Page 32 - Air Pollution

33,000 lives lost annually due to pollution in these 10 Indian cities

A report published in Lancet Planetary Health claims that over 7 per cent of all deaths, approximately 33,000 each year, in 10 Indian cities can be attributed to air pollution levels

Air pollution kills 33,000 in Indian cities annually, Delhi tops list

According to Lancet Planetary Health, almost 33,000 deaths in 10 Indian cities yearly can be attributed to air pollution levels that are below India's national clean air threshold

Air pollution kills 33,000 every year even in 'clean' Indian cities: Lancet

The researchers looked at 3.6 million deaths between 2008 and 2019 across the sample areas, and overlapped them with a detailed map of the distribution of PM 2.5

7% of daily deaths in 10 Indian cities linked to PM2.5 pollution: Study

On average, 7.2 per cent of all daily deaths in 10 of the largest and most polluted cities in India, including Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, were linked to PM2.5 levels higher than World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for safe exposure, according to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. Delhi was found to have the largest fraction of daily and yearly deaths attributable to PM2.5 air pollution, caused by particles sized 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter. Sources of such pollution include vehicular and industrial emissions. Researchers said that daily exposure to PM2.5 pollution in Indian cities is linked with a higher risk of death, and locally created pollution could be possibly causing these deaths. The international team included researchers from Varanasi's Banaras Hindu University and the Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi. They found that an increase of 10 micrograms per cubic metre in the average of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) polluti

Uber launches EV service, Uber Green, in Kolkata to curb emissions

Uber on Thursday announced the launch of its flagship electric vehicle service, Uber Green, in Kolkata, marking a step towards eco-friendly urban transportation. Uber becomes the second ride-hailing service provider to offer electric vehicles in the city, following Snap E, another brand operating with an all-EV fleet. "Enhancing the air quality in Kolkata is a shared duty we all must embrace. I commend Uber for introducing 'Uber Green' in Kolkata, a significant step towards reducing carbon emissions in our city," West Bengal Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty said. "This service allows residents to book zero-emission rides with ease through the Uber app, promoting sustainable travel across the city, including routes to and from Kolkata international airport," Uber said in a statement. The company did not disclose details on the number of vehicles under Uber Green or its expansion plans for the city. The company has committed to becoming a zero-emissions mobility platform by 2

Global fossil fuel use, emissions hit records in 2023, says report

Overall global primary energy consumption hit an all-time high of 620 Exajoules (EJ), the report said

Air pollution: Toxic air kills 464 children daily in India, 2,000 worldwide

Air pollution is now the second major cause of child mortality around the world. The State of Global Air report indicates about half a million child deaths in 2021 linked to indoor air pollution

EU Commission plan may exempt long-haul flights from new emissions rules

The EU is developing plans to require airlines to track and report their contribution to climate change from January 2025

Uncomfortable decisions required to clean up Delhi's air: Sunita Narain

Cleaning up Delhi's air requires "uncomfortable and inconvenient" decisions, and it cannot be achieved by being nice to everyone, particularly the affluent residents who significantly contribute to the problem, leading environmentalist Sunita Narain has said. In an interaction with PTI editors, Narain said although central and state governments have taken several steps to control air pollution in the national capital, including banning coal and introducing BSVI fuel, erratic weather patterns due to climate change and the inadequate speed of addressing the crisis continue to exacerbate the problem. Narain, the Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment, said the episodic burning of crop residue by farmers in winter is not the primary concern. Instead, the persistent and major sources of pollution within the city, including transport and industries, are more worrisome, she said. "My only request for the new government is to take some uncomfortable, inconvenient decisio

Airbrushed existence

Bad air is an equaliser, uncontained by physical borders and social boundaries, but dialogues around air pollution don't extend to everybody. They have blind spots

Haryana govt to launch Rs 10,000 crore project to combat air pollution

Haryana Chief Secretary T V S N Prasad on Monday said the state government will soon roll out a Rs 10,000-crore project funded by the World Bank to address air pollution. The Haryana Clean Air Project for Sustainable Development will be implemented in the state in a phased manner with the first phase being implemented in the districts falling in the National Capital Region (NCR) and replication in entire state later, he said. The announcement was made in a meeting of the governing committee of Haryana Clean Air Project for Sustainable Development held under the chairmanship of the chief secretary here on Monday, according to an official statement. Prasad said this ten-year comprehensive project would be funded by the World Bank. Underlining the significance of the project, Prasad emphasised the need of collective efforts by all stakeholders to eliminate the problem of air pollution. It was informed by the officials in the meeting that the project has three focus areas aimed at ...

Air pollution: Delhi's AQI turns 'poor'; experts cite unfavourable weather

The national capital's air quality dipped to the 'poor' category on Wednesday due to unfavourable meteorological conditions and stubble burning and forest fires in neighbouring states, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said. The city's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) rose to 243 by 4 pm, prompting the CAQM, a statutory body tasked by the Centre with planning and implementing air pollution reduction strategies in Delhi-NCR, to convene a review meeting with experts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. The 24-hour average AQI noted on Sunday was 183 in the 'moderate' category, after which the index entered the 'poor' category with a reading of 227 on Monday and 234 on Tuesday. At the review meeting, the experts told the CAQM panel that the wind direction and speed are rapidly changing due to high convection rate and completely dry conditions, along with high temperatures, are leading to continued suspension

NGT seeks reasons for not enforcing GRAP in Delhi despite poor air quality

The National Green Tribunal has sought from the Centre's Commission for Air Quality Management the reasons for not implementing the Graded Response Action Plan curbs in the National Capital Region and the adjoining areas. Underlining that the Stage-I Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) curbs were not invoked despite the air quality reaching the 'poor' category from May 3 to 6, the NGT sought a fresh report from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). The tribunal was hearing the matter regarding air pollution in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) region. In an order passed on May 7, a bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said, "Air quality in Delhi in the last four days has dipped to poor category and it was 291 on May 5. But GRAP-I provisions have not been invoked till now." The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi was 264 on May 3, 281 the next day and 247 on May 6. The bench also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarw

World's 'largest' vacuum designed to suck pollution out of air is now open

The vacuum is projected to remove 36,000 tons of carbon annually, equivalent to eliminating emissions from approximately 7,800 gas-powered cars for a year

Drop in annual PM2.5, PM10 levels between 2018 and 2023: Environment dept

The Delhi environmental department said there has been a decrease in the annual PM2.5 concentration, dropping from 128 micrograms per cubic metre in 2018 to 106 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023

Amid Houthi attacks, Red Sea diversions spew emissions equal to 9 mn cars

The additional fuel burned has led to approximately an extra 13.6 million tons of CO2 emissions over the past four months - equivalent to the pollution of about 9 million cars

Group of 2,500 Delhi-based RWAs unveil 24-point citizen wish list

A group representing over 2,500 RWAs in the national capital on Monday unveiled a 24-point citizen wish list ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, demanding a sustainable city with better solutions for its air pollution problems, civic issues and governance. The United Residents Joint Action (URJA), in its citizens' charter for the next government, has made nine finance-related obligations, seven fundamental commitments, five leadership commitments and three citizen participation demands, the resident welfare associations (RWAs) group said in a statement. "The URJA's mandate calls for a more liveable, breathable, sustainable city with better solutions for its air pollution problems, civic issues and governance. The charter presents the key challenges faced by citizens of Delhi and their needs along with solutions that will work and specific demands for action," it said. The needs and solutions for developing sustainable city and states with reduced air pollution levels include better waste

Air pollution-related terminologies awareness low among urban poor: Study

Awareness about air pollution-related terminologies such as air quality index and particulate matter is "significantly" low among the urban poor in Delhi-NCR, according to a survey. The study conducted from December 2023 to January 2024 covered 500 people in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) cities of Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurugram. For the survey, they were divided into two groups -- residents of informal settlements and slums, and formal middle-class settlements. "Awareness of air pollution-related terminology was significantly lower among the urban poor. Only 10 per cent of people were aware of air pollution terms like AQI (air quality index) and PM 2.5, while 71 per cent of middle-class settlements were aware," the survey "Saaf Saans" conducted by NGO Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group said. PM 2.5 levels are fine particles that have a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers, more than 100 times thinner than a human hair and remain suspended in the air fo

Heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels in air last year hit new peak again

The levels of the crucial heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere reached historic highs last year, growing at near-record fast paces, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Carbon dioxide, the most important and abundant of the greenhouse gases caused by humans, rose in 2023 by the third highest amount in 65 years of record keeping, NOAA announced Friday. Scientists are also worried about the rapid rise in atmospheric levels of methane, a shorter-lived but more potent heat-trapping gas. Both jumped 5.5 per cent over the past decade. The 2.8 parts per million increase in carbon dioxide airborne levels from January 2023 to December, wasn't as high as the jumps were in 2014 and 2015, but they were larger than every other year since 1959, when precise records started. Carbon dioxide's average level for 2023 was 419.3 parts per million, up 50 per cent from pre-industrial times. Last year's methane's jump of 11.1 parts per billion was lower than record annual

Emissions model for aviation fuel will be ready in very near future: EPA

The revisions were delayed from an initial March 1 timeline after disputes among agencies about the changes, sources told Reuters at the time