A worldwide report from IQAir reveals that a significant portion of the global population is subjected to dangerous air pollution, with only 17 percent of urban areas meeting air quality guidelines. The research examined data from 40,000 monitoring stations across 138 nations, pinpointing Chad, Congo, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India as the places with the poorest air quality. India housed six of the nine most polluted cities, with Byrnihat taking the top spot.

Experts warn that the severity of air pollution might be even greater than reported due to inadequate monitoring, especially in Africa, which has only one station for every 3.7 million residents. Although new monitoring initiatives are on the rise, access to real-time air quality data has been hindered after the U.S. State Department declared it would discontinue the public sharing of such information from its embassies.

Contaminated air is associated with respiratory conditions, cancer, and neurological diseases. The World Health Organization approximates that air pollution leads to seven million fatalities each year. While initiatives to mitigate pollution, such as stricter regulations in Beijing and Seoul and international pacts like ASEAN’s transboundary haze initiative, show potential, far greater efforts are necessary to enhance global air quality.