- According to the WHO, environmental pollution causes six million deaths a year.
- It is also a risk factor related to the development of a wide range of diseases such as tumors.
- During 2020, one of the cleanest years in history was recorded due to the confinement, but at present it has already returned to pre-pandemic pollution levels.
The Latin American area is known for its vast history and cultural range. In every corner there are buildings that tell stories and there are even attractions that are of interest to tourists such as the pyramids. But there are also negative aspects that have been normalized and pollution is one of the biggest. Do you know which are the most polluted countries in this region?
Environmental pollution is deadly
Many times modernity is spoken of as something positive, but behind its benefits there is also a dark side. Since the Industrial Revolution, it was warned that the creation of machinery allowed the automatic manufacture of thousands of products but also affected the entire environment. From then on, an increase in contamination was detected that has continued to this day.
To put in context, based on the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that nine out of ten people on the planet breathe air with high levels of pollutants. As a result, it is estimated that 23 percent of all recorded deaths are related to “environmental hazards” such as pollution and chemical exposure.
Added to the above, pollution is one of the factors that has caused an acceleration of global warming. The main person responsible for this situation is man and this can be seen in the drastic change that the planet experienced during 2020. As a result of the pandemic and the confinement in which millions of people were confined, a decrease in gas emissions was obtained. .
The countries with the biggest pollution problems
Instead, now it has returned to the pollution levels that existed before the health emergency. According to the report World Air Quality Report 2021published in March this year by the Swiss air quality technology company IQAir, Peru and Chile they are among the countries with the highest level of air pollution in the world.
Both South American nations occupy positions 26 and 40 in the global ranking, respectively. The concentration of light particles, one of the most used indicators to measure air pollution, reaches an average of 29.6 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) in Peru and 21.7 in Chile.
The cities with the highest pollution rates
On the other hand, when analyzing by cities, the results were replicated by Statistical and they are quite similar. The dirtiest in Latin America is Lime with 31.5 μg/m3. It is quite close Santiago and in third position Mexico City.
For now, if you want to know the complete list with the most polluted countries and cities in Latin America We share the following graph prepared by the team at salutary.
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