WHO’s Air Quality Database 2022

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the Air Quality Database 2022. It shows that almost the entire global population (99 %) breathes air that exceeds WHO’s air quality limits, and threatens their health.

• The findings have prompted WHO to highlight the importance of curbing fossil fuel use and taking other tangible steps to reduce air pollution levels.
• The 2022 database aims to monitor the state of the world’s air and feeds into progress tracking of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

About the Air Quality Database 2022: The WHO Air Quality Database compiles data on annual mean concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

• The air quality database introduces, for the first time, ground measurements of annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a common urban pollutant and precursor of particulate matter and ozone.
• It also includes measurements of particulate matter with diameters equal to or smaller than 10 μm (PM10) or 2.5 μm (PM2.5).
• Both groups of pollutants originate mainly from human activities related to fossil fuel combustion.
• The database is updated regularly every 2-3 years since 2011 and this is the fifth update.

Key Findings: More than 6,000 cities in 117 countries are now monitoring air quality, but their residents are still breathing unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide.