Worse than car crashes, dirty water and alcoholism in terms of health effects, air pollution is shortening life spans all over the planet, but particularly in Asian cities like Beijing. Song Jiaru/Sipa Asia/SIPA Asia via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Anyone who has lived or travelled in Asia will know that wearing face masks in public was a done thing before the Covid pandemic. In cities such as Jakarta, belching fumes from heavy traffic have long meant the wearing of coverings by some of the tens of motorcyclists clogging the streets at rush hour. The continuing impact of air pollution in Asia makes it a bigger global health challenge than alcohol, cigarettes, dirty drinking water or traffic accidents, according to the University of Chicago. Data from the university’s Air Quality of Life Index showed air pollution to be "the world’s great...
