Poorest Cities In The World Are Most Polluted

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Numero released its list of cost of living in the world’s major cities. The scores are based on New York’s cost of living with an index of 100. The most expensive city was Hamilton, Bermuda, with an index of 137. The three poorest cities in the world are all in Pakistan. They are also among the most polluted based on air quality data.

More places people can’t live: Australia

Karachi (Numero Index 19.3), Lahore (19.5), and Islamabad (20.2) each often have an air quality count of 300. At and above that level, the air quality is defined as “hazardous.’ which is defined as “health warning of emergency conditions: everyone is more likely to be affected.”

Karachi

Karachi has 20 million residents, which makes it the 12th largest city in the world. Lahore has a population of 13 million. Islamabad’s is just over 1 million. By population, at 248 million, Pakistan has the 5th largest population of any country in the world. Among the best measures of poverty is real GDP per capita. Pakistan ranks 176th among all nations.

The World Factbook indicates that air pollution is not the country’s only problem. Pakistan suffers from “water pollution from raw sewage, industrial wastes, and agricultural runoff.”

AirIQ points out that, from 2017 through 2022, Lahore had the highest average air pollution rating of any city in the world.

Recently, in an analysis from Human Rights Watch,

“According to the Air Quality Life Index, air pollution in Pakistan shortens average life expectancy by 3.9 years. Of Pakistan’s cities, Lahore, the capital of Punjab province with a population of over 13 million, is worst affected, with air pollution cutting life expectancy by 7 years. Lahore consistently ranks among the worst cities in the world for the quality of its air.”

As is the case with all the world’s poorest countries, Pakistan and its largest cities do not have, nor will they ever have, the capital to solve the problem of the heavy use of fossil fuels by individuals and industries and the effects on health. These problems will only worsen.