Breathe it in: UK ranks 8th for clean air in Europe
Scandinavian countries dominated the leader board, which looked at every nation in the region.
However, Iceland came out on top overall, with an Air Quality Index Score [AQI] of 17. The country, which is almost entirely powered on renewable geothermal and hydro energy, is also known for its low population density, including lack of road traffic, and clean industry.
Finland and Estonia both shared second place, with green spaces, strict environmental regulations, and focus on clean tech sectors all contributing to AQIs of just 20. Sweden faired only slightly worse, with a score of 21, followed by Norway and Ireland [26], and Portugal [28]. Denmark and the UK came joint eighth [32], followed by Latvia [33].
According to the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, which helped develop the AQI system: ‘The Air Quality Life Index, or AQLI, converts air pollution concentrations into their impact on life expectancy. From this, the public and policymakers alike can determine the benefits of air pollution policies in perhaps the most important measure that exists: longer lives.’
‘By converting air pollution concentrations into tangible terms – its impact on life expectancy – the AQLI establishes particulate air pollution as the single greatest threat to human health globally,’ said Michael Greenstone, Director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, whose frontier research quantified a causal relationship between human exposure to air pollution and a reduction in life expectancy.
In related news, the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health [CIEH] is calling for a new all-party parliamentary group [APPG] on environmental health. This would cover pollution events, air quality, nature restoration, and biodiversity loss, among other issues.
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Image: Ben Collins