Nine out of ten people now breathe polluted air, which kills 7 million people every year, says the World Health Organization (WHO). Air pollution has now emerged as a major environmental risk factor for health. “The health effects of air pollution are serious – one-third of deaths from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease are due to air pollution.
This is having an equivalent effect to that of smoking tobacco, and much higher than, say, the effects of eating too much salt” (WHO). In 2016, as per WHO, ambient or outdoor air pollution caused an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide in both cities and rural areas; 58% of outdoor air pollution-related premature deaths were due to ischemic heart disease and strokes, while 18% of deaths were due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and acute lower respiratory infections respectively, and 6% of deaths were due to lung…
