世界衛生組織報告顯示 全球80%以上城市空氣污染超標

Over 80 percent of the world's city dwellers breathe poor quality air, increasing their risk of lung cancer and other life-threatening diseases, a new World Health Organization (WHO) report warned last Thursday.

聯合國世界衛生組織於上週二發佈的一份最新報告中警告稱，全球超過80%的城市居住者呼吸到的空氣品質不佳，這增加了居民罹患肺癌與其他致命疾病的風險。

Urban residents in poor countries are by far the worst affected, the WHO said, noting that nearly every city (98 percent) in low- and middle-income countries has air which fails to meet the UN body's standards. That number falls to 56 percent of cities in wealthier countries.

據世界衛生組織表示，目前，貧窮國家的都市居住者面臨的狀況最糟。該報告指出，中低收入的國家幾乎每座城市(98%)的空氣質量都未達到聯合國機構的標準。而富有國家的這一比例則降到了56%。

"Urban air pollution continues to rise at an alarming rate, wreaking havoc on human health," Maria Neira, the head of WHO's department of public health and environment, said in a statement.

世界衛生組織公共衛生與環境部門主任瑪利亞·尼拉在一份聲明中表示：“都市空氣污染程度持續以驚人的速度增長，這對人體健康構成威脅。”

The UN agency's latest air pollution database reveals an overall deterioration of air in the planet's cities, and highlights the growing risk of serious health conditions also including stroke and asthma.

世界衛生組織最新的空氣污染資料庫顯示，全球城市整體空氣質量惡化，並強調居民罹患嚴重健康疾病如中風、氣喘的風險也在增加。

Tracking the prevalence of harmful pollutants like sulfate and black carbon, WHO found that air quality was generally improving in richer regions like Europe and North America, but worsening in developing regions, notably the Middle East and southeast Asia.

通過追蹤如硫酸鹽、黑碳粒子等有害物質，世界衛生組織發現，富有區域如歐洲與北美的空氣質量大致改善，但發展中地區的情況則趨向惡化，特別是中東與東南亞。

Overall, contaminants in outdoor air caused more than 3 million premature deaths a year, the UN body said.

世界衛生組織表示，整體而言，戶外空氣污染物質已導致每年超過300萬人早死。

The quality of air pollution data provided by individual countries varies considerably, and WHO does not compile a ranking of the world's most polluted cities.

由於各個國家提供空氣污染數據的依據差別相當大，所以世界衛生組織並未對全球污染最嚴重的城市進行排名。

But, in a sample of selected mega-cities with a population above 14 million, New Delhi was the most polluted, followed by Cairo and Bangladesh's capital Dhaka. Beijing was listed the sixth most polluted city and Shanghai the seventh.

不過，在挑選的城市人口超過140萬的特大都市樣本中，印度的新德里是污染最嚴重的，緊隨其後的是埃及的開羅和孟加拉國的首都達卡。北京、上海分別排名第六和第七位。

A sample of European data showed that Rome had slightly worse air than Berlin, followed by London and Madrid.

而根據歐洲數據樣本顯示，污染最嚴重的城市依次是羅馬、柏林、倫敦和馬德里。