“First, Second, and Third World” classifications are obsolete.^[1] The proper terms are Developed (e.g., United States, Germany, Japan) and Developing (e.g., Brazil, India, Mexico), even though these can be “overlapping and contested.” Academics also acknowledge terms such as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) (e.g., Haiti, Ethiopia, Nepal), and Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs) (e.g., South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan). 

China’s classification is a complex and debated. The coastal cities are ultra-modern, however the interior still has hundreds of millions of people living on relatively low incomes. It is officially a developing country by its own declaration and by the United Nations, but it is often characterized as an upper-middle-income economy or a hybrid superpower due to its status as the world’s second-largest economy, its advanced technological sectors, and significant regional wealth disparities.

According to IQAir.com based on data from 2018 to 2024, China ranks 21 out of 138 for the worst air pollution whereas the United States is 116 out of 138. Many Chinese cities have air quality index in the 130 to 200 range, which is deemed unsafe (Lanzhou 190, Xining 171, Haidong 159, Haibei 158, Yangquan 156, Binzhou 151, Yibin 149, Neijang 134, among many others), whereas in the United States we only have three or four cities above 100. In Brazil, they have Jundiaí, São Paulo (152); in India, Faridabad (227), Noida (310), and Loni, Ghaziabad (363). Mexico City is at roughly 129. Four countries with the worst air pollution rankings are as follows: Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and DR Congo.

Developing countries tend to have poor air quality because of i. their reliance on burning coal for industry and power generation; ii. older vehicles with higher emissions; iii. open burning of agricultural waste; iv. residential burning of biomass such as wood, charcoal, and animal dung (which government should be to blame for, because people don’t have the resources to build large energy-generating infrastructure such as nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, etc.); and v. far fewer environmental regulations (and adherence to those already in place). 

Solutions? Invest in renewables; nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal. Opt for natural gas. Invest in communities so they don’t have to burn biomass, providing them biogas plants, liquid petroleum gas, natural gas, and aforementioned renewable energies sources. 

We only have one planet, and another country’s pollution becomes the world’s pollution to breath and eat, so we are all in this together. Developed countries around the world need to work to ensure their poorest countries aren’t polluting the way they currently are because of their lack of infrastructure. 

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^[1] The term “Third World” was coined in 1952 by French demographer Alfred Sauvy. At its inception, the numbers had nothing to do with GDP or poverty. They were strictly about military and political alliances:

• First World: The United States, Western Europe, and their allies (The “Capitalist” bloc).
• Second World: The Soviet Union, China, and their allies (The “Communist” bloc).
• Third World: Everyone else. These were “non-aligned” nations that didn’t want to pick a side in the Cold War.