It’s increasingly well understood that rising pollution is having a significant impact on human health. This is emphasized by the latest Air Quality Life Index report from the University of Chicago, which shows that if fine particulate pollution was reduced to the World Health Organization’s guidelines, the average person would live 2.3 years longer.

Indeed, the authors argue that particulate pollution is the biggest risk to human health, with its impact on life expectancy up there with things like smoking and considerably higher than alcohol or unsafe water. It’s a challenge that is far from equal around the world, however.

“Three-quarters of air pollution’s impact on global life expectancy occurs in just six countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria, and Indonesia, where people lose one to more than six years off their lives because of the air they breathe,” the authors explain.

Unequal response

The authors explain that many of the most polluted places lack even the most basic infrastructure to track and reduce air pollution. For instance, in Asia and Africa, less than 10% of governments provide air quality data to citizens, with few even having air quality standards. Without these basic building blocks, effective pollution reduction policies are almost impossible.

This is also reflected in the lack of investment relative to the size of pollution’s impact on human life. For instance, there is significant investment into tackling things like malaria and HIV/AIDS, but no similarly coordinated efforts at tackling air pollution, not least from philanthropic parts of society.

“Timely, reliable, open air quality data in particular can be the backbone of civil society and government clean air efforts—providing the information that people and governments lack and that allows for more informed policy decisions,” the researchers explain. “Fortunately, we see an immense opportunity to play a role in reversing this by better targeting—and increasing—our funding dollars to collaboratively build the infrastructure that is missing today.”

The report ends on a positive note, however, as China has achieved considerable success in its “war on pollution”. This has seen the country reduce pollution by over 40% since 2013, which has led to an increase in life expectancy of over 2 years. The country still has some way to go, however, as its air pollution remains six times higher than the WHO recommendations, which means 2.5 years of life are removed from citizens on average.