亚洲空气污染最严重，但排第一的并非中国

世卫组织是联合国系统内卫生问题的专门机构，希望更有效地监控全球空气质量。而要切实推动空气质量改善，就得了解空气污染如何影响全球人口。因此，世卫组织新近的报告既评估了各国的空气污染程度，也评估了由此导致的各种疾病，包括致死率。

研究表明，亚洲中部国家空气污染最严重，中国并没有排第一，而是在埃及、土库曼斯坦、塔吉克斯坦、乌兹别克和阿富汗之后，名列第六。美联社报道称，世卫组织的空气污染水平排名由空气污染导致死亡人数而定，死亡人数最多的四个国家是空气污染防治最不力的国家。

《纽约时报》称，虽然不少人认为中国空气污染非常严重，但北京大学此前的一项研究认为，过去三年，北京和香港等五大城市的颗粒物水平——衡量空气中有毒物质含量的指标实际上有所下降。

世卫组织报告称，全球92%的人口生活在空气污染程度不符合健康标准的地区。这意味着，全球每十人之中就有不只九人生活在空气污染超标的环境中，贫困国家的情况还更严重。

“将近90%的空气污染致死案例发生在低收入和中等收入国家，且近三分之二在世卫组织划定的东南亚区域和西太平洋区域。” 世卫组织如此下结论。

汽车尾气、发电厂、垃圾焚烧，垃圾填埋排放和养殖家畜都是室外空气污染的来源。世卫组织认为，各种污染源给人类造成严重的健康问题，如肺癌、肺病、心脏病和中风。这些疾病都有可能致命，在高质量医疗护理极为有限的低收入国家，空气污染致死比例尤其高。

世卫组织称，每年约有300万例死亡与室外空气污染有关。仅2012年，约有650万例死亡与空气污染有关，约占当年全球死亡人数的11.6%。

世卫组织将空气污染定性为 “当今世界面临的最大环境健康威胁。”空气污染目前影响超过80%的城市居民，每年导致至少700万人丧生。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

The agency, which is a specialized division of the United Nations, wants to better monitor the world’s air quality. But in order to make improvements, it needs to understand how air pollution affects the global population. So the latest report evaluates both the level of exposure in certain countries and the resulting burden of disease each country carries, including death.

Turns out, air pollution is highest in Central Asian countries, but not the one you might think: China ranks in sixth place, trailing behind Egypt, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rankings are determined by the number of air pollution-related deaths, with the top four being the worst offenders, according to the Associated Press.

While we associate China with excessive air pollution, an earlier study from Peking University determined that the country’s particulate matter levels—which gauge the amount of toxins in the air—have actually declined over the last three years in five of the nation’s major cities, including Beijing and Hong Kong, according to the New York Times.

Taken together, 92% of the world’s population lives in regions where air quality levels exceed the healthy limit. That’s more than nine out of 10 people, with even worse numbers in poor countries.

“Nearly 90% of air-pollution-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, with nearly two out of three occurring in WHO’s South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions,” the WHO concluded.

Vehicle exhaust, power plants, waste burning, landfill emissions, and livestock promotion are all forms of outdoor air pollution. These contribute to serious health problems, like lung cancer, pulmonary disease, heart disease, and stroke, according to the WHO. And these diseases can eventually lead to death, especially in a low-income country where access to quality health care is limited.

About three million deaths a year are linked to outdoor air pollution exposure around the world and an estimated 6.5 million people died from air quality-related health issues in 2012 alone—about 11.6% of all global deaths that year, according to the WHO.

The organization considers air pollution “the single greatest environmental threat we all face.” It now affects more than 80% of people living in cities and kills at least 7 million people each year.