The warming planet will exacerbate deadly air pollution across the world and kill tens of millions more people over the next decade, not only in developing economies such as China and India but also in Europe and other wealthier countries.

A new study from the Lancet Countdown that examines the impact of climate change on human health said the dangerously high levels of air pollution that contributed to 7m deaths globally in 2016 would only get worse as the world becomes hotter.

Tackling worldwide air pollution was “probably the most important thing we should be considering from a public health perspective” to save lives, said Nicholas Watts, executive director at Lancet Countdown, a collaboration between 30 institutions including the World Health Organization, World Bank and the Lancet medical journal.