For the first time ever, more than half of the world’s population is living in cities. However, only 12% of these people are exposed to levels of airborne particle pollution that meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, these cities can be found in Canada and Iceland. Meanwhile, half of the planet’s mega-cities and their inhabitants are exposed to air pollution 2.5 times the WHO guidelines, with many places getting worse rather than improving. Over the past century and a half, carbon dioxide emissions have risen, and there are reports that more that 200 million people have become ill as a direct result of air pollution. In 2012 alone, it’s thought 3.7 million people died prematurely due to air pollution.
Whether it’s in Europe, North America, Africa or Asia, air pollution can have many devastating affects ranging from acid rain to heart disease. In an attempt to combat these issues by raising awareness, WHO studied more than 1,600 cities between 2008 and 2013 to compile a list of the world’s dirtiest cities. Mercer also compiles a Health And Sanitation list annually, which ranks every city in the world according to their cleanliness.
Delhi, India
Like most cities on this list, Delhi has become synonymous with smog due to industry and traffic, which have combined to create incredibly high levels of particulate matter including carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and metal compounds.
Patna, India
Patna is the second largest city in eastern India with an estimated population of 1.68 million people. Patna is a crucial location for agricultural trade like grain, sugarcane, sesame and rice, leading to heavy amounts of traffic.
Addis Ababa, Ethopia
In 2014, Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa was given a Health And Sanitation Index of 37.9, particularly due it’s high levels of water pollution which have caused many infants’ deaths.
Gwalior, India
One of the largest cities in central India, Gwalior is surrounded by three industrial and commercial areas: Sitholi, Banmore and Malanpur. The air pollution seems to culminate in Gwalior, leading to high levels of toxins.
Raipur, India
Over the years, Raipur has transformed into a crucial commercial and industrial area for India, supplying coal, power, steel and aluminum for the whole country.
Mexico City, Mexico
Mexico City has a particular disadvantage when it comes to air pollution as mountains surround the city, causing the smog to constantly coat the countries’ capital. Mercer’s report – which gave Mexico City a 37.7 rating – said that unhealthy ozone emissions were constant throughout the year, causing major concern.
Karachi, Pakistan
Though there appears to be lack of sanitation and clean water, it’s rich in air pollution. Vehicle emissions from cars, rickshaws and buses combined with industrial areas and the burning of garbage has earned Karachi its position on this list.
Peshawar, Pakistan
Like Karachi, Peshawar’s air pollution is due to vehicle emissions as well as industrial emissions, including brick kiln.
Port au Prince, Haiti
As the main port and business center of Haiti it’s no surprise Port au Prince is dealing with pollution issues. Many suggest that the high levels of air pollution may also be due to a lack of control enforced by the government.
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Situated in the Pothohar region of northern Punjab, Rawalpindi is evolving swiftly. Home to textile mills and an increasing number of vehicles, the air pollution has risen dramatically in the last few decades.
Khorramabad, Iran
Khorramabad, in Lorestan Province, is the epitome of agricultural industry in Iran. In 2012, the health ministry reported 80,000 deaths were caused by pollution across Iran alone.
Antananarivo, Madagascar
When considering Madagascar, many would never even associate the lush paradise as polluted. However, the countries capital Antananarivo is frighteningly polluted due to industrialization and deforestation.
Mumbai, India
Mercer gave Mumbai a score of 38.2, leaving much to be desired from one of the world’s flourishing economic hubs. As more people arrive from the country and industries pop up all over the place, pollution has coated the city. Fortunately, the local officials are working on strategies to control the worrying levels of air pollution.
Ahmadabad, India
Although Ahmadabad is becoming an increasingly successful and important city, the price has been a sharp rise in air pollution. The city is a crucial economic and industrial area for India as it is the second largest producer of cotton, meaning many more factories are being built.
Lucknow, India
Uttar Pradesh’s capital city Lucknow is a particularly polluted area as the combination of poor transport infrastructure and increasing numbers of vehicles has exacerbated the problem infinitely.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Home to more than 15 million people, Dhaka is extremely crowded. The local government is reportedly finding it difficult to deal with the pollution that often follows large populations and their vehicles. There is also a lot of water pollution caused by commercial pesticides.
Baku, Azerbaijan
With a Health And Sanitation score of just 27.6, Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku is Mercer’s dirtiest city. Oil drilling and shipping have lead to worryingly high levels of air pollution, and because the country relies heavily on those activities it’s unlikely they will change anytime soon.
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it is ok
No, it is not! I have sacrificed america for these people just to trash their planet. I hate you and despise you.
hahahahahaha Baku is the most clean city in the world I visit it and it was the cleanest capital city I saw it in my life this website is lying
you know that you can not see air pollution with the naked eye do you?
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But its not correct judge only basing air pollution there are many factors that should be considered when it comes to cleanliness
Yes. In Delhi we do.
where it is located?
it is refering to the air quality
In many media it is asserted that UNESCO called Karabash the most polluted city in the world.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS_yb_ijli8
27 years Karabakh is occupated by Armenians. It is one of the poorest places now.
Why not Kabul?
Because kabul was never visited.
I was born in kabul and kabul is clean
it is refering to the air quality of the city kabul isn't clean and you cant see air qualit to the naked eye
it is ok but rawalpindi is not dirtiest city of pakistan
It's really very dirty
Peshawar is even better than more but we needed to do something more to keep clean our city.
Imran khan
Though the post is about dirtiest cities,but the pictures are not depicting uncleanliness....
India is dirty only in some places
This so honest
Its not true. No matter which city you visit, you'll see wrappers of edible items and various plastic and other non bio degradable waste littered all over. Also you can see the poor waste management system of our country, you'll find a heap of waste every 500m even in the cities like Delhi and Mumbai( not talking about few high class areas).This is the truth. I'm an Indian and I know the people of our country are very arrogant towards the environment. We need to bring a change before its too late.
Well said, bro. The things you said all true. I'm too from India. The people behave very arrogant towards nature. definitely' We've to bring a change before it's too late.
Dude you are an Indian. Although what you are saying is right but like me if you were a student in Sydney or anywhere else outside India, you would protest against these international media stereotypes. But the fact that you claim that India is the dirtiest place in the world is dirty, shame on you. Firstly you say that all Indian cities are dirty, but then talk only about Delhi and Mumbai. I went to Indore and Ujjain, and various other cities in MP and Rajasthan and I did not find a single trash item on the roads. But yeah I did find a shameless, dim witted rascal like you
Yes, our country is unclean in some places only. There are so many better places are present here
Damn India is really dirty
Not true
Where do you live, under a rock? Look around you, man. I bet when you walk out of your house, there'll be a steaming pile of garbage everywhere. Maybe, you're so used to these visuals that it all seems rather innocuous to you. Know how most Indians get rid of the garbage on the streets that you see flying about at night, and cows, dogs, rats & pigs rummaging in them for scraps? They burn it, all the plastics included. Indian people are filthy, and will always be so. Its ingrained in us. We just love filth. This country has gone down the shitter already. Before long we'll all be buried under filth. Its a surprise a massive pandemic hasn't broken out yet, but it will, soon. We are essentially creating a deathtrap for ourselves. Open drains, near zero waste management, archaic drainage systems, table water dried up, bad supply lines for water with millions of litres lost each day, bad sanitation, and worst of all people who don't give a shit, and rather just pile on the shit.
I don't know about other countries, but India is synonymous to filth. Ironically, more filth in the brains than on the streets, which is why nobody cares. If you are seeing Indian cities dominating this list and still in denial, you need to crawl back under the rock where you came out of.
Yes and no? When the weather world calls upon India and China to produce textiles, plastics, and other cheap goods for import, it's only natural that these two countries would become the most polluted. Globalism has done many good things, but it's also created a disparity... Country leaders can't just stop production because now many livelihoods depend on it - bringing in green tech on a large scale will cost a lot of money which means cost gets transferred to products being sold - which in turn causes uproar in the Western world at increases in prices and a drop for demand of these goods. That goes right back to the countries with people out of jobs. Until country leaders grow a pair and just admit that things will get a lot worse before getting better this system will never change...
If the whole world just supplied our own food and goods locally this would not be a problem. I would rather NEVER own ANYTHING made in India or China or really anywhere than locally. I don't care that our prices will go up because we will also take back all the jobs being sent to other countries.... So in the end it will equal out for us. The real solution is always buying local and stopping trade. I don't about the rest of the world but here in America, we can make just about everything we need.
Well...Well...I'm an Indian and I'll tell you my experience at a bus terminal (I'm concerned about the environment):
(I've finished eating a packet of biscuits...Now, I needed to dispose the wrapper. Couldn't see any dustbins near me, so asked a nearby civic volunteer)
Me : Sir, can you please tell me where can I find a dustbin nearby?
Volunteer : Well... I'm not sure, check out that side (Points his hand to the other side of a busy road.)
I cross the road after 5 minutes of waiting. I throw it into a bin. A sweeper shows up, picks up the bin, and dumps it to a nearby dumpyard on the side of the main road.
Me : (Facepalm)
Worse, I again crossed the road to see my bus departing.
(Facepalm again.)
So there you are...For all praises that India is worth, it does deserve criticism on pollution awareness as well. What's more, even foreign tourists start mimicking our actions...That shouldn't happen. X|