A report by Annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) has revealed that Pakistan is one of the six countries that are bearing the brunt of pollution. The report was published by the Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) of Chicago University.
The other five countries included in this list besides Pakistan are India, Bangladesh Indonesia, Nigeria and China.
The report further elaborated that despite China’s great efforts, pollution still poses the biggest external threat to human health, warning that Asian and African countries are the most effected due to increasing pollution.
World Health organisation (WHO) has recommended a certain level of PM2.5 (a hazardous airborne particle) in the air, if we are able to maintain this level of pollution, the average life expectancy will increase by 2.3 years globally, adding 17.8 billion life years altogether.
According to the AQLI report, the average global pollution levels have come down in the last decade, and the major contribution has come from China. China’s “war on pollution” has successfully decreased the PM2.5 levels by 40% in the past 10 years.
AQLI’s Director, Christa Hasenkopf says, “While China has had remarkable success in its war against air pollution, the trend in other parts of the world is going in the opposite direction.”
PM2.5 levels have increased by 10% in South Asia since 2013, bringing down the average life expectancy by 5 years. Also, the Southeast Asia is considered to have “unsafe levels of pollution”, cutting life expectancy by 2-3 years.
Hasenkopf added, “We haven’t turned the corner on air pollution yet, though China’s example shows us that the issue is a tractable one.”
