Pakistan has been ranked as the world’s third most polluted country during 2021 by air quality watchdog IQAir.
In a report published on its website, Pakistan was ranked as the world’s third most polluted country during the previous year behind Chad and Bangladesh. The report said that the country recorded particulate matter eight times higher than the recommended amount by the World Health Organization at 66.8 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter.
The report also touched upon the world’s mostly polluted capitals ranking Islamabad at the 11th position. The Pakistani capital recorded 41.1 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter.
The report says that the country is beset by poor air quality resulting from transportation fumes. Smoke from crop burning and winter weather patterns also lead to temperature inversions which result in air stagnation. This keeps pollution trapped in the air, it added.
IQAir made note of Pakistan’s efforts to improve air quality as it touched up on the revised Pakistan Clean Air Plan (PCAP) in June of 2021, which calculates air pollution reduction at the national and local level. It said the country’s Environmental Protection Agency has already implemented federal policy to limit annual average particulate concentration in ambient air.
