More than a million deaths worldwide each year are due to short-term exposure to air pollution, according to a new report published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health. East Asia reports more than half of the deaths worldwide, while Europe accounts for 12% of deaths.

The study by Monash University in Australia looked at PM 2.5 particulate matter pollution levels and mortality in more than 13,000 cities and towns around the world over the two decades to 2019.

As found, even exposure for a few hours to a few days to pollution results in more than a million premature deaths each year worldwide. More than a fifth of deaths occur in urban areas.

Asia accounts for approximately 65.2% of global mortality, in Africa 17%, in Europe 12.1%, in America 5.6% and in Oceania 0.1%.

The burden was higher in densely populated, highly polluted areas of East Asia, South Asia and West Africa. Most regions of Australia saw a small decrease in the number of attributable deaths, but the rate increased from 0.54% in 2000 to 0.76% in 2019, which was the largest increase of any subregion. One possible reason, according to the researchers, could be the increasing frequency and scale of extreme weather events related to air pollution, such as the wildfires of 2019.