Which Countries Have the Worst Air Pollution?

In many parts of the earth, sky-blue is a rarity—air pollution from manufacturing processes and cars cover cities skies in smog haze every day.

Interesting to know how extent does air pollution force the human population around the globe?

To clarify this issue, data scientist Matt Dzugan has designed a cartogram that shadows each nation based on levels of atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution endured by the population residing there.

Which Countries Have the Worst Air Pollution?

This original map or cartogram resizes nations' boundaries based on their cumulative populations, and each square depicts 500 thousand people.

According to Matt Dzugan, the cartogram view is intended to give a bird's eye view of the impact of air pollution and atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5) on human lives.

Very populated China and India present the most conspicuously, while other nations like Canada or Australia seem to disappear off the cartogram almost wholly.

Eight hundred dark brown squares on this map (a PM2.5 concentration of 50 μg/m³) picture four hundred million people in India endangered to polluted air at levels 5 times past thresholds established by the World Health Organization.

According to the World Health Organization, below are the top 20 countries with the most polluted and cleanest air.

The 20 Countries with the Most Air Pollution (PM 2.5 concentration, μg/m³)
1. Nepal - 94.33
2. Qatar - 90.35
3. Egypt - 79.28
4. Saudi Arabia - 78.38
5. Niger - 70.80
6. Bahrain - 69.04
7. Cameroon - 65.26
8. India - 65.20
9. Bangladesh - 58.33
10. Iraq - 57.73
11. Kuwait - 57.17
12. Pakistan - 55.21
13. Afghanistan - 53.17
14. Chad - 53.01
15. Central African Republic - 49.50
16. China - 49.16
17. Nigeria - 48.73
18. Uganda - 48.41
19. Sudan - 47.92
20. Equatorial Guinea - 45.90

Top 20 Countries with the Cleanest Air (PM 2.5 concentration, μg/m³)
1. New Zealand - 5.73
2. Brunei - 5.78
3. Finland - 5.88
4. Sweden - 5.89
5. Iceland - 5.94
6. Canada - 6.48
7. Estonia - 6.74
8. Norway - 7.02
9. Australia - 7.19
10. The United States - 7.40
11. Maldives - 7.63
12. Portugal - 7.87
13. Ireland - 8.26
14. Uruguay - 8.63
15. Marshall Islands - 9.43
16. Spain - 9.48
17. Andorra - 9.95
18. Tonga - 10.08
19. Denmark - 10.12
20. Jiji - 10.19

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