Photo: Getty Images (Getty Images) In a groundbreaking decision on Wednesday, a UK court ruled that polluted air was a contributing factor to the 9-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah’s untimely, tragic passing in 2013. She is the first person in the world to have a death certificate that lists air pollution as a cause of death. The declaration could reverberate around the world as countries both rich and poor try to clean up deadly pollution. Advertisement Kissi-Debrah suffered episodes of cardiac and respiratory arrest due to severe asthma, for which she frequently was hospitalized. In the last two years of her life, her lungs partially or partially collapsed on five separate occasions, the Guardian reported.