Air Pollution and Poverty : PM2.5 Exposure in 211 Countries and Territories
Air pollution is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, especially affecting poorer people who tend to be more exposed and vulnerable. This study contributes (i) updated global exposure estimates for the World Health Organizations's 202...
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099338004182222681/IDU0972f137406bef043fa0bcbb0d345e0a30849 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37322 |
| Summary: | Air pollution is one of the leading
causes of death worldwide, especially affecting poorer
people who tend to be more exposed and vulnerable. This
study contributes (i) updated global exposure estimates for
the World Health Organizations's 2021 revised fine
particulate matter (PM2.5) thresholds, and (ii) estimates of
the number of poor people exposed to unsafe PM2.5
concentrations. It shows that 7.28 billion people, or 94
percent of the world population, are directly exposed to
unsafe average annual PM2.5 concentrations. Low- and
middle-income countries account for 80 percent of people
exposed to unsafe PM2.5 levels. Moreover, 716 million poor
people (living on less than $1.90 per day) live in areas
with unsafe air pollution. Around half of them are located
in just three countries: India, Nigeria, and the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Air pollution levels are particularly
high in lower-middle-income countries, where economies tend
to rely more heavily on polluting industries and
technologies. The findings are based on high-resolution air
pollution and population maps with global coverage, as well
as subnational poverty estimates based on harmonized
household surveys. |
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