Urban air pollution killed more than 1.8 million people in 2019, according to new research published in The Lancet Planetary Health. Nearly 9 in 10 people living in urban areas (about 2.5 billion people) are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution every year and the 1.8 million deaths in 2019 were linked to fine particulate matter pollution known as PM2.5. Fine particulate pollution, produced by fossil fuel combustion and wildfires supercharged by climate change, is especially harmful because it carries pollutants deep into the lungs where it enters the bloodstream. People of color are disproportionately harmed by PM2.5 pollution due to historic and current systemic racism. (Axios, The Hill, UPI, HealthDay News)
