In 2022 only these 13 countries had good air quality

Only 13 of the world’s countries and territories had “healthy” air quality last year, according to a new report, as air pollution surged to alarming levels in 2022. And things probably will be worse for 2023, particularly after Canadian wildfires put much of North America under poor air quality warnings.

The report by IQAir, a company that tracks air quality worldwide, found that average annual air pollution in about 90% of the countries analyzed exceeded the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines.

The study looked specifically at fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, which is the tiniest pollutant but also the most dangerous.

When inhaled, the PM2.5 travels deep into lung tissue where it can enter the bloodstream.

Millions of people die each year from air pollution-related health issues.

In 2016, around 4.2 million premature deaths were associated with fine particulate matter, according to the WHO.

The WHO tightened its annual air pollution guidelines in September 2021, cutting the acceptable amount of fine particulate matter from 10 to 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

If the latest guidelines had been applied in 2016, the WHO found there could have been nearly 3.3 million fewer pollution-related deaths.

Chad was the country with the worst air quality in the world in 2022. On average, Chad measured 18 times higher than the five microgram safety threshold, according to the WHO's guidelines.

Following Chad, are Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Kuwait, India, Egypt and Tajikistan. All 10 are developing countries. 

The report also highlighted the lack of monitoring stations in developing countries in Africa, South America and the Middle East, which results in a deficiency of air quality data in those regions.

Glory Dolphin Hammes, CEO of IQAir North America, told CNN that each time it adds a new country that once lacked air quality data, as it did with Chad in 2021, those countries wind up at the top of the most-polluted list.

Africa is probably the most polluted continent on the planet, according to Hammes, but there’s just not enough data to prove it, she says.

In the United States, the report found air pollution improved significantly in 2022, compared with 2021 due to a relatively mild wildfire season, but still there are many cities that don’t meet the WHO’s guidelines on good air quality.

Columbus, Ohio, was the US city with the worst air quality in 2022. Its pollution levels were 2.6 times higher than the World Health Organization's safety threshold. 

Following Colombus, were Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, Dallas, Baltimore, L.A., Sacramento, Houston and Detroit.

The report notes that wildfires in recent years have been rapidly erasing air quality improvements that the US has made over the past decade.

“Wildfires are very much so a global warming issue, and it is creating essentially unsafe conditions,” said IQAir North America’s CEO to CNN.

The expert noted that the countries with the best air quality are the ones taking on specific actions to transition away from polluting industries and into greener forms of energy, such as solar and wind.