Only 7 countries met WHO air quality standards: Data

Only seven countries met World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards in 2024, with Chad and Bangladesh being the world’s most polluted countries, according to data released by Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir on March 11.

IQAir said that the seven countries include Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia, and Iceland.

The report said that Chad and Bangladesh had average smog levels more than 15 times higher than WHO guidelines amid concerns by researchers that dealing with smog is likely to get harder after the United States shut down its global monitoring efforts.

India ranked fifth in the smog rankings behind Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Although it saw average PM2.5 fall 7% on the year to 50.6 mg/cu m, 12 of the top 20 most polluted cities were named from India with Byrnihat, a heavily industrialized part of the country's northeast, in first place, registering an average PM2.5 level of 128 mg/cu m.

The WHO recommends levels of no more than 5 mg/cu m, a standard met by only 17% of cities last year.

There have been major data gaps, especially in Africa and Asia, as many developing countries have relied on air quality sensors mounted on US embassy and consulate buildings to track their smog levels.

Recently, the State Department ended the scheme citing budget constraints. Last week, it also removed over 17 years of data from the US government's official air quality monitoring site, airnow.gov, which opens a new tab, including readings collected in Chad.

"Most countries have a few other data sources, but it's going to impact Africa significantly because oftentimes these are the only sources of publicly available real-time air quality monitoring data," said Christi Chester-Schroeder, IQAir's air quality science manager.

Due to the unavailability of concrete data, Chad was excluded from IQAir's 2023 list, but it was also ranked the most polluted country in 2022, plagued by Sahara dust as well as uncontrolled crop burning.

Chester-Schroeder warned of climate change playing an increasing role in driving up pollution, as higher temperatures cause intense and longer forest fires that sweep through parts of Southeast Asia and South America.

At least 34 countries will lose access to reliable pollution data after the US program is closed, said Christa Hasenkopf, director of the Clean Air Program at the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute (EPIC).T

The State Department scheme improved air quality in the cities where the monitors were placed, boosting life expectancy and even reducing hazard allowances for US diplomats, meaning that it paid for itself, Hasenkopf said.

"(It) is a giant blow to air quality efforts worldwide," she said.