PM2.5 stands for particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller. These particles are 30 times thinner than a human hair and come from car exhaust, power plants, wildfires, and burning fuel. They are small enough to bypass your body's natural defenses and enter your bloodstream.

How does air pollution affect the body?

Air pollution affects virtually every organ in the body. PM2.5 particles enter your lungs, pass into your bloodstream, and travel to your heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and other organs. This causes chronic inflammation, increasing risks of heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, dementia, and many other conditions.

How many people are affected by air pollution?

99% of the global population breathes air that exceeds WHO safety guidelines. Air pollution kills approximately 8 million people every year—more than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

Russia's Kamchatka Air Pollution Report

Overview

Air Pollution in Kamchatka

Kamchatka faces significant air pollution challenges. 0% of districts exceed the WHO guideline for clean air. This is putting 302 thousand across 11 districts at risk.

The average PM2.5 over 2023 was 3.3µg/m³. That's 0.7 times the WHO guideline for clean air of 5µg/m³.

This is equivalent of everybody, including children, smoking about 55 cigarettes in a year.

Trends

Air Quality Trend

Annual PM2.5 levels from 2014 to 2023. The WHO guideline for safe air is 5 µg/m³.

Health Impact

Life Expectancy Impact

If Kamchatka met the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³, the average person would live 0 years longer.

That's 0 years of life stolen from 302 thousand people. Years of watching children grow up. Years of building a career. Years of quiet mornings and celebrations.

Lives cut short. Breathing kills.

Most Polluted

Districts with Highest Pollution

The top 10 most polluted districts in Kamchatka. These areas face the greatest health burden from air pollution.

1.Bystrinskiy rayon
0 years lost
2.Sobolevskiy rayon
0 years lost
3.Ust'-Bol'sheretskiy rayon
0 years lost
4.Ust'-Kamchatskiy rayon
0 years lost
5.Mil'kovskiy rayon
0 years lost
6.Tigil'skiy rayon
0 years lost
7.Elizovskiy rayon
0 years lost
8.Penzhinskiy rayon
0 years lost
9.Karaginskiy rayon
0 years lost
10.Olyutorskiy rayon
0 years lost

Exposure

Population Exposure by Pollution Level

Distribution of population across different PM2.5 pollution levels. The WHO guideline is 5 µg/m³—only populations below this threshold are breathing safe air.

< 5 µg/m³

100%

302K

5-10 µg/m³

10-15 µg/m³

15-25 µg/m³

25-35 µg/m³

> 35 µg/m³

Districts

All 11 Districts in Kamchatka

Complete air quality data for every district in Kamchatka, sorted by population.

District	Population	PM2.5 µg/m³
Elizovskiy rayon	252K	3.3
Ust'-Kamchatskiy rayon	11K	3.6
Mil'kovskiy rayon	10K	3.5
Ust'-Bol'sheretskiy rayon	8K	3.6
Tigil'skiy rayon	7K	3.4
Olyutorskiy rayon	4K	2.8
Karaginskiy rayon	3K	2.9
Bystrinskiy rayon	2K	3.9
Penzhinskiy rayon	2K	3.0
Sobolevskiy rayon	2K	3.7
Aleutskiy rayon	562	2.6

Showing 11 districts, sorted by population (largest first). PM2.5 values are for 2023. Years lost calculated against WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.

Breathing in Kamchatka is Injurious to Health.