New Visual Tool Reveals 170-Year Global Air Quality Trends

The air quality stripes illustrate significant regional disparities in pollution levels, highlighting improvements in Europe and worsening conditions in Africa and Central Asia.

The air quality stripes visualize particulate matter concentrations in 176 cities since 1850.
Europe shows substantial reductions in pollution, while Africa and Central Asia see increases.
Natural sources like wildfires and human activities such as industrial emissions contribute to PM levels.
Over 99% of the global population lives above WHO's recommended air quality levels.
Deaths related to particulate matter pollution have risen by 93% between 1990 and 2021.