30.12.19 Polluted air affects 92% of global population, says WHO
Nine out of 10 people on the planet breathe polluted air, even outdoors, the World Health Organisation said. Some 92% of the population live in places where air pollution exceeds WHO limits, which contributed to lung cancer, heart disease, and strokes. The south-east Asia and western Pacific regions account for nearly two out of every three such deaths, it said, with poorer countries "getting worse". Around nine million deaths every year are linked to outdoor air pollution. When "indoor" air pollution - which includes pollutants like wood smoke and cooking fires - is added, air pollution is linked to one in every nine deaths worldwide, the WHO said. The air quality model used in the data measures the smallest particles, less than 2.5 micrometres across - which can enter the bloodstream and reach the brain. Credit" THE YEARS PROJECT