Around 7 million people worldwide are going to die from air pollution this year — thus making it the environment's single biggest health risk, declares a new report from the World Health Organization. That means dirty air is the cause of one in eight deaths globally.
The new estimates are double previous figures, largely due to new detection methods and better information on pollution's health effects. The report also says that women in developing countries are more at risk of exposure to dirty air than men, as a lot of women in Asian countries endure indoor pollution caused by their use of wood and coal stoves. Of the 3.7 million people who died from outdoor pollution, 90 percent were in developing countries.
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