Air Pollution (2023) Card

According to the **World Health Organisation (WHO)**, air pollution poses a major threat to health across the globe. Almost all of the global population (99%) are exposed to air pollution levels that put them at increased risk for diseases including heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer and pneumonia. WHO monitors the exposure levels and health impacts (i.e. deaths, DALYs) of air pollution at the national, regional and global level from ambient (outdoor) and household air pollution. Such estimates are used for official reporting like the world health statistics, and the Sustainable Development Goals ¹. The two most widely cited, and regularly updated estimates for the death toll from air pollution come from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the IHME’s Global Burden of Disease study. Their latest estimates are very close to each other – they estimate 7 million and 6.7 million deaths per year, respectively ². Therefore, according to official sources, it is estimated that **6.7-7 million people die every year** from exposure to ambient and household air pollution ¹². Source: Conversation with Bing, 16/09/2023 (1) Air pollution data portal - World Health Organisation (WHO). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/air-pollution. (2) Data Review: How many people die from air pollution?. https://ourworldindata.org/data-review-air-pollution-deaths. (3) 9 out of 10 people worldwide breathe polluted air, but more countries .... https://www.who.int/news/item/02-05-2018-9-out-of-10-people-worldwide-breathe-polluted-air-but-more-countries-are-taking-action. (4) Pollution responsible for one in six deaths across planet, scientists .... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/17/pollution-responsible-one-in-six-deaths-across-planet.