Lethal pollution high in 2020 despite lockdowns

PARIS: Deadly small particle pollution in dozens of nations exceeded World Health Organisation recommendations last year despite Covid lockdowns, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The partial or complete shutdown of transport and industry for months at a time in 2020 reduced average levels of so-called PM2.5 pollution across the world, including in major cities, the IQAir quality report found.

Concentrations of the life-shortening particles -- cast off by traffic pollution and burning fossil fuels -- dropped 11 percent in Beijing, 13 percent in Chicago, 15 percent in New Delhi, 16 percent in London, and 16 percent in Seoul.

At least 60 percent of India’s cities were more breathable last year than in 2019, and all of them had cleaner air than in 2018. "Many parts of the world experienced unprecedented -- but short-lived -- improvements in air quality in 2020," said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and co-author of the report. But only 24 of 106 countries monitored met WHO safety guidelines, said the report, based on the world’s largest database of ground-level air pollution measurements.