According to a new report of World Health Organization, toxic levels of pollution led to the early annual death of an estimated 7 million people.

Kanpur is the dirtiest city in the world, Delhi is not: WHO report

WHO global air pollution database released in Geneva early Wednesday morning in Geneva which hit like a real shocker as not only 14 out of 15 most polluted cities in the world are from India but the top 14 cities are from India only. The fifteenth city on the list was Ali Subah Al-Salem (Kuwait) with PM 2.5 level of 94 micrograms per cubic metre. Kanpur is the most polluted city which came on top with PM 2.5 concentration of 173 micrograms per cubic metre.

Also Read: Uttar Pradesh beats other states of India but in terms of being the most polluted state

List of top polluted cities in the world: WHO

RANK CITY PM 2.5 LEVEL 1 Kanpur 173 2 Faridabad 172 3 Varanasi 151 4 Gaya 149 5 Patna 144 6 Delhi 143 7 Lucknow 138 8 Agra 131 9 Muzaffarpur 120 10 Srinagar 113 11 Gurgaon 113 12 Jaipur 105 13 Patiala 101 14 Jodhpur 98 15 Ali Subah Al-Salem (Kuwait) 94

Pollution levels in Delhi

WHO's data of 4,000 cities in 100 countries shows that the pollution levels of the National Capital improved only marginally between the years 2010 and 2014. However, the levels started to worsen again in 2015. In 2016, Delhi came at sixth spot with PM 2.5 annual average of 143 micrograms per cubic metre (more than 3 times the national safety standard). PM 10 average of Delhi was 292 micrograms per cubic metre (more than 4.5 times the national standard).

Also Read: No political angle - no action on pollution control: Funds to curb pollution remain unused

Annual Deaths due to outdoor and household air pollution

Air pollution is the reason behind a dozen of diseases which often prove to be lethal. Almost 7 million deaths were caused by household and outdoor pollution in the previous year.

Most numbers of deaths were caused by ischemic heart disease which accounted for 34 per cent of the total deaths by air pollution.

21 per cent of the total deaths were caused by pneumonia while 20 per cent people lost their lives from stroke.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) accounted for 19 per cent of the total deaths caused in the year from air pollution while 7 per cent people died of lung cancer.

(Image: WHO)

Level of threat from air pollution worldwide

According to a study which drew off the most-recent data 2016 data, 9 out of 10 people are exposed to dangerously high levels of pollutants around the world which leads to the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Air pollution levels were the highest in the eastern Mediterranean and southeast Asia. Here, in some of the areas, the airborne toxins were five times the limits set by the WHO. These toxins affected the poor and most vulnerable.

Interested in General Knowledge and Current Affairs? Click here to stay informed and know what is happening around the world with our G.K. and Current Affairs section.

To get more updates on Current Affairs, send in your query by mail to education.intoday@gmail.com