GENEVA: India has four of the 10 cities in the world with the worst air pollution, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
But while WHO experts acknowledge India faces a "huge challenge", many countries are so bad that they have no monitoring system and cannot be included in its ranking.
The dirtiest air was recorded at Zabol in Iran, which suffers from months of dust storms in the summer, and which clocked a so-called PM2.5 measure of 217. The next pair were Indian, Gwalior, Allahabad, followed by Riyadh and Al Jubail in Saudi Arabia, then two more Indian cities, Patna and Raipur.
India's capital New Delhi was the survey's 11th worst city, measured by the amount of particulate matter under 2.5 micrograms found in every cubic metre of air. Delhi had an annual average PM2.5 measurement of 122. Tiny particulate matter can cause lung cancer, strokes and heart disease over the long term, as well as trigger symptoms such as heart attacks that kill more rapidly. The WHO says more than 7 million premature deaths occur every year due to air pollution, 3 million of them due to outdoor air quality.
New Delhi was ranked worst in 2014 with a PM2.5 reading of 153. It has since tried to tackle its toxic air by limiting the use of private cars on the road for short periods.
Maria Neira, head of public health, environmental and social determinants of health at the WHO, praised India's government for developing a national plan to deal with the problem when others have been unable to.
"Probably some of the worst cities that are the most polluted ones in the world are not included in our list, just because they are so bad that they do not even have a good system of monitoring of air quality, so it's unfair to compare or give a rank," she said.
Common causes of air pollution include too many cars, especially diesel-fuelled vehicles, the heating and cooling of big buildings, waste management, agriculture and the use of coal or diesel generators for power.
On average, pollution levels worsened by 8 percent between 2008 and 2013, although most cities in rich countries improved the state of their air over the same period.
The WHO data, a survey of 3,000 urban areas, shows only 2 percent of cities in poorer countries have air quality that meets WHO standards, while 44 percent of richer cities do.
The WHO database has almost doubled in size since 2014, and the trend towards more transparency translated into more action to deal with the problem, Neira said. However, there was still very sparse data on Africa, she added.
India has four of 10 worst polluted cities
India has four of 10 worst polluted cities
Greenland dispute ‘strategic wake-up call for all of Europe,’ says Macron
- Macron said the “awakening” must focus “on asserting our European sovereignty, on our contribution to Arctic security”
- After European pushback, Trump backed down on the threat to take Greenland by military force
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday a standoff with the United States over Greenland was “a strategic wake-up call for all of Europe,” speaking alongside the leaders of Denmark and the Danish autonomous territory.
European powers have sought to join forces to show they can stand on their own feet after US President Donald Trump has roiled the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize Greenland.
Speaking alongside the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Macron said the “awakening” must focus “on asserting our European sovereignty, on our contribution to Arctic security, on the fight against foreign interference and disinformation, and on the fight against global warming.”
He reaffirmed to Frederiksen and Nielsen France’s solidarity and “its commitment to your sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“France will continue to defend these principles in accordance with the United Nations Charter,” he added, expressing his support for increased NATO engagement in the Arctic.
Macron said some words in the Indigenous Greenlandic language, and then switching to the Danish language told the premier France would “be side-by-side” with the “Kingdom of Denmark.”
After European pushback, Trump backed down on the threat to take Greenland by military force.
Speaking in Paris earlier Wednesday, Frederiksen said that Europe needed to improve its defenses “now” to become less reliant on the United States for military protection.
On Monday, NATO chief Mark Rutte told EU lawmakers to “keep on dreaming” if they thought Europe could defend itself without the US.
In response to Rutte’s comments, Frederiksen conceded it would be “extremely difficult” for Europe to defend itself right now.
“Because when you look at intelligence, nuclear weapons, and so on, we depend on the US,” she said at Sciences Po university.
“But I think we’re able to do more than what is being said publicly right now.”
As for a 2035 target to ramp up spending on NATO, she said: “I’m sorry to say it would be too late.”
“I think rearming ourselves now is the most important thing.”
NATO members committed to raising defense and security spending last year to five percent of their economic output, following on from an earlier target of two percent by 2024, after pressure from the US government.
Fredriksen said Europe had made a “big mistake” by cutting military budgets in the past.
