WORLD AIR QUALITY REPORT - REPORTS AND INDICES
News: Delhi
ranks 4 on list of world’s most polluted cities
What's in the news?
● Delhi ranked fourth
on a list of 50 of the world’s most polluted cities in terms of PM2.5 levels in
2022, according to the World Air Quality Report prepared by IQAir.
World Air Quality Report:
● IQAir
is a Swiss air quality technology company that prepares annual world air
quality reports based on data from monitoring stations operated by governments
and other institutions and organizations across the world.
● The
2022 report is based on PM2.5 data
from 7,323 cities and 131 countries.
● A
total of 39 Indian cities (including ‘Delhi’ and ‘New Delhi’) are on the list
of 50 of the world’s most polluted cities based on annual average PM2.5 levels
in 2022.
● These
include cities like Noida, Gurgaon, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Charkhi Dadri, Jind,
Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Greater Noida.
Key takeaways from the report:
● The
most polluted city in the world was found to be Lahore, followed by Hotan
in China, and Bhiwadi in Rajasthan,
according to the report.
● Delhi
had an average PM2.5 level of 92.6 μg/m3 in 2022, a little below the average of
96.4 μg/m3 in 2021.
● The
average PM2.5 concentration in Bhiwadi was 92.7 μg/m3.
● Delhi
has retained its ranking on this list – it stood fourth in 2021 as well. The
WHO guideline for annual PM2.5 levels is 5 μg/m3.