Atmospheric pollution: Clean air in only 7 countries – In what position is Greece located

Only seven countries in the world meet the international air quality standard by continuously deteriorating, according to the World Health Organization ( ) data. According to the WHO, out of 134 countries and regions involved in research on clean air and air pollution, only seven (Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand) meet the WHO’s guiding limit on the limit of tiny suspended particles from cars, trucks and industries. The majority of countries do not meet this standard for PM2.5, a species of tiny soot dot smaller than the width of a human hair that when inhaled can cause myriad health and death problems, at risk of serious effects for humans. According to the IQAir report, a Swiss air quality agency that draws data from more than 30,000 monitoring stations around the world. While air worldwide is generally much cleaner than it was for most of the last century, there are still places where pollution levels are particularly dangerous. Where is Greece According to the 134 countries and regions involved in the survey, Greece ranks 51st place. According to official data, over the last five years (2018-2023) Greece has been in 57th place, while for 2023 the figures show that the most polluted city is Ilion Attica, while the freshest air is located in Agios Marcos Corfu. The most polluted country The most contaminated country, Pakistan, has PM2.5 levels over 14 times higher than WHO standards, according to the IQAir report, with India, Tajikistan and Burkina Faso in the next most infected countries. But even in rich and rapidly developing countries, progress in reducing air pollution is threatened. Canada, thought to have the freshest air in the western world, became the worst for PM2.5 last year due to the record fires that destroyed the country, launching toxic rays across the country and the US. In China improvements in air quality are complicated last year by the recovery of economic activity in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the report finding a 6.5% increase in PM2.5 levels. “Unfortunately things have gone backwards,” said Gloprey Dolphin Hames, CEO of IQAir in North America. “Science is quite clear about the effects of air pollution and yet we are so used to having a level of pollution that is too high to be healthy. We don’t make adjustments fast enough,” he commented. 7 million people die annually It is estimated that air pollution kills about 7 million people annually worldwide – more than AIDS and malaria together – and this weight becomes more felt in developing countries based on highly dirty fuels for heating, light and indoor cooking. The most polluted urban area in the world last year was Begurasai (Begusarai) in India, according to the sixth annual IQAir report, with India hosting the four most polluted cities in the world. However, much of the developing world, particularly African countries, lacks reliable air quality measurements. The WHO reduced its guidelines for ‘safe’ PM2.5 levels in 2021 to five micrograms per cubic metre and by this measure many countries, such as those in Europe that have significantly cleaned their air in the last 20 years, are lagging behind. But even this more stringent directive may not fully cover the risk of insidious air pollution. Research released by American scientists last month found that there is no safe PM2.5 level, with even smaller reports associated with the increase in hospitalizations for diseases such as heart disease and asthma.