New Delhi retains title of world鈥檚 most polluted city
Print Edition
India鈥檚 New Delhi was the world鈥檚 most polluted capital for the third straight year in 2020, according to IQAir, a Swiss group that measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5.
The country was home to 35 of the world鈥檚 50 most polluted cities, according to IQAir鈥檚 2020 World Air Quality Report, which gathered data for 106 countries.
The findings were based on the country鈥檚 annual average of particulate matter PM2.5, airborne particles with less than 2.5 microns in diameter. Prolonged exposure to PM2.5 can lead to deadly diseases, including cancer and cardiac problems.
In 2020, New Delhi鈥檚 average annual concentration of PM2.5 in a cubic meter of air was 84.1.
Damaging airborne particles caused an estimated 54,000 premature deaths in New Delhi in the year 2020, according to a recent study by Greenpeace Southeast Asia Analysis and IQAir.
Despite an 11 percent reduction in the annual average of PM2.5 levels due to nationwide coronavirus lockdown curbs imposed last year, India emerged as the world鈥檚 most polluted country after Bangladesh and Pakistan.
鈥淎ir pollution in India is still dangerously high,鈥 the report said.
In 2020, South Asia endured some of the world鈥檚 worst air quality on record.
Last year, Delhi鈥檚 20 million residents, who breathed some of the cleanest air on record in summer months due to the lockdown curbs, battled toxic air in winter, following a sharp increase in farm fire incidents in the neighboring state of Punjab.
As the burning of crop stubble peaked, Delhi鈥檚 PM2.5 levels averaged 144 micrograms per cubic meter in November and 157 micrograms per cubic meter in December, exceeding the World Health Organization鈥檚 annual exposure guideline by more than 14 times.
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