More than nine out of 10 people worldwide live in areas with excessive air pollution, contributing to problems like strokes, heart disease and lung cancer, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. A similar WHO report released in May that said 98 percent of residents in large cities of low- and middle-income countries are facing excessively high air pollution. WHO says one in nine deaths worldwide is linked to indoor and outdoor pollution. Tuesday's report focuses on outdoor air pollution, which is estimated to kill about 3 million people per year based on 2012 figures, the most recent available. Turkmenistan has the highest rate of deaths per capita in the WHO's classification due to ambient air pollution, followed by Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Egypt and China.

Source: ABC News September 27, 2016 04:03 UTC