State of Global Air 2020

This report, published by the Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), presents the latest analysis of worldwide air quality and its health impacts, drawing from the most recent evidence of IHME’s Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study to provide global, regional, and country-level estimates. The report offers a global update on ambient (outdoor) pollution, ambient atmospheric ozone pollution, and household air pollution. Air pollution was the 4th leading risk factor for early death worldwide in 2019. The authors found that the burden of disease due to air pollution afflicts children and the elderly the most, specifically by contributing to lower-respiratory infections and noncommunicable diseases such as stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and lung cancer. This report also assesses the long-term exposure to air pollutants, examines global patterns in exposure, and discusses the ways in which air pollution contributes to disparities in socioeconomic development. This year's report includes a discussion about air pollution and COVID-19: air pollution has taken an ongoing toll on respiratory and cardiovascular health, making many individuals and populations more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19. The publication is accompanied by an interactive website that allows users to view, generate, and download charts and maps; explore the underlying data worldwide, regionally, or by country; access background papers and resources; and read the latest news related to global efforts to curb air pollution.

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies form the largest-ever systematic effort to describe the distribution and causes of a wide array of major diseases, injuries, and health risk factors by examining data across populations worldwide from 1990 to the present. Led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, it is a global effort, with more than 2,300 researchers from 130 countries, including numerous low- and middle-income countries, participating in the most recent update. The IHME maintains a resource portal for the GBD studies including summary reports, data visualizations, and data sets quantifying health loss from hundreds of diseases, injuries, and risk factors, so that health systems can be improved and disparities eliminated.