Toxic Air: A Global Peril Beyond Borders

While the US and Canada experienced dangerous smoke from wildfires this week, much of the world breathes dangerously polluted air on a regular basis. In 2019, most of the 4.2 million deaths attributed to outdoor air pollution occurred in developing or newly industrialized nations. Almost the entire world breathes air that exceeds the World Health Organization’s air-quality limits at least occasionally. Air pollution is caused by a reliance on coal, lower vehicle emissions standards, and the burning of solid fuels for cooking and heating. It is high time everyone comes together to fight it, says Bhavreen Kandhari, co-founder of Warrior Moms in India, a network of mothers pushing for clean air and climate action in a nation with some of the world’s consistently worst air.