Researchers have said that health damage caused by air pollution can reduce the average life expectancy of a child born today by 20 months.
The Annual State of Global Air Report, published by US-based non-profit research group Health Effects Institute, found that air pollution is now the fifth-leading cause of death, killing more people annually than car accidents and malaria.
Health Effects Institute president, Dan Greenbaum said that in much of the world, “breathing in an average city is the health equivalent to being a heavy smoker.”
The report found that long-term exposure to indoor and outdoor pollution contributed to almost five million deaths in 2017.