We all are troubled by the high-level air pollution around us. Air pollution is killing around 7 million people globally and takes around 2-3 years out of your life expectancy. We all know the reason why air pollution is caused. If you don’t know let me explain how air pollution is caused and some solutions on how to reduce air pollution. Also, list the most polluted cities in the world
Air pollution is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, unnecessary burning of used crops, wildfires, burning of plastic and more. Now, these events are caused by us humans. There are some natural causes also, but that doesn’t rise the air pollution level to unbearable levels.
Air Pollution
What gases are present in the air when the air becomes polluted? Sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, and Carbon monoxide. These harmful gases are released from our vehicles, industries, and the waste which we are creating. Carbon Dioxide is also another pollutant. These gases are already present in our environment and our trees, plants, volcanoes, and lighting strikes release them. But the natural level is not harmful to the planet, the extra harmful gases which we are adding are causing the high level of air pollution
The current level of Air pollution has become unbearable in some parts of our world, with PM 2.5 and PM 10 rising in the air.
PM (Particular Matter) 2.5 particles that have a diameter of fewer than 2.5 micrometres (more than 100 times thinner than a human hair), PM 2.5 causes haziness in the air and is more dangerous. According to the studies, anything around or below 12 μg/m³ is considered healthy.
PM (Particular Matter) 10 any particulate matter in the air with a diameter of 10 micrometres or less, including smoke, dust, acids, and metals. These are less harmful than PM 2.5. Anything below 54.0 µg/m³ is the best way to prevent short and long-term health effects.
Latest AQI-level ranking
This is the latest AQI levels of the most polluted cities in the world recorded on AUG 28th 2022, I will update the list on monthly basis you can this site https://www.iqair.com/in-en/ for hourly updates
| Rank | Followers | AQI |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beijing, China | 203 |
| 2 | Mumbai, India | 176 |
| 3 | Delhi, India | 175 |
| 4 | Yangon, Myanmar | 166 |
| 5 | Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan | 163 |
| 6 | Lahore, Pakistan | 162 |
| 7 | Chiang Mai, Thailand | 160 |
| 8 | Dhaka, Bangladesh | 158 |
| 9 | Hanoi, Vietnam | 157 |
| 10 | Wuhan, China | 155 |
| 11 | Kathmandu, Nepal | 153 |
| 12 | Chengdu, China | 153 |
| 13 | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | 152 |
| 14 | Chongqing, China | 151 |
| 15 | Baghdad, Iraq | 133 |
| 16 | Karachi, Pakistan | 132 |
| 17 | Kolkata, India | 125 |
| 18 | Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina | 119 |
| 19 | Bangkok, Thailand | 119 |
| 20 | Guangzhou, China | 117 |
Here are the top 20 most polluted cities in the world ranked in 2021
Rank | City | 2021 AQI | 2020 AQI | 2019 AQI | 2018 AQI | 2017 AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bhiwadi, India | 106.2 | 95.5 | 83.4 | 125.4 | – |
| 2 | Ghaziabad, India | 102 | 106.6 | 110.2 | 135.2 | 144.6 |
| 3 | Hotan, China | 101.5 | 110.2 | 110.1 | 116 | 91.9 |
| 4 | Delhi, India | 96.4 | 84.1 | 98.6 | 113.5 | 108.2 |
| 5 | Jaunpur, India | 95.3 | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | Faisalabad, Pakistan | 94.2 | 73.2 | 104.6 | 130.4 | – |
| 7 | Noida, India | 91.4 | 94.3 | 97.7 | 123.6 | 134 |
| 8 | Bahawalpur, Pakistan | 91 | 78.7 | – | – | – |
| 9 | Peshawar, Pakistan | 89.6 | – | 63.9 | – | – |
| 10 | Bagpat, India | 89.1 | – | 88.6 | – | – |
| 11 | Hisar, India | 89 | 81.1 | 81 | – | – |
| 12 | Faridabad, India | 88.9 | 83.3 | 85 | 129.1 | 123 |
| 13 | Greater Noida, India | 87.5 | 89.5 | 91.3 | – | – |
| 14 | Rohtak, India | 86.9 | 74.4 | 59.7 | 81.6 | 96.7 |
| 15 | Lahore, Pakistan | 86.5 | 79.2 | 89.5 | 114.9 | 133.2 |
| 16 | Lucknow, India | 86 | 86.2 | 90.3 | 115.7 | 119.2 |
| 17 | Jind, India | 84.1 | 81.6 | 85.4 | 91.6 | 126.5 |
| 18 | Gurugram, India | 83.4 | 75.3 | 93.1 | 135.8 | 145.6 |
| 19 | Kashgar, China | 83.2 | 81 | 87.1 | 95.7 | 97.5 |
| 20 | Kanpur, India | 83.2 | 89.1 | 48.5 | 88.2 | 119.2 |
As you can see Most cities in the top 20 are from India and Asia. This is because we are a developing nation, and we still do not have solid rules for air emissions, unlike developed nations like the USA, European countries, and Australia. You can see the AQI map here.
Though one thing you might notice is that, these developed nations are the ones contributing more to climate change. But the air quality is good in developed nations, it is because they have learned to manage the air around them, and clean their surrounding. You might have heard that developed nations send their waste to poor countries, this is one of the ways they manage their surroundings.
Solutions
In India, we need to stop the burning of crops after harvesting, it is one of the most important reasons for causing air pollution in north India. We need to put regulations on industrial air pollution. Switching to renewable energy sources is also one way to reduce air pollution. We do have around 36% of energy coming from renewable, but we need to manage our emissions and waste.
This is just a solution that came top of my head. But if you search for solutions to reduce air pollution, you will get results like reducing driving, taking public transport, buying recyclable products, trying to recycle everything you consume, and consuming less. This is again the shit the companies and the governments are telling us. I agree we as a consumer have to reduce our usage, but what will a consumer do, if I don’t have an option of public transport, I don’t have the option to recycle my waste properly. What can I do?
Isn’t this the job of the government and companies to build more public transport, create more waste treatment plants and recycle more waste, create recycled products, so that we as consumers have these options to avail ourselves? But I think they will do these changes when profit aligns with these things.
Anyways it is high time now, we all need to act together not think about it.
