According to the 2022 update of the World Health Organization's (WHO) air quality database, almost all the global population breathes polluted air. A record number of over 6,000 cities in 117 countries are now monitoring air quality, but the people living in them are still taking in dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), a common urban pollutant.

The findings have made the World Health Organization highlight the importance of limiting fossil fuel use and taking other steps to reduce pollution levels.

"It is unacceptable to still have 7 million preventable deaths and countless preventable lost years of good health due to air pollution. That's what we're saying when we look at the mountain of air pollution data, evidence, and solutions available. Yet too many investments are still being sunk into a polluted environment rather than in clean, healthy air," said Dr. Maria Neira, WHO Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health.