According to the data by the World Health Organisation, Estonia is among the countries with the cleanest air.
According to the WHO, the countries with the cleanest air are Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Canada, Norway and Iceland.
The worst air quality in the world, according to the WHO, are the continents of Asia and Africa. Worldwide, nine out of ten people are breathing polluted air. The air quality is the worst in Uganda, Mongolia, Qatar, India and Cameroon.
“Updated estimations reveal an alarming death toll of 7 million people every year caused by ambient (outdoor) and household air pollution,” the WHO said in a statement.
“In general, ambient air pollution levels are lowest in high-income countries, particularly in Europe, the Americas and the Western Pacific,” the WHO noted. “In cities of high-income countries in Europe, air pollution has been shown to lower average life expectancy by anywhere between 2 and 24 months, depending on pollution levels.”
Pia Anttila of the Meteorological Institute of Finland, the country with the cleanest air in the world, told the Finnish national broadcaster, YLE, that the Nordics, Canada and Estonia are all far away from concentrations of polluting industry – this being the reason for these countries’ clean air.
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Cover: Kauksi beach in Estonia (the cover image is illustrative/Jaak Nilson/courtesy of Visit Estonia Flickr).
