Over 80 percent of the world's city dwellers¹ 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.

联合国世界卫生组织于上周二发布的一份最新报告中警告称，全球超过80%的城市居住者呼吸到的空气品质不佳，这增加了居民罹患肺癌与其他致命疾病的风险。

Urban residents in poor countries are by far the worst affected², 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.

据世界卫生组织表示，目前，贫穷国家的都市居住者面临的状况最糟。该报告指出，中低收入的国家几乎每座城市(98%)的空气质量都未达到联合国机构的标准。而富有国家的这一比例则降到了56%。

"Urban air pollution continues to rise at an alarming rate, wreaking³ havoc⁴ on human health," Maria Neira, the head of WHO's department of public health and environment, said in a statement.

世界卫生组织公共卫生与环境部门主任玛利亚·尼拉在一份声明中表示：“都市空气污染程度持续以惊人的速度增长，这对人体健康构成威胁。”

The UN agency's latest air pollution database reveals an overall deterioration⁵ of air in the planet's cities, and highlights the growing risk of serious health conditions also including stroke and asthma⁶.

世界卫生组织最新的空气污染资料库显示，全球城市整体空气质量恶化，并强调居民罹患严重健康疾病如中风、气喘的风险也在增加。

Tracking the prevalence of harmful pollutants⁷ 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, notably⁸ the Middle East and southeast Asia.

通过追踪如硫酸盐、黑碳粒子等有害物质，世界卫生组织发现，富有区域如欧洲与北美的空气质量大致改善，但发展中地区的情况则趋向恶化，特别是中东与东南亚。

Overall, contaminants in outdoor air caused more than 3 million premature⁹ deaths a year, the UN body said.

世界卫生组织表示，整体而言，户外空气污染物质已导致每年超过300万人早死。

The quality of air pollution data provided by individual countries varies considerably¹⁰, and WHO does not compile a ranking of the world's most polluted cities.

由于各个国家提供空气污染数据的依据差别相当大，所以世界卫生组织并未对全球污染最严重的城市进行排名。

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.

不过，在挑选的城市人口超过140万的特大都市样本中，印度的新德里是污染最严重的，紧随其后的是埃及的开罗和孟加拉国的首都达卡。北京、上海分别排名第六和第七位。

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

而根据欧洲数据样本显示，污染最严重的城市依次是罗马、柏林、伦敦和马德里。