Just seven countries currently meet air quality standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), according to IQAir’s latest report.
Out of 134 countries and regions surveyed by the Swiss air quality organisation, Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand are the only ones within the safety limit for PM2.5 – a microscopic airborne particle expelled by vehicles and industrial processes. Inhaling excessive amounts of PM2.5 can cause a myriad of health problems.
The WHO’s guidelines state that annual average concentrations of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 µg/m3.
This morning, IQAir’s real-time air quality index for Macao had the SAR at 4.2 times that maximum threshold. Macao’s average for 2023 was 16.2 µg/m3 – and December was the worst performing month, with an average concentration of 28.8 µg/m3.
[See more: Some 800 mangroves will be planted during Macao Green Week]
IQAir’s North America chief executive Glory Dolphin Hammes told the UK’s Guardian newspaper that people were “not making adjustments fast enough.”
“The science is pretty clear about the impacts of air pollution and yet we are so accustomed to having a background level of pollution that’s too high to be healthy,” she said.
The post-pandemic rebound in economic activity in China saw its annual average PM2.5 levels climb 6.2 percent last year, after steadily decreasing during the five years prior. China was 2023’s 19th most polluted country, based on annual average PM2.5 concentration.
The three countries with the highest average annual concentration of PM2.5 in 2023 were Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. According to the WHO, air pollution is responsible for an estimated seven million premature deaths worldwide every year.
