World Air Quality Report

WHY IN NEWS?

Twenty-one of the world's 30 cities with the worst air pollution are in India, according to data compiled in IQAir AirVisual's 2019 World Air Quality Report, with six in the top ten.

ABOUT WORLD AIR QUALITY REPORT

• The report has been released by IQAir - a global air quality information and tech company that primarily works on air filtration.
• India was the fifth most polluted country in 2019 with Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region ranking as the most polluted city in the world.
• Twenty-one of the world's 30 cities with the worst air pollution are in India, according to data compiled.
• Researchers from IQAir gleaned data for the report from on the ground monitoring stations that measure levels of fine particulate matter, known as PM 2.5, per cubic meter.
• India launched a ‘National Clean Air Programme’ (NCAP) in 2019 that commits to reduce air pollution in 102 most polluted cities by a maximum of 30% by 2024.
• The report, however, noted that the reduction in pollution in 2019 couldn’t be attributed to the NCAP but rather due to “slowing of the market place.”
• The economic growth rate in India is expected to slow down to 5% in 2019-20 from 6.1% in 2018-19 and 7% in 2017-18, according to the Economic Survey in January.
• Whilst cities in India, on average, exceed the World Health Organisation target for annual PM2.5 exposure by 500%, national air pollution decreased by 20% from 2018 to 2019, with 98% of cities experiencing improvements.

Prelims Question

Q. World Air Quality Report is released by
a. WHO
b. IQAir
c. WEF
d. IPCC

Answer to the Prelims Question