Over 80 percent of the world's city dwellers 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 affected, 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, wreaking havoc 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 deterioration of air in the planet's cities, and highlights the growing risk of serious health conditions also including stroke and asthma.
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 pollutants 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, notably 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 premature 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 considerably, 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。