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An analysis of the updated map of the Earth’s atmospheric pollution showed that approximately 50% of the world's population is exposed to increasing air pollution with a very high concentration of dust and aerosols. It is reported by TASS.

“While long-term policies to reduce air pollution have been effective in many regions, notably in Europe and the US, there are regions that have dangerously high levels of air pollution. In some regions, air pollution was five times higher than WHO guidelines, and in some countries, it was still increasing,” said study researcher Gavin Shaddick from the University of Exeter in the UK.

According to the WHO, around 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air. However, many researchers believe that the actual number of deaths can be significantly higher, as scientists have not yet come to a consensus on which types of air pollutants are especially dangerous to human health.

It also includes ozone – a gas the molecules of which consist of three oxygen atoms – as well as dust particles of both natural and artificial origin. WHO air quality recommendations call for countries to reduce their air pollution to annual mean values of 10 μg/m3 Particulate Matter. While the latest data show, ambient air pollution levels are still dangerously high in most megacities of the world, especially in Asian countries.

For the study, Professor Shaddick and his research team examined global air quality trends over the past ten years against the air quality-related indicators of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals adopted in many countries, and many efforts at national level to reduce air pollution.

For this, the scientists used the model of dust and aerosol distribution developed by UN specialists, as well as data on their concentration in different parts of the world over the past four years.

About half of the world’s population are experiencing increased air pollution, where concentration of dust and aerosols is significantly higher than WHO guidelines, says the study. In addition, for approximately 55% of the regions of the Earth, this figure has increased in recent years, rather than decrease. The highest concentrations seen in North Africa, India, Bangladesh, as well as China and Central Asia.

In contrast, in Europe, the United States, Mexico, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Australia and several countries in South Africa, the situation has improved significantly. At the same time, the concentration of aerosols and dust at the global level has not changed. Scientists say that it is due to the sharp increase in concentration seen in developing countries.

Scientists believe this methodology constitutes a major advance in the ability to track progress towards the air quality-related policies of the United Nations and national governments and to expand the evidence base of air pollution’s impact on health.

As for the Central, or as it is now referred, Middle Asia, the ecological situation here has always been relatively favorable, since there are no large harmful industries in the region, accompanied by large-scale emissions of polluting substances into the atmosphere. The situation in Central Asia was worsened by the drying up of the Aral Sea and intensified, as result, desertification processes. Now the countries of the region are doing great work to minimize the consequences of this disaster, improving the irrigation system of the fields, which allows increasing the flow of water to the so-called Small Aral (what remains of the sea). Campaigns on tree planting, mainly saxaul, on the site of the former Aral Sea was also intensified, which is a good measure to combat desertification. Experts even began to say that the first signs of ecological recovery appeared in the Aral region. In particular, migratory birds began to stop in the pond formed on the site of the sea. In this regard, the presidency of Turkmenistan over the IFAS (International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea) in 2017-2019 was exemplary. In order to fix the first signs of the revival of the sea and give this work the international systemic character, at the last Summit of the Heads of States-founders of IFAS in 2018, Ashgabat put forward the initiative to develop a UN Special Program for the Aral Sea and to put the Aral Sea problem as an independent area of UN activities.

Nury AMANOV