Environment on the up as world prospers

As we celebrate Earth Day today, it's tempting to believe that the world is on the brink of environmental collapse. We are constantly inundated by dire predictions of climate catastrophe and warnings about the planet's imminent destruction. But this is misleading. Rather than panic, we should take a moment to appreciate the remarkable progress we've made in improving the environment — and acknowledge that a key factor is prosperity.

- Bjorn Lomborg

When Earth Day was first marked 55 years ago, the world faced some grim environmental challenges. Rivers were catching fire, and cities were choked with smog. Air and water pollution were rampant, especially in the industrialised West. Today, outdoor air pollution has declined dramatically in rich countries. Over the past three decades, death risk from air pollution has spectacularly declined by over 70%, while waterways have become cleaner and nations reforested.

Yet, in poorer countries, the picture is more complicated. That's because as nations come out of poverty, industrialisation at first increases pollution, before nations become rich enough to tackle it. But even in the developing world, progress is being made.

For the seven billion people who don’t live in the rich world, outdoor air pollution became worse between 1990 and about 2015. But as especially sulphur emissions have peaked and started declining, deaths from outdoor air pollution in poor countries have actually slightly declined.