DAILY MAIL
It is best known for being the situated along the snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas.
But, despite its awe-inspiring landscape, Nepal is actually the most polluted country in the world.
Residents in the landlocked country in South Asia are exposed to 99.73 micrograms per cubic metre (μg) of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), on average, throughout the year, according to Oxford University‘s Our World in Data platform.
Experts called the figure — which is nearly 20-times higher than the World Health Organization‘s guideline limits of 5μg/m3 — ‘alarming’.
For comparison, levels in the UK stood at 10.47μg/m3, while the US logged 7.41μg/m3. It means the nations had the 24th and ninth cleanest air, respectively.
PM2.5 refers to tiny particles that are less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter — about one ten-thousandth of an inch.
The particles can include dust, soot, metals and other chemicals. This pollution is linked to burning fossil fuels and is released from car engines and factories.
As the particles are so small, they pose a big risk to health, as they can be inhaled deep into the lungs. Swathes of evidence show that long-term exposure increases the risk of severe illness and death due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
As well as harming the heart and lungs, air pollutants also affect the brain, with studies linking exposure to a higher risk of dementia and cognitive decline.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that annual average concentrations of PM2.5 should not exceed 5µg/m3.
The air quality data, gathered in 2017 and based purely on levels of PM2.5, is available for 195 countries.
Following Nepal, Niger (94.05μg/m3) and Qatar (91.19μg/m3) had the highest concentration of PM2.5.
The researchers said the high concentrations across North Africa are ‘very high’, partly due to ‘drier conditions with more sand and dust sources’.
Rounding off the top five countries with the poorest air quality is India, where the population of 1.4billion was exposed to 90.87μg/m3 of PM2.5, and Saudi Arabia, where 87.95μg/m3 was logged.
Except for Qatar, each of the top five countries’ PM2.5 levels had increased since 1990 — indicating that efforts to improve pollution levels has been unsuccessful in some nations.
Of the top five offenders, Nepal had the biggest jump in levels of PM2.5, with the figure skyrocketing by 12.13μg/m3. This jump is more than twice the average annual exposure to PM2.5 in Finland. Egypt (87μg/m3), Cameroon (72.79μg/m3), Nigeria (71.80μg/m3…
