The word "Africa" often evokes romantic images. Elephants crossing the Kalahari water heading to the Victoria falls, or panoramic view of table mountain.

But more and more a familiar sight for Africans is smog, garbage and contaminated water, according to a new report. Nigeria entered the 4 worst cities in the world for air pollution, according to the data published by the world health organization (who).

Onitsha - the city is little-known outside of Nigeria - is unworthy of the honour to be marked the most polluted city in the world for quality of air, when measured concentrations of particulate matter (PM10). Prosperous city in southern Nigeria - Onitsha has 30 times more PM10 than recommended by the who.

The other three cities, named the dirtiest in the who report, with a high level of PM10, it is Kaduna located in the North and got to 5th place in the report. 6 the ABA and Umuahia was on the 16th position.

In the past year who reported that 94% of the population in Nigeria is exposed to polluted air, which is much higher than normal. The who study monitored the growth of two different sizes of particles, PM10 and PM2.5, per cubic meter of air.

The use of solid fuel for cooking, burning of waste and pollution from very old cars, all contribute to air pollution. At home because of the unreliability of electricity supply, many Nigerians rely on generators that emit noxious fumes often not ventilated rooms.

The history of air pollution in other parts of the African continent remains unknown. The report includes only the pollution levels of cities with population over 100 thousand inhabitants.
sections: Society, World News