{
  "id": 11097065,
  "title": "Lahore ranked among cities with ‘extremely poor’ ozone levels",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/lahore-ranked-among-cities-with-extremely-poor-ozone-levels-11097065",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-01T03:08:58.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn",
    "slug": "dawn",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2033869/lahore-ranked-among-cities-with-extremely-poor-ozone-levels"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent EU analysis, conducted by the Copernicus Climate Atmosphere Monitoring Service, has revealed that Lahore is among cities with \"extremely poor\" ozone levels. The report, released on Wednesday, highlights the link between climate change and air pollution, stating that heatwaves, wildfires, and human-caused emissions have exposed one-third of the world's population to hazardous ozone pollution levels. When heat and sunlight interact with emissions from wildfires, vehicles, and industries, they generate ground-level ozone, which is detrimental to human health, ecosystems, and crop yields. However, in the stratosphere, ozone serves as a protective layer against harmful ultraviolet radiation. The EU analysis highlights the challenge of addressing ozone pollution due to its difficulty of control despite progress in limiting other harmful air pollutants in recent decades. The report also notes that ozone pollution is driven, in part, by record-breaking heatwaves and wildfires that affected Europe and North America, as well as the burning of agricultural residue in Asia. This year, 34% of the global population experienced \"extremely poor\" air quality, meaning ozone concentrations were well above the World Health Organization's recommended level of 100 micrograms per cubic metre over eight hours. Meanwhile, 17% of the world's population breathed \"very poor\" air, and 5% enjoyed \"good\" ozone levels. Asia has the highest rate of exposure to ozone pollution, with 53% of its population breathing \"extremely poor\" air, followed by 22% in the same condition. Cities such as New Delhi, Dhaka, and Chongqing in China, as well as Lahore in Pakistan, were among the cities with \"extremely poor\" ozone levels. The EU regulation has been effective in reducing emissions of other air pollutants, but ozone pollution remains a challenge. Ozone pollution is associated with 60,000 premature deaths per year in Europe, according to Ian Marnane, an official at the European Environment Agency. Ozone levels in North America have remained relatively unchanged despite ambitious emissions reduction policies. In Africa, eight percent of the population experienced \"extremely poor\" air quality, while 19% endured \"very poor\" or \"poor\" conditions. In South America, 81% of the population enjoyed \"good\" or \"fair\" ozone levels. In Oceania, including Australia and New Zealand, 66% of the population had \"good\" ozone levels, and 34% faced \"fair\" conditions.",
  "summary": "PARIS: Highlighting the close relationship between climate change and air pollution, a new analysis by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) has ranked Lahore among cities whose ozone levels are “extremely poor”. Heatwaves and wildfires combined with human-caused emissions this year to expose one third of the world’s population to extremely high levels of ozone…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Dawn - Pakistan",
        "title": "Lahore ranked among cities with ‘extremely poor’ ozone levels",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/lahore-ranked-among-cities-with-extremely-poor-ozone-levels",
        "published": "2026-10-01T03:08:58.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}