The cities with the cleanest air in the world
Fresh air: that precious good that many pursue and that others are lucky enough to breathe every day.
A few months ago we told you that although it is true that the confinements experienced in 2020 gave our planet a break, this was not enough for air quality to improve substantially.
Pollution remains a serious problem in many cities around the world, some of great tourist interest but whose air is not the most suitable for its inhabitants or for those travelers who suffer from asthma or other respiratory problems.
Therefore, HouseFresh has developed a map that can be very useful if you are concerned the quality of the air in your city and the ones you have on your list of pending destinations.
The map shows the world cities with the cleanest and least clean air in the world. To carry it out, they have taken into account the latest data on air quality in the main cities of the world, revealing the most and least polluted.
KEY RESULTS
One of the key results that we can subtract from the map is the name of the most polluted country in the world, Bangladesh (although the city with the least clean air in the world is Hotan, in China), which is followed by Pakistan, India and Mongolia.
According to the data extracted by HouseFresh to make the map, 49 of the 50 most polluted cities in the world were in Bangladesh, Pakistan, China and India.
Australia leads the world ranking of clean air, title shared by two cities: Judbury and St. Helens.
METHODOLOGY
HouseFresh researchers pulled city-level air quality data from the IQAir's latest 2020 global air quality report.
Once the data is obtained, the team identified the best and worst locations for air quality in nearly 100 countries, as well as all 50 US states.
Cities and towns were ranked according to the average value of PM2.5 concentration in μg/m³ in 2020 and countries without at least five cities were omitted.
“When we speak of PM2.5 we refer to the dangerous tiny particles present in the air and caused by burning of fuel and by chemical reactions that take place in the atmosphere. By looking at the levels of PM2.5 (μg/m³) around the world, we discover the places with the cleanest air”, they explain from HouseFresh.
According to the WHO Health Protection Guideline Values for annual mean values, 10 μg/m³ would be the lowest level from which an association between cardiopulmonary effects and lung cancer mortality due to prolonged exposure to PM2.5 has been detected.
Finally, the team plotted the results on an interactive map, as well as on static maps of the world and the continent.
The most polluted cities in the world
THE CITIES WITH THE CLEANEST AIR
The cities with the cleanest air in the world are Judbury and St. Helens, in the region of Tasmania (Australia). Its levels of harmful particles are 2.4 μg/m³, more than acceptable within the limit established by the WHO (10 μg/m³).
After the Australians, Kailua Kona (Hawaii, United States) and Muonio (Finland) they are the cities with the cleanest air in the world, with 2.6 and 2.8 μg/m³ respectively.
They complete the top 5 least polluted cities in the world: Bodo (Norway) with 3.4 μg/m³ and St. Andrews (Canada) with 3.5 μg/m³.
The cities that we also find below 5 μg/m³ are: Vladivostok (Russia), Paraparaumu (New Zealand), Vielsalm (Belgium), Fundao (Portugal), Crieff and Enniskillen (UK), Umeå (Sweden), Almeria (Spain) , Neuchatel (Switzerland), Corte (France), and Punta Arenas (Chile).
The Asian city with the cleanest air is Obihiro, Japan, with 5.6 μg/m³. It is followed by Calamba (Philippines), Palangkaraya (Indonesia), Kapit (Malaysia), Nyingchi (China), Taitung (Taiwan), Sanandaj (Iran), and Dambulla (Sri Lanka).
In the rest of the world, they are also below 10 μg/m³: Punta Arenas (Chile), Zacatecas (Mexico), Ribeirao Preto (Brazil) and Cape Town (South Africa).
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
THE MOST POLLUTED CITIES
In recent years, China has experienced unprecedented industrial growth and as a consequence, there has also been an increase in the number of Polluting substances in the air.
Hotan city has a PM2.5 level of 110.2 μg/m³, figure that corresponds to the unhealthy category established by the WHO.
Ghaziabad, in India, It is the second most polluted city in the world, with 106.6 μg/m³, followed in third place by Manikganj, in Bangladesh, with 80.2 μg/m³.
They also fall within the "unhealthy" or unhealthy category established by the WHO: Lahore (Pakistan) and South Tangerang (Indonesia), both above 70 μg/m³.
They complete the top 10 cities with the most polluted air: Pai (Thailand), Orzesze (Poland), Sarajevo (Bosnia Herzegovina), Valjevo (Serbia) and Ahvaz and Qarchak (Iran).
Sarajevo is one of the European cities with the least clean air
THE CITIES WITH THE CLEANEST AND LESS CLEAN AIR IN EUROPE
Of the 40 cities in the world below 10 μg/m³, 22 are European and what is more, ten of them are below 5 μg/m3: Muonio (Finland), Vladivostok (Russia), Vielsalm (Belgium), Fundao (Portugal), Crieff and Enniskillen (UK), Umeå (Sweden), Almería (Spain), Neuchatel (Switzerland), Corte (France) and Šakiai ( Lithuania).
Between 5 and 10 μg/m³ are: Evensee (Austria), Hedel (Netherlands), Emden and Herdorf (Germany), Corfu (Greece), Suva Reka (Kosovo), Hora Svate Kateriny (Czech Republic), Roscommon (Ireland), Turin (Italy), Ustron (Poland ), Poprad (Slovakia) and Balassagyarmat (Hungary).
The Spanish city of Almería is placed in 12th place in the world ranking, with 4.4 μg/m³.
The Spanish city of Almería is placed 12th in the world ranking, with 4.4 μg/m3
The European cities with the least clean air they are Orzesze (Poland) with 44.1 μg/m³; Sarajevo (Bosnia Herzegovina) with 42.5 μg/m3 and Valjevo (Serbia) with 41.5 μg/m3. The three would be framed within the category of "unhealthy for sensitive groups" of the WHO.
Above 20 μg/m³ are: Vushtrri (Kosovo), Gaggiano (Italy), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain), Anatoli (Greece) and Sajoszentpeter (Hungary), all of them in the “moderate” category.
UNITED STATES
The report State of the Air 2021 from the American Lung Association found that despite national efforts to control air pollution, more than 40% of Americans – that's more than 135 million people – still live in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone and particulate pollution.
In fact, 9 out of 10 urban dwellers are affected by air pollution. And this is not just the case in the United States, it is a global problem.
America's cities with the cleanest air
However, looking at the map of the United States, we see that behind Kaiula Kona (Hawaii) –first in the United States and second in the world in terms of air quality–, the second cleanest air in the US is Bar Harbor, Maine, with 3.2 μg/m³.
It is followed by Dunn Center (North Dakota), Clyde (North Carolina), Kaycee and Pinedale (Wyoming) and Peterborough (New Hampshire), all below 4 μg/m³.
America's most polluted cities
The ranking of the American cities with the most polluted air is led by Susanville (California), devastated by forest fires, with a PM2.5 of 26.2 μg/m³.
After Susanville, the US cities with the dirtiest air are: Turner (Oregon), Silverton (Colorado), Elk Point (South Dakota), Toppenish (Washington), and Libby (Montana), all above 14 μg/m³.