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Air Pollution Is Second Biggest Killer, Claims Millions of Lives

A UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) report has warned that air pollution is increasingly impacting human health and is now the second leading global risk factor, after high blood pressure, for premature death.

In 2021, over 700,000 children under five died due to the air pollution. Children are "uniquely vulnerable" to air pollution and effects can begin in the womb. The report also revealed that air pollution caused 8.1 million deaths worldwide in 2021 with millions of others suffering from diseases caused by air pollution.

The report says that the outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) which comes from the burning of fossil fuel and biomass, industries, and transportation is responsible for over 90% of all air pollution-related deaths. Other major pollutants are ozone and nitrogen dioxide. 

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