A record number of over 6000 cities in 117 countries are now monitoring air quality, but the people living in them are still breathing unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, with people in low and middle-income countries suffering the highest exposures. https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-people-still-breathe-unhealthy-air-new-who-data

Live most polluted major city ranking: https://www.iqair.com/ca/world-air-quality-ranking

These particles can travel hundreds of kilometres, crossing municipal, state, and even national boundaries. For example, about 30% of air pollution in the Indian state of Punjab comes from neighbouring Pakistan. Further east, an estimated 30% of pollution in Bangladesh’s largest cities originates in India, given the predominant wind direction from the northwest to the southeast. https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/endpovertyinsouthasia/united-south-asia-can-beat-air-pollution

This is what we should be focused on, reducing general pollution and reducing air pollution. Its rather sad that the climate change movement has stolen this focus and made it into a CO2 hysteria. Clean air give good health and save lives.

#Pollution #AirPollution

#Wood-burning #stoves largely offset fall in particulate #pollution from #roads in #UK | #AirPollution | The Guardian

I don't think burning #biomass is a sustainable source of #energy, especially if it's also a #health hazard.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/14/wood-burning-stoves-cancel-out-fall-particulate-pollution-uk-roads

#Environment #Particulates

#London #Ulez averts more #AirPollution than that caused by capital’s #airports, report shows | #LowEmissionZones | The Guardian

What's not to like?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/28/london-ulez-averts-more-air-pollution-than-that-caused-by-capitals-airports-report-shows

#UK

Three Indian cities among world’s 10 most polluted after Diwali festival

Two Indian cities have joined the national capital, New Delhi, on the list of the world’s top 10 most polluted cities, with smoke heavy in the air a day afte...#AlJazeera #AlJazeeraEnglish #Diwali #Diwali2023 #airpollution #alJazeera #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralive #aljazeeravideo #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralatest #aljazeeralive #aljazeeralivenews #asia #asianews #central&southasia #delhiairpollution #delhiairquality #delhipollution #delhismog #environment #india #indiaairpollution #indiaairquality #indialatestnews #indiasmog #newdelhi
Three Indian cities among world’s 10 most polluted after Diwali festival

Hackaday Links: October 22, 2023

#hackadaycolumns #hackadaylinks #airpollution #annular #dispersedmedia #eclipse #foam #museum #placeholder #spacecraft #speeding #sqlinjection #stratosphere #ticket #version #hackaday
posted by pod_feeder_v2

Hackaday Links: October 22, 2023

The second of three major solar eclipses in a mere six-year period swept across the United States last week. We managed to catch the first one back in 2017, and still have plans for the next one in…

#SUVs emit more #climate damaging gas than older #cars do, study finds | #AirPollution | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/16/suvs-emit-more-climate-damaging-gas-than-older-cars-do-study-finds

#UK #Environment #GlobalWarming #ClimateChange #Pollution #Emissions #FossilFuels

Revealed: almost everyone in #Europe is breathing #ToxicAir | #AirPollution | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/20/revealed-almost-everyone-in-europe-breathing-toxic-air

#Pollution

World #meteorologists point to ‘vicious cycle’ of #heatwaves and #AirPollution | #ClimateCrisis | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/06/world-meteorologists-point-to-vicious-cycle-of-heatwaves-and-air-pollution

#Environment #Meteorology #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Pollution

After two years of testing, Cape Town’s Golden Arrow Bus Service will go operational with 60 new electric buses per year

Cape Town-based Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) is planning to introduce 60 electric buses to its fleet every year starting in 2024 until it has replaced its full fleet of 1,100 diesel-powered people haulers.

After two years of testing both a 37 and 65-seater electric bus along major commuter routes in Cape Town, GABS’s pilot project has proved to be highly successful.

Initially, the buses completed 7,000km of testing without passengers with the weight of the maximum number of occupants modelled using sandbags to check whether the vehicles would be able to traverse the mountainous terrains on which they are required to work. The real-life trials showed that the electric BYD buses were able to operate on the steepest inclines in Cape Town, most notably Hospital Bend on the M3.

In addition to the satisfactory driving performance, GABS found that it could save upwards of R657,000 per year on fuel for its diesel buses by switching to electric, as well as achieve a 50% savings in spare parts and 80% savings in oils and lubricants.

Therefore, despite the battery-powered buses being two to three times more expensive than their diesel counterparts, the cost savings will see them paying for themselves within two to eight years, according to a Green Cape case study.

Test after test has shown that bus fleets around the world will benefit from going electric. Busses are the perfect type of vehicle for this use case, as they are depot bound, have known routes and distances, and have a period of rest when charging can be done. Bus fleets also have lots of operational and maintenance data to do proper case studies. And, of course for commuters, both inside the bus and others in rush hour traffic, the air is far cleaner to breath.

The facts are, times have chnaged along with available technology and the economics are telling us the chnage now makes sense.

See https://topauto.co.za/features/83106/1100-electric-buses-coming-to-cape-town/
#Blog, #airpollution, #capetown, #environment, #EV

The Liquid Trees of Belgrade: The Facts Behind The Furore

#currentevents #featured #interest #science #airpollution #algae #bioreactor #carbondioxide #climatechange #microalgae #pollution #hackaday
posted by pod_feeder_v2

The Liquid Trees Of Belgrade: The Facts Behind The Furore

Historically, nature has used trees to turn carbon dioxide back into oxygen for use by living creatures. The trees play a vital role in the carbon cycle, and have done so for millennia. Recently, h…

Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, which is a fancy way of saying a cube of regular furnace air filters with a fan on top, a type of air filter invented during the coronavirus pandemic, turn out to be useful on an ongoing basis for reducing indoor air pollutants.

"PFAS, a type of synthetic chemical found in a range of products including cleaners, textiles and wire insulation, decreased by 40% to 60%; phthalates, commonly found in building materials and personal care products, were reduced by 30% to 60%."

A type of simple, DIY air filter can be an effective way to filter out indoor air pollutants

#discoveries #airpollution

A type of simple, DIY air filter can be an effective way to filter out indoor air pollutants

A study from researchers at Brown University and Silent Spring Institute found that inexpensive, easy-to-assemble Corsi-Rosenthal boxes can help reduce exposure to indoor air pollutants.

‘Eco’ #WoodBurners produce 450 times more #pollution than gas heating – report | #AirPollution | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/08/eco-wood-burners-produce-450-times-more-pollution-than-gas-heating-report

#Environment #Greenwashing #Health

#AirPollution is ‘likely’ to raise #dementia risk, find #UK government experts | Air #Pollution | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/27/air-pollution-is-likely-to-raise-dementia-risk-find-uk-government-experts

#Environment #Health

#AirPollution got worse during #lockdown in many countries, study finds | Air #pollution | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/14/air-pollution-got-worse-during-lockdown-in-many-countries-study-finds

#Environment

Home #WoodNurning in #UK causes £1bn of #Health costs a year, report says | #AirPollution | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/30/home-wood-burning-in-uk-causes-1bn-of-health-costs-a-year-report-says

#Environment #Pollution

#GhostFlights from #UK running at 500 a month, data reveals | Airline #emissions | The Guardian

This is crazy but it's also because of the ridiculous #Laws regarding retention of #Landing #Slots for #airlines.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/31/ghost-flights-from-uk-running-at-500-a-month-data-reveals

#Pollution #AirPollution #FossilFuels #Environmment #GlobalWarming #ClimateChange

(LPG) Household Gas Stoves Emit Pollution Even When Not In Use!

It is widely known that gas production and transportation both result in methane leakage, but a new study found that appliances, such as stoves, leak dangerous methane — even when they are not being used. These results are concerning because methane is a powerful climate pollutant that has a global warming potential (GWP) 86 times more than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time period.

Methane gas is one of the most potent greenhouse gases and accounts for about 25 percent of global warming. Methane makes up 70–90 percent of natural gas, which is used in our homes for cooking and heating. Previous studies have highlighted the presence of a pulse of methane leakage every time a tankless gas-powered water heater is turned on and off, and this most recent study shows that this problem of leakage is even greater than previously thought as it occurs in gas stoves also.

Methane is not the only dangerous pollutant emitted from stoves and other gas appliances such as space and water heaters, as nitrogen oxides (NOx) are also released into our homes when gas is burned and have been shown to cause respiratory diseases, headaches, eye irritation, and loss of appetite.

See https://cleantechnica.com/2022/03/08/gas-stoves-emit-pollution-even-when-not-in-use/

#environment #airpollution #methane #gas #health
#Blog, ##airpollution, ##environment, ##gas, ##health

#WoodBurners emit more particle #pollution than #traffic, #UK data shows | #AirPollution | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/15/wood-burners-emit-more-particle-pollution-than-traffic-uk-data-shows

Good News! New Harvard University Study Finds Vehicle Emissions Decline Linked To Decreased Deaths, $270 Billion In Savings In USA

The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that if vehicles had been emitting 2008 levels of air pollutions during this time period, the death total in 2017 would have been 2.4 times higher than it was (48,200, or a 74% increase, rather than 19,800). The study emphasized that decades of air pollution regulation have contributed to many benefits here in the US, but noted that vehicle emissions are still a climate and public health issue.
The study used a combination of counterfactual scenarios, the latest epidemiological evidence, and detailed spatial resolution to analyze recent health benefits related to changes in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and climate benefits of on-road emission reductions during this time period.

See https://cleantechnica.com/2021/12/15/good-news-new-study-finds-vehicle-emissions-decline-linked-to-decreased-deaths-270-billion-in-savings-in-usa/

#environment #airpollution #vehicleemissions

#Blog, #rss

https://gadgeteer.co.za/good-news-new-harvard-university-study-finds-vehicle-emissions-decline-linked-to-decreased-deaths-270-billion-in-savings-in-usa/

Good News! New Study Finds Vehicle Emissions Decline Linked To Decreased Deaths, $270 Billion In Savings In USA

The transportation industry is one of the most polluting industries contributing to air pollution around the world as well as adding greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. However, there has been a bit of good news, so let’s celebrate this moment...

CanAirIO, a citizen science project that aims to gather air quality data from around the world by putting sensors into the hands of as many people as possible

Its team has developed two different sensor nodes for this purpose: an indoor one that can measure CO2, and a mobile one that can measure particulate matter (PM) levels. Both versions are powered by an ESP32 microcontroller that reads out the air quality sensors and connects to the Internet using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The data can then be shared online to create detailed maps showing local variations in air quality.
The design of the sensor nodes is fully open-source, allowing anyone with basic electronic skills to build them.

See Measuring Air Quality Using Mobile Sensors For The Masses

#technology #opensource #airpollution #citizenscience #CanAirIO

Poor air quality is a major problem for city dwellers the world over. Dust, smoke, particles and noxious gases from vehicles, industry and agriculture makes many megacities downright hazardous to l…

#Blog, #rss- - - - - -

https://gadgeteer.co.za/canairio-a-citizen-science-project-that-aims-to-gather-air-quality-data-from-around-the-world-by-putting-sensors-into-the-hands-of-as-many-people-as-possible/

Measuring Air Quality Using Mobile Sensors For The Masses

Poor air quality is a major problem for city dwellers the world over. Dust, smoke, particles and noxious gases from vehicles, industry and agriculture makes many megacities downright hazardous to l…