9 in 10 people are living among unsafe levels of air pollution

The big surprise, according to World Health Organization, is that pollution by Particulate Matter 2.5 - tiny particles 2.5 microns in width that make the air look hazy - affects the heart more than the lungs. These are capable of penetrating deep into the cardiovascular system posing serious health risks. The report involved more than 3000 locations, both rural and urban across the world while the data was derived by measuring air quality through satellites, air transport models and ground station monitors and the focus was on the quantity of unsafe solid particulates floating in the air.

'For people to be healthy, they must breathe clean air from their first breath to their last'. About 3 million premature deaths are linked to outdoor air pollution and 3.5 million premature deaths to inhaling smoke from stoves in the household, the report said.

Excessive air pollution is getting worse around the globe, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). It said most of the air pollution comes from cars, coal-fired plants and waste burning, but not all of it is created by humans.

The majority of those locations are in developing counties, largely in the regions of Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific, with "vulnerable populations" at a particularly high risk, the report states. WHO SEAR statement quoting the WHO Report on Ambient Air Pollution 2016 said that 6,21,138 people died in India of air pollution due to Acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI), Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), Ischemic heart disease (IHD) and Lung Cancer.

Each year about 6.5 million deaths worldwide are linked to air pollution, a number that could grow in coming decades unless the energy sector steps up its efforts to slash emissions, the International Energy Agency warned Monday.

Getty A haze of air pollution hangs over the London skyline

With 118 deaths per 100,000 people, Bulgaria occupies the unenviable second position, immediately after Ukraine with 120/100,000 cases caused by pollution of the air with fine dust particles. Air pollution is causing a public health crisis in many countries across the world.

"In the United Kingdom and several other European countries we are using the courts to force governments to uphold our right to clean air".

For example, daily air quality warnings - like those sometimes issued in Beijing - likely do little to help the average person, since the real threat is exposure to sub-par air over extended periods.

Citing that air pollution is the world's biggest environmental health risk, killing almost eight lakh people annually in the Southeast Asian Region, the latest WHO report has revealed that India alone accounts for over 75 per cent of deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer.