Air pollution affects nearly every person on this planet. Yet global efforts to combat the scourge – which is associated with about 8 million premature deaths worldwide every year, can damage nearly every part of our body and is linked to everything from miscarriages to dementia – lag decades behind our knowledge of its impacts.(然而，全球应对这一祸害的努力——它与全球每年约800万人的过早死亡有关，能损害我们身体的几乎每个部分，并与从流产到痴呆等各种疾病相关联——却落后于我们对其影响的认识数十年。)
空气污染影响着这个星球上几乎每一个人。然而，全球应对这一祸害的努力——它与全球每年约800万人的过早死亡有关，能损害我们身体的几乎每个部分，并与从流产到痴呆等各种疾病相关联——却落后于我们对其影响的认识数十年。
Tens of millions of people in Indonesia are now suffering in swathes(大片区域) of thick smoke caused by “slash and burn(刀耕火种)” agriculture and exacerbated(使恶化，加剧) by the hot conditions. In India, ground-level ozone from vehicle fumes and industry has emerged as the key summer threat, while outside its megacities(特大城市) there have been protests in areas affected by toxic coal dust. Across the northern hemisphere this summer, wildfires driven by(由……驱动) the climate crisis have spread poor air across continents – already, 1.5 million people globally die every year from the impacts of wildfire smoke.
印度尼西亚数千万人正遭受大面积浓烟之苦，这些浓烟由“刀耕火种”农业造成，并因炎热天气而加剧。在印度，来自汽车尾气和工业的地面臭氧已成为夏季的主要威胁，而在其特大城市之外，受有毒煤尘影响的地区爆发了抗议活动。今年夏天，整个北半球，由气候危机驱动的野火将污浊空气扩散到各大洲——全球每年已有150万人死于野火烟雾的影响。
It would be easy, in the face of such an intractable(棘手的，难处理的) problem, to give up. But some cities have shown the way to a brighter and cleaner future. More on this, after this week’s most important reads.
面对如此棘手的问题，人们很容易放弃。但一些城市已经指明了通往更光明、更清洁未来的道路。在本周最重要的阅读之后，我们将详细探讨这一点。
Essential reads
必读文章
In focus
焦点