Breathing Is Deadliest in These 15 Countries
The rate of air pollution deaths is headed in the wrong direction.
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Take a breath and consider this: Deaths caused by outdoor air pollution are already shockingly high, and they're expected to keep rising. That's despite efforts to clean up the world's factories, roads, and energy supplies.
In 2010, about 3.3 million people around the world died from prolonged exposure to tiny bits of dust and chemicals floating through the air. That figure is set to double by 2050, according to the most comprehensive study yet of global outdoor air pollution and its causes, published today in the journal Nature.