A new national air pollution report has put hard numbers on a crisis Lahore’s smog made visible again this week: toxic air is cutting life expectancy in Pakistan by an estimated 3.9 years on average and driving roughly 128,000 premature deaths every year. The findings come from the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative’s report, Unveiling Pakistan’s Air Pollution, the country’s first unified multi-sector emissions inventory. The report warns that long-term exposure could cut life expectancy in Lahore by as much as seven years, and puts the economic toll of chronic exposure at 6.5 percent of GDP. Lahore’s average annual PM2.5 concentration exceeds 110 micrograms per cubic metre, more than 22 times the World Health Organization’s annual guideline of five micrograms. Vehicles are the largest source of PM2.5 in Lahore, followed by industry at 28 percent and brick kilns at 17 percent, with mitigation measures able to cut pollutants by up to half. The report lands a day after Lahore topped the world’s pollution ranking at an AQI of 419. For residents, the advice remains practical: limit outdoor exertion on high-pollution days, wear a mask, and protect children and older people first. Sources: Dawn, Express Tribune (Pakistan Air Quality Initiative report). Written in our own words for information only.