( CNN ) -- More than two million people are dying every year from the effects of outdoor air pollution , according to a new study . An estimated 2.1 million deaths are caused by anthropogenic increases of fine particulate matter ( PM2.5 ) while a further 470,000 are killed annually as a result of human-caused increases in ozone pollution . Jason West , co-author of the study published in the journal of Environmental Research Letters said : `` Outdoor air pollution is an important problem and among the most important environmental risk factors for health . '' East Asia is the worst affected area with researchers estimating more than a million people dying prematurely every year from PM2.5 pollution and 203,000 from ozone pollution . India has the second highest air pollution mortality rates with an estimated 397,000 deaths from fine particulates and ozone accounting for , on average , 118,000 . Next comes Southeast Asia which has estimated average of 158,000 deaths from PM2.5 and 33,300 attributed to ozone . Europe has fractionally less PM2.5 deaths ( 154,000 , on average ) and 32,800 premature deaths related to ozone while in North America there were an average of 43,000 deaths from fine particulates and 34,400 related to ozone . West et al used an ensemble of global atmospheric chemistry climate models to estimate concentrations of PM2.5 and ozone pollutants . Fine particulate matter ( dust , soot , smoke and liquid droplets ) is classified as less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter . It is particularly dangerous to human health because it can lodge deep in the lungs causing cancer and other respiratory disease , according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . Ground level ozone is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds ( VOC ) in the presence of sunlight , say the EPA . The study also investigated the effects of climate change on worsening air pollution , comparing climate models from the year 2000 with pre-industrial times ( 1850 ) . `` Very few studies have attempted to estimate the effects of past climate change on air quality and health . We found that the effects of past climate change are likely to be a very small component of the overall effect of air pollution , '' said West , assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . `` Going forward into the future , climate change will get more severe and that could have greater effects on air pollution . '' The research adds to a growing body of evidence revealing both the human and economic impacts of air pollution around the world . A recent report published in the British medical journal , The Lancet found that the incidence of heart failure rises when air pollution is higher . The research , funded by the British Heart Foundation , concluded that a reduction of PM2.5 could reduce hospitalizations due to heart failure in the U.S. saving a third of a billion dollars per year . Another recent study published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences highlighted air pollution problems in Northern China , suggesting life expectancy could have been lowered by five-and-a-half years . Even in the European Union , air pollution takes a sizable 8.6-month chunk off life expectancy according to the World Health Organization . But technology to monitor air pollution is improving all the time , says Roland Leigh , an air quality scientist from the UK 's University of Leicester . `` Historically , air quality is something very much we 've tried to measure and manage spatially -- considering over a total city what the average air quality is . What we are getting to now is systems that let us manage the distribution of air quality with knowledge of where people are and what people are doing , '' Leigh told CNN . Improved data can help manage the exposure of sensitized individuals ( the young , asthma sufferers , the elderly ) , he says . But he concedes that the road to improved air quality might be a long one . `` We have come to terms with the fact that in the urban environment we get exposed to emissions by our transport systems . That transport system is essential and at the moment there is no economically viable way of not emitting pollution at the point of use . `` Either we have to manage those emissions and exposure more intelligently or technologies need to change in our cars . ''
Air pollution responsible for more than two million premature deaths worldwide annually . Study assesses impact of fine particles and dust using atmospheric climate models . East Africa worst affected region with over a million deaths per year . Study also found that climate change has n't a huge impact on levels of air pollution .