Six airports put UK capital ahead of Tokyo and Dubai, with Heathrow second-worst global airport for climate impact

The planes taking off and landing at London’s six airports expose the city’s inhabitants to the equivalent of 3.23m cars’ worth of harmful nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions every year. In Tokyo and Dubai, residents are exposed to 2.78m cars’ worth of emissions from air traffic.

These three cities are the world’s worst affected by air pollution from aviation, according to new research tracking the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions of cargo and passenger flights from airports around the world.