Air pollution killed more than 160,000 people in the world’s 5 largest cities in 2020
In 2020 there was a decrease in air pollution, largely thanks to the confinement imposed by several nations worldwide to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tokyo (Japan), New Delhi (India), Shanghai (China), Mexico City (Mexico), and São Paulo (Brazil) are the five most populous cities in the world, totaling 137 million people, or about 2% of the world population.
Of these, 163,000 lost their lives in the year 2020 alone, due to air pollution, with estimated economic losses associated with the wave of 85 billion dollars (about 70 billion euros).
The city most battered by this scourge was the Indian New Delhi, with 54,000 deaths and economic losses estimated at 8.1 billion dollars (about 6.6 billion euros). It follows Tokyo, with 40,000 deaths, but vastly greater economic losses, equivalent to 43 billion dollars (about 35.2 euros).
Just behind Shanghai comes with 39,000 deaths and, registering both the loss of 15,000 human lives, we have São Paulo and Mexico City.
Environmental prevention and control policies, as well as investment in cleaning and monitoring the air, are the solutions to the problem.
