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Over 80 percent of the world's city dwellers breathe poor quality air, increasing their risk of lung cancer and other life-threatening diseases, a new World Health Organization (WHO) report warned Thursday.
Urban residents in poor countries are by far the worst affected, WHO said, noting that nearly every city (98 percent) in low- and middle-income countries has air which fails to meet the UN body's standards.
That number falls to 56 percent of cities in wealthier countries.
"Urban air pollution continues to rise at an alarming rate, wreaking havoc on human health," Maria Neira, the head of WHO's department of public health and environment, said in a statement.
There may be something to this--children in New York City are twice as likely to be hospitalized for asthma as the national average.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Sunday May 15 2016, @05:50AM
GP mentioned "the very way our cities have been built." If not for the space devoted to motorways, parking lots, and repair shops, cities could be somewhat smaller and trips could be shorter. If not for the way that the automobile makes long trips convenient, housing, industry, schools, hospitals, and shopping would be sized and placed differently, so that long journeys wouldn't be an everyday event. Instead of waiting half an hour for a bus, then spending another half hour riding it, bus trips could be quicker, and walking or bicycling could be practical options.