by Alex Addyman

The World Health Organization (WHO) has today released air quality data for 1600 world cities across 91 countries. In the press release accompanying the data release WHO explained that:

• Only 12% of the people in cities covered live within WHO’s recommended air quality guideline levels.
• About half of the urban population being monitored is exposed to air pollution that is at least 2.5 times higher than the levels WHO recommends – putting those people at additional risk of serious, long-term health problems.
• In most cities where there is enough data to compare the situation today with previous years, air pollution is getting worse.

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