majority of the world has polluted air: Report
Geneva: Most of the global population is breathing dirty air, with only 17% of cities meeting air pollution norms, a report has found. The findings were published by Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir on Tuesday as part of its World Air Quality Report for 2024. Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Congo and India were among the five most polluted countries in the world. Meanwhile, only seven countries — Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Estonia, Grenada, Iceland, and New Zealand — met the annual average PM2.5 guideline established by the World Health Organization. The company's analysis is based on data collected from 40,000 air quality monitoring stations in 138 countries. India accounted for 13 out of the top 20 polluted cities across the globe, according to the report. Byrnihat, a small industrial town situated in the country's northeast, was the most polluted metropolitan area in the world. Delhi continued to remain the most polluted capital city globally. The report said that several parts of the world were not equipped with the monitoring required for more precise data, meaning that the real amount of air pollution could be much more. For instance, it highlighted that in Africa there was only one monitoring station for every 3.7 million people. "There has been notable progress in expanding air quality monitoring across various countries, regions, and territories over the past 12 months. However, considerable gaps still exist in government-operated regulatory systems in many parts of the world," the report said. Meanwhile, Oceania was listed as the cleanest region on the planet, with 57% of the cities meeting the air quality guidelines. © Muscat Media Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Express Tribune
11-03-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
Pakistan third most polluted country
Pakistan was ranked the third most polluted country in the world in 2024 while Chad topped the list, according to the annual World Air Quality Report published by Swiss air technology company IQAir on Tuesday. According to the report, Chad remained the most polluted country overall, followed by Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and India. Pakistan's average concentration of PM2.5 particles – those less than 2.5 microns in diameter — was 73.7 micrograms per cubic metre (?g/m³), nearly 15 times the safe levels set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). However, despite the record-breaking smog, Pakistan's overall air pollution levels remained unchanged from 2023. In the Central and South Asia region, Pakistan ranked second, just behind Bangladesh, with Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Sialkot among the 15 most polluted cities in the region. The report pointed out that Pakistan faces persistently high levels of pollution from multiple sources, including biomass burning, industrial activities, vehicular emissions, brick kilns and construction dust. Compared to 2023, Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore saw a rise in their annual average pollution levels, while Faisalabad's increase was negligible. On the other hand, Karachi's PM2.5 readings declined, dropping from over 55 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023 to around 46 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024. The report also revealed that five Pakistani cities recorded pollution levels exceeding 200 microns in November. The study analysed data from "more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across 8,954 locations in 138 countries, territories and regions," according to IQAir's air quality scientists. In Pakistan, nearly seven in ten people suffered health problems due to smog, according to a separate report by international insights firm Ipsos. In terms of PM2.5 exposure, Chad's pollution levels were 18 times higher than WHO safe limits while India's levels were 10 times above the WHO-recommended threshold. Despite an improvement in 2024, India still accounted for six of the world's nine most polluted cities. The report named Byrnihat as the "most polluted metropolitan area of 2024", while New Delhi was ranked the world's most polluted capital, followed closely by N'Djamena in Chad. Other highly polluted capitals included Dhaka, Bangladesh (3rd place), Kinshasa, DR Congo (4th place) and Islamabad, Pakistan (5th place). Byrnihat, an industrial town on the border of Meghalaya and Assam, recorded an average PM2.5 level of 128.2 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024, which is more than 25 times the WHO recommended level of five micrograms. Across India, PM2.5 concentrations averaged 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre, ten times above WHO safety levels. While South Asia continues to grapple with extreme pollution, Oceania was the cleanest region in 2024.
The National
11-03-2025
- The National
UAE breathes cleaner air, as levels of major pollutant fall
Levels of a major pollutant in the UAE's air have dropped significantly in a year, according to a report that ranks countries by air quality. While concentrations of the smallest type of particulate matter remain above levels recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the 2024 World Air Quality Report from Swiss company IQAir reveals that they have fallen by more than a fifth. As a result of the improvement, the UAE is now ranked 17th globally in terms of countries with the worst air pollution, an improvement of 10 places since the 2023 report, which focuses on levels of PM2.5 or particulate matter up to 2.5 micrometres in diameter. 'In 2024, air quality in West Asia [which includes the Middle East] showed moderate improvements, with PM2.5 levels dropping in each country across the region, although air pollution remains a significant challenge,' the report said. 'The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait saw the most notable reductions in PM2.5 concentrations, with the UAE experiencing a 22 per cent drop and Kuwait a 24 per cent reduction.' The UAE's concentration of PM2.5 has fallen from 43 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre) to 33.7 µg/m3 in a year. The WHO recommends a maximum of 5 µg/m3, a figure met by just seven of the 138 countries analysed in the report. Habiba Al Marashi, chairwoman of Emirates Environmental Group, said that the authorities in every emirate monitored air quality and that multiple steps had been taken to achieve improvements. She indicated that slight reductions in the amount of traffic may have contributed to the UAE's better performance. 'The increased use of public transport has helped,' she told The National. 'Even putting the [Salik] toll on the main streets has helped in reducing it a little bit. Maybe it deters people from making unnecessary trips.' Smart transport technologies make route-finding more efficient and 'reduce wasted time and unnecessary routes', Ms Al Marashi said. Another factor is the 'increased number of trees that are being planted' and the growth in green space. The ability of parks and gardens to cut air pollution has been established by research, with a study from China in 2023 finding that more green space 'significantly decreases the PM2.5 concentration'. Other research published this year suggested that an increase in the area covered by parks and gardens may have caused a slight reduction in Dubai's temperatures. Other Gulf nations have PM2.5 levels between 25 and 32 µg/m3, while Iraq is West Asia's most polluted country, with a figure of 38.4 µg/m3. Diana Francis, who heads the Environmental and Geophysical Sciences Lab at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, said that, since 2010, the UAE had experienced a decrease in the levels in the air of aerosols – all types of dust and pollution. 'Changes in land cover use and more built environment is the major contributor to these trends, in addition to the increase in rainfall, which helps to clean the air of suspended particles.' she said. However, Dr Francis said that while there may have been falls in the levels of particulate matter, this cannot be said of gaseous pollutants such as carbon monoxide, ozone and nitrogen oxides. 'Stricter policies on pollutant emissions need to be put in place given the big negative impact of these pollutants on human health and crop health,' she said. 'We still see on our roads trucks and buses that emit huge black smoke clouds, for example. The same goes for cruise [ships] docked at the ports. There are still many areas where improvements can be introduced.' The small size of PM2.5 mean that they reach into the deepest part of the lungs and can enter the bloodstream. Short and long-term health effects, including heart disease, lung cancer and diabetes, are linked to the pollutants. 'When the air pollution is quite high, we notice a lot of hospital admissions because of chronic lung disease and heart attacks. Chest infections and asthma attacks are more common, especially when pollution is very high,' said Kamran Siddiqi, a medical doctor and professor in public health at the University of York in the UK. The most polluted countries in the world are Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and India, which have PM2.5 concentrations of between 50 and 92 µg/m3. In Central and South Asia nearly one-third of cities have average PM2.5 concentrations more than 10 times the maximum recommended by the WHO, the report said. 'While governments have implemented measures to curb pollution, challenges persist due to policy enforcement gaps, rapid urbanisation, and the continued reliance on polluting fuel sources,' it said. Prof Siddiqi said that in South Asia, in addition to pollution from traffic and industry, the burning by farmers of stubble in fields was a major pollution source. 'It's particularly a problem in Punjab, which covers both India and Pakistan,' he said. 'In Bangladesh, it's primarily fumes coming out of factories and traffic.' He said that enforcing laws banning stubble burning was difficult, because the activity happened over a wide area. But, he noted that some cities in the region were trying to clean their air by, for example, introducing electric buses. Emerging technology also allows individuals to measure their exposure which helps people to travel on routes or at times of day that are less polluted, he said. Bharat Pankhania, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School in the UK, said that many health issues caused by air pollution took a long time to emerge and that poorer people were often most heavily exposed. 'Many of the developing nations of the world have a younger-age population,' he said. 'With that younger-age population exposed to high levels of air pollution, there are problems to come many decades on. The problems of air pollution are not necessarily immediate. You will have in future more people with illness because they've been exposed to that pollution when they were younger. It's imperative that national and local governments do all they can to improve air quality.'
