According to a new report published in "The Lancet Planetary Health," over one million deaths worldwide each year are attributed to short-term exposure to atmospheric pollution. More than half of these deaths occur in East Asia, with Europe accounting for 12%.

The study by Monash University in Australia examined pollution levels of fine particulate matter PM 2.5 and mortality in over 13,000 cities and towns worldwide over two decades up to 2019. The findings reveal that even exposure to pollution for a few hours to days results in more than a million premature deaths globally each year. More than one-fifth of these deaths occur in urban areas.

Approximately 65.2% of the global mortality is attributed to Asia, 17% to Africa, 12.1% to Europe, 5.6% to America, and 0.1% to Oceania. The burden was higher in populous, highly polluted regions of East Asia, South Asia, and West Africa. In most areas of Australia, there was a slight decrease in attributed deaths, but the percentage increased from 0.54% in 2000 to 0.76% in 2019, the largest increase of any subregion.

According to researchers, a possible reason could be the increasing frequency and scale of extreme weather events related to atmospheric pollution, such as the 2019 wildfires.