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The devastating wildfires that torched a record 4.3 million acres in the U.S. in 2020 made North America the only region in the world where air quality was worse than during the previous year.
Most of the world’s major cities had better air last year than in 2019, mainly thanks to coronavirus lockdowns that cleared skies for weeks or months, according to the annual report by air quality platform IQAir. Though India’s New Delhi was the most-polluted capital city, its pollution levels nevertheless fell 16% from the previous year.
Los Angeles, Melbourne and Sao Paulo, all of which were close to major wildfires in 2020, were among the few where pollution was worse than in 2019.