Residents of only seven countries in the world breathe clean air, according to the new report for 2023 produced by the IQAir company. These are: Mauritius (which boasts the cleanest air among the countries), Iceland, Grenada, New Zealand, Australia, Estonia and Finland.
In order for the air in a certain area to be defined as clean, its average annual concentrations of fine polluting particles PM 2,5 must not exceed the limits recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which are 5 µg/m3.
Scientists analyzed data from over 30.000 air quality monitoring stations located in a total of 134 countries, territories and regions.
The greatest air pollution, that is, the greatest "breakthrough" of WHO recommendations by more than fifteen times, was observed in Bangladesh, where the average concentration of PM 2,5 particles in the year behind us reached as much as 79,9 μg/m3.
Bangladesh is followed by Pakistan (73,7 µg/m3), India (54,4 µg/m3), Tajikistan (49,0 µg/m3) and Burkina Faso (46,6 µg/m3).
However, the story of the devastating state of the planet's air does not stop at the stated main scenes.
As indicated, as many as 92,5% of the countries, territories and regions – which are included in the analysis – exceed the recommended annual value of PM 2,5 particles of 5 µg/m3.
Macedonia is among them.
Reaching 25,2 µg/m3, the levels of PM 2,5 particles in our country are several times higher than WHO standards during the past year.
When the focus is narrowed and only the European continent is observed, Macedonia appears at the front of the column. As for the Western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina leads (27,5 µg/m3), followed by Macedonia (25,2 µg/m3), Montenegro (21,3 µg/m3) and Serbia (20,5 µg/m3). mXNUMX).
