A report released by the Switzerland-based IQAir on March 11th reveals that only 17% of cities worldwide meet air pollution guidelines. The organization analyzed data from 40,000 monitoring stations across 138 countries. It identified Chad, the DR Congo, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India as having the worst air quality. India accounted for six of the nine most polluted cities.
 　Experts warn that actual pollution levels may be higher due to insufficient monitoring in many regions. Efforts to expand air quality monitoring worldwide are ongoing, but the US is reducing transparency. In early March, the US State Department announced that it would no longer share air pollution data from embassies and consulates. Long-term exposure to polluted air can lead to respiratory diseases, Alzheimer’s, and cancer, warned Fatimah Ahamad, chief scientist at Malaysia’s Sunway Centre for Planetary Health. The World Health Organization estimates it causes around 7 million deaths worldwide each year.

　總部位於瑞士的空氣品質監測機構IQAir，3月11 日發布一份報告指出，全球僅有17% 的城市空氣品質達標。他們分析來自138 個國家，4 萬個監測站的數據，發現查德、剛果、孟加拉、巴基斯坦及印度的空氣品質最差，而全球空氣汙染最嚴重的9 個城市中，印度就占了6 個。
　專家警告，由於許多地區的監測系統不完備，實際的汙染程度可能更嚴重。目前各國正努力擴大空氣品質監測，但美國拒絕數據透明化。3 月初時，美國國務院宣布將不再公開駐外大使館及領事館的空汙數據。馬來西亞尚偉行星健康中心首席科學家兼空氣汙染專家法蒂瑪．阿哈邁德警告，長期處於空汙環境，可能會引發呼吸系統疾病、阿茲海默症，以及癌症。世界衛生組織估計，全球每年大約有700 萬人因空汙喪命。