The World Health Organization has released the latest global report on air pollution and it is highly disturbing. Nine out of 10 people worldwide now live in places where air pollution exceeds health standards and face higher risk of heart disease, strokes and cancer.

Even more chilling is the estimate that three million deaths a year are linked to exposure to outdoor air pollution. Roughly 90 percent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.

As we have discussed before, pollution costs are often treated as abstractions and few people see the many studies showing that millions die from pollution each year. Most people do not associate their health problems, including common problems like asthma and heat disease with pollution. However, the costs are real . . . and personal.