The United States was dethroned by Canada as the most polluted country in North America in 2023, according to the 6e annual report on global air quality released Tuesday.
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The continent’s 13 most polluted cities were all located in Canada, according to data analyzed by IQAir scientists, who took into account more than 30,000 monitoring stations spread across 134 countries.
Montreal, which experienced significant episodes of smog last summer, sometimes making it the most polluted city in the world, was classified as the 2846e most polluted city out of 7812 global municipalities.
AFP
The average concentration of PM2.5 was 11.1 μg/m3 in the Quebec metropolis, which is considered to be a rate exceeding two to three times the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline value, i.e. 5 μg/m3.
The difference was particularly obvious compared to 2022, where the average rate was 7.9 μg/m3 to Montreal.
Even though they are geographically close, the municipality of Laval was less polluted than the metropolis with an average rate of 9.7 μg/m3 in 2023. She was therefore the 3685e most polluted city in the world.
Much less than elsewhere in the world
The results in Canada are, however, much less serious than those of other countries, such as Bangladesh which was considered the most polluted country in 2023 with an average rate of 79.9 μg/m3more than 15 times higher than the WHO annual recommendation.
In total, 124 of the 134 countries have exceeded the value of 5 μg/m3 recommended by the WHO.
The seven countries that have complied with this directive are Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand.
“In 2023, air pollution remains a global health catastrophe,” responded Aidan Farrow, senior air quality researcher at Greenpeace.
“Local, national and international efforts are urgently needed to monitor air quality in places where resources are insufficient, to manage the causes of transboundary haze and to reduce our reliance on combustion as a source of energy,” he argued.
Air quality in different municipalities in Quebec in 2023
- Montreal: average rate of 11.1 μg/m3
- Laval: average rate of 9.7 μg/m3
- Lévis: average rate of 8.8 μg/m3
- Trois-Rivières: average rate of 8.7 μg/m3
- Sherbrooke: average rate of 7.6 μg/m3
- Rimouski: average rate of 6.8 μg/m3
- WHO guideline value: 5 μg/m3