How air pollution rates in Birmingham compare to 13 cities including Manchester, London, Beijing & New Delhi

Every breath we take is a matter of life and death. With air pollution levels rising in many parts of the world, it contributes to 6.7 million premature deaths annually, according to World Health Organisation.

In Birmingham, almost 900 people die early as a result of air pollution, according data from Birmingham City Council.

To reduce air pollution in the city, the city council recently shared plans to making the city centre traffic free and help reach its goal of Net Zero Carbon in Birmingham by 2030.

Air pollution can cause many health complications - it increases the risk of death from cardiac (heart and blood vessels) and respiratory (lungs and breathing) causes. For those people who have pre-existing cardiac and respiratory conditions, it is even more dangerous.

Air pollution also contributes to about 1 in 13 cases of lung cancer and there is also evidence which shows that poor air quality may increase the risk of other health conditions such as bladder cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Monitoring air quality can help councils and countries stay alert to helping to protect residents from these issue since they can take action if it declines. One of the ways of measuring air quality is through the Air Quality Index - which keeps a track of cities across the world.

The lower the number, the better the quality of the air, however rates are dynamic and can change by the hour. A rating below 40 would be deemed ‘good’ but a rating above 100 is deemed ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ - and over 150 is ranked as ‘unhealthy’ would be considered dangerous.

Here is how Birmingham compares to 13 cities in the UK and the world at large in the Air Quality Index: