Air Quality
Dirty Air Kills 8 Million People a Year
Air pollution is the second-leading cause of death on Earth, and almost no one is funding the fix.
Deaths per year from air pollution
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Estimated so far this year.
The evidence
The Second Deadliest Killer on Earth
Air pollution caused approximately 8.1 million deaths in 2021, making it the second-leading risk factor for death worldwide, behind only high blood pressure (Health Effects Institute, State of Global Air 2024). That is roughly one in eight deaths globally, more than malaria, war, and terrorism combined.
A Lifespan Stolen From Everyone
Fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) cuts roughly 1.9 years off the average person's life expectancy worldwide, a toll comparable to smoking (Air Quality Life Index, University of Chicago EPIC, 2023). In the world's most polluted regions, like Delhi, residents lose 8 or more years of life to dirty air.
99 Percent of Humanity Breathes Unsafe Air
Nearly the entire global population, 99 percent, lives in places where air quality fails WHO guideline limits (WHO, 2022). Roughly 95 percent of pollution-linked deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (World Bank).
The Smoke Inside the Home
Approximately 2.3 billion people still cook over open fires or with solid fuels like wood, charcoal, and dung. This household air pollution kills an estimated 3.2 million people a year, and women and young children absorb the heaviest exposure (WHO, 2022).
Children Pay First
Air pollution is the second-leading risk factor for death in children under five, killing an estimated 709,000 of them every year (State of Global Air 2024). Developing lungs and brains are hit hardest, with lasting effects on cognition and lifelong disease risk.
A Trillion-Dollar Problem, A Rounding-Error Response
The health damage from air pollution costs the global economy an estimated 8.1 trillion dollars a year (World Bank, 2022). Yet outdoor air quality funding accounts for less than 0.1 percent of all philanthropic foundation giving, roughly 126 million dollars in 2023 (Clean Air Fund).
What we can do
Phase 1: close the data gap by funding ground-level PM2.5 monitoring in the high-pollution, low-monitoring regions of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Phase 2: replace the dirtiest sources by accelerating the transition away from solid cooking fuels and tightening vehicle and industrial emissions standards. Phase 3: fund it like it kills 8 million people a year, redirecting public health and philanthropic dollars toward air quality at a scale that matches its death toll.
Sources: World Health Organization, Health Effects Institute State of Global Air 2024, Air Quality Life Index (EPIC, University of Chicago), World Bank, Clean Air Fund, Open Philanthropy
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