Air worse than smoking

REPORT: WILDFIRES UNDO DECADES OF PROGRESS IN IMPROVED QUALITY

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Global air pollution is worsening, with the United States and Canada experiencing the sharpest increases due to record-breaking, climate-supercharged wildfires that are undoing decades of progress, a study said yesterday.

The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) annual report uses satellite data to assess levels of particulate matter worldwide, with records dating back to 1998. It translates concentrations into years of life expectancy lost, based on peer-reviewed science.

"I just don't think this can be repeated enough: particulate matter remains the greatest external threat to human health on the planet, period," Michael Greenstone, an economics professor at the University of Chicago who co-created AQLI, said.