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Looking down from the Hollywood Hills, with Griffith Observatory on the hill in the foreground, air pollution is visible in downtown Los Angeles on a late afternoon.. Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials into the atmosphere that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damage ecosystems.
Air pollution is caused predominantly by burning fossil fuels, cars, and much more. [4] Natural sources of air pollution include forest fires, volcanic eruptions, wind erosion, pollen dispersal, evaporation of organic compounds, and natural radioactivity. These natural sources of pollution often soon disperse and thin settling near their locale.
The ACS study correlated air pollution data, lifestyle factors, and death records for a sample of 552,138 adults in 151 urban areas followed over a 16-year period and concluded, just as the original had done, that breathing particulate pollution increases a person's risk of death: "Particulate air pollution was associated with cardiopulmonary ...
Air pollution is usually concentrated in densely populated metropolitan areas, especially in developing countries where cities are experiencing rapid growth and environmental regulations are relatively lax or nonexistent. Urbanization leads to a rapid rise in premature mortality due to air pollution in fast-growing tropical cities. [321]
Anthropogenic air pollution has affected the United States since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. [75] According to a 2024 report: "39% of people living in America—131.2 million people—still live in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution."
Globally, the planet-heating pollution produced by billionaires is a million times higher than the average person outside the world’s wealthiest 10%, according to a report last year from the ...
The January 2024 version of the WHO database contains results of ambient (outdoor) air pollution monitoring from almost 5,390 towns and cities in 63 countries. Air quality in the database is represented by the annual mean concentration of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5, i.e. particles smaller than 10 or 2.5 micrometers, respectively). [1 ...
South Asia's urban population grew by 130 million between 2001 and 2011—more than the entire population of Japan—and is poised to rise by almost 250 million by 2030. [61] But, urbanization in South Asia is characterized by higher poverty, slums, pollution and crowding and congestion. [62]