For years, air pollution has plagued Egypt, particularly in its bustling cities like Cairo. The sky above the capital often appears thick and gray, a smog-like haze formed by the blend of carbon monoxide emissions from vehicles and particulate matter (PM). Air pollution remains the greatest threat to environmental health worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in 2021 that poor air quality contributes to 93 billion days of living with illness and over 6.5 million deaths annually. In 2019, 16 percent of deaths in Egypt were due to air pollution exposure. Air pollution is measured with the concentration of PM, which refers to fine and hazardous airborne particulate matter–specifically PM with a diameter of 2.5 microns (PM2.5), which is a unit of length– and is weighted by population. The average PM2.5 concentration is an indicator of air quality used by health and environmental agencies to assess pollution levels. According to WHO’s air quality guidelines, population-weighted annual average concentration PM2.5 breakpoints range from 0 to 5 micrograms per cubic meter–the measurement unit with which the concentration is measured. Human activities such as combustion engines, industrial processes, power generation, and the…
The Human and Environmental Costs of Air Pollution in Egypt are High
July 9, 2024
By Nadine Tag
Journalist
