About
Breathing Kills.

Why Breathing Kills?

The name comes from one of the most successful public health campaigns in history: Smoking Kills.

That simple phrase changed how the world thinks about tobacco. It cut through decades of industry misinformation. It saved millions of lives.

In India today, every piece of media that shows someone smoking must display a health disclaimer. Movie theaters, streaming services like Netflix, television broadcasts—all of them show legally mandated warnings: "Smoking kills" or "Tobacco kills."

This law exists because the evidence was undeniable. Tobacco causes cancer. Tobacco causes heart disease. Tobacco kills.

The evidence on air pollution is just as clear.

Bigger Than Smoking

Here is the uncomfortable truth: the health burden of breathing polluted air now exceeds the health burden of smoking tobacco worldwide.

Air pollution kills approximately 8 million people every year. Tobacco kills 8 million. But there is a crucial difference.

You can choose not to smoke. You cannot choose not to breathe.

99% of the global population breathes air that exceeds WHO safety guidelines. Billions of people have no choice. Every breath carries invisible particles into their lungs.

Breathing kills. Just like smoking kills. The difference is that nobody chose to breathe.

Making the Invisible Visible

Air pollution is invisible. You cannot see PM2.5. You cannot smell it. This makes it easy to ignore.

Our mission is to make the invisible visible. We take complex air quality data and translate it into clear, actionable information. We show exactly how pollution affects your body, your community, and your life expectancy.

We are educators. We do not exaggerate or sensationalize. The facts about air pollution are alarming enough. Our job is to explain clearly, cite carefully, and let the evidence speak.

Knowledge is the first step toward change.

Our Sources

The data on this website comes from the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), developed by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.

The AQLI translates particulate air pollution into its impact on life expectancy. It shows how many years of life could be gained if air quality met safety standards.

We also draw on research from the State of Global Air, the Health Effects Institute, and peer-reviewed studies published in journals like The Lancet.

Every claim we make is grounded in evidence. The science is clear. Breathing polluted air kills.

A Worsening Crisis

The air pollution crisis was already severe. Now it is accelerating.

Climate change acts as a force multiplier. Wildfires are becoming larger, more frequent, and more intense—sending plumes of PM2.5 across continents. Rising temperatures accelerate the formation of ground-level ozone. Droughts create dust storms that carry particles thousands of miles. Shifting weather patterns trap pollutants closer to the ground for longer periods.

Regions that once had relatively clean air are now experiencing pollution events. Cities that thought they had solved their air quality problems are seeing new threats emerge. The seasonal patterns that communities relied on are shifting in unpredictable ways.

This is why acting now matters. The health burden of air pollution is already staggering—and without action on both emissions and climate, it will only grow.