NEW DELHI: Surpassing China, India now accounts for the maximum number of premature deaths from ozone air pollution in the world, a new study today said.
India’s lives lost to the tiny particulate matter is “approaching” China’s numbers, the study said noting that both the countries together accounted for 52 per cent of the total global deaths attributable to PM2.5 and recorded some 1.1 million early deaths due to it in 2015.
India has witnessed a 150 per cent rise in lives lost over the past two decades from ozone pollutants, according to the ‘State of Global Air 2017’ report.
“As the most populous countries, India and China account for most of the ozone-attributable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) deaths across all years, but India accounts for much (about 67 per cent) of the global increase since 1990.
“Over the last 25 years, India experienced a nearly 150 per cent increase in ozone-attributable deaths, while China’s number remained about the same,” the report said.
It suggested that India outpaced China in 2015, with 8.6 ozone-related deaths for every 100,000 people, compared to China’s 5.3.
According to the report, while 11,08,100 deaths were attributed to PM2.5 exposure in China in 2015, in India, it was 10,90,400. Around 92 per cent of the world’s population lives in areas with “unhealthy” air. (AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel