Daily Dose of Air Pollution: October 2009

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Air Pollution Alerts - October 25th, 2009

News & Information; Every Sunday (Last on October 18, 2009)

AFP, October 24th, 2009
Hong Kong air pollution equals record high.

Washington Times, October 24th, 2009
Obama dismisses warming skeptics.

Los Angeles Times, October 24th, 2009
EPA commits to set air pollution rules by 2011.

Boston Globe, October 24th, 2009
Blowing smoke on warming, clean air.

Hindu, October 24th, 2009
Bus timings: Mobiles can solve the mystery in India.

China Dialogue, October 23rd, 2009
Outlook and obstacles for CCS.

NPR, October 23rd, 2009
Biofuel Laws May Harm Environment.

Scotsman, October 23rd, 2009
Pollution may increase risk of miscarriage.

Washington Post, October 23rd, 2009
EPA proposal to cut Great Lakes ship emissions stirs the waters.

Scientific American, October 23rd, 2009
Can A Number Solve the Climate Change Conundrum?

World Watch Institute, October, 23rd, 2009
Livestock and Climate Change.

China Daily, October 23rd, 2009
'Carbon credits' scheme to improve air quality.

Science Daily, October 23rd, 2009
Climate Scientists Uncover Major Accounting Flaw In Kyoto Protocol And Other Climate Legislation.

Reuters, October 23rd, 2009
Japan may cut emissions by less than 25 percent.

Guardian, October 23rd, 2009
US coal stands in way of Copenhagen.

Environmental Leader, October 23rd, 2009
Penalized for Pollution, Major Bus Firm to Reduce Idling.

CNN, October 23rd, 2009
Acid rain, breathing problems threat for Puerto Ricans after fire.

Scientific American, October 22nd, 2009
Editing Scientists: Science and Policy at the White House.

Saturday Nation, October 22nd, 2009
Why the world must act on global warming now.

Science Daily, October 22nd, 2009
Future Consequences Of A Global Biofuels Program Predicted.

Science Daily, October 22nd, 2009
Treaty To Limit Carbon Dioxide Should Be Followed By Similar Limits On Other Greenhouse Pollutants.

Reuters, October 22nd, 2009
Poor may need to curb CO2 by 15 percent.

Science Daily, October 21st, 2009
Glacial Melting May Release Pollutants Into The Environment.

Guardian, October 21st, 2009
Europe offers to cut emissions 95% by 2050 if deal reached at Copenhagen.

Scientific American, October 21st, 2009
"Albedo Yachts" and Marine Clouds: A Cure for Climate Change.

Australian Business, October 21st, 2009
All aboard the carbon bandwagon.

Gulf Times, October 21st, 2009
Population and climate will define years ahead.

US EPA, October 21st, 2009
School Bus Company to Implement Nationwide Anti-Idling Program and Pay Penalties for Clean Air Act Violations - Public Health Benefits as Nation Recognizes School Bus Safety Week.

Science Daily, October 20th, 2009
Key To How Bacteria Clear Mercury Pollution Revealed.

New York Times, October 20th, 2009
Finding Ease, Efficiency and Fun on a Scooter.

Reuters, October 20th, 2009
Polluted air may give you a headache.

The Atlantic, October 20th, 2009
The air over there.

Science Codex, October 19th, 2009
Health impacts of energy consumption cost U.S. $120 billion annually.

New York Times, October 19th, 2009
Fossil Fuels’ Hidden Cost Is in Billions.

Scientific American, October 19th, 2009
What is the Real Cost of Power Production?

Science Daily, October 19th, 2009
Shifting The World To 100 Percent Clean, Renewable Energy As Early As 2030: Here Are The Numbers.

NPR, October 18th, 2009
Without Pigs, Cairo Looks For Solar Garbage Fix.

Environmental & Urban Economics, October 17th, 2009
Beijing Air Pollution Dynamics and the Environmental Kuznets Curve.

New York Times, October 14th, 2009
Biggest Obstacle to Global Climate Deal May Be How to Pay for It.

WBCSD, October 6th, 2009
Major developing country emissions must peak by 2020 - IEA.

New York Times, October 6th, 2009
Climate Agency Sees China’s Efforts Paying Dividends.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Climate Map Shows World After 4C Rise (Guardian)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Air Pollution Alerts - October 18th, 2009

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Mapping Party in Atlanta, USA

"We aim to map everything from bike paths to emergency phones and police precincts," said Frank Howell from the Office of Research and Policy Analysis. The project is using 200 volunteers.

Read the BBC article for details. This is the best way to map a city.

And when it comes to air pollution, a similar methodology works like a charm :-)

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Air Pollution Alerts - October 11th, 2009

News & Information; Every Sunday (Last on October 04, 2009)

Next American City, October, 2009
Open Cities: New Media’s Role in Shaping Urban Policy.

Journal of Applied Sciences, October, 2009
Air Pollution Prevention Applications for the Transport Sector by Integrating Urban Area Transport and Vehicle Emission Models with the Case Study of Bangkok, Thailand.

The New Nation, October 10th, 2009
Climate change deals must put people first.

Focusire, October 10th, 2009
The World Bank and Its Effort on Environmental Protection in China.

CNN, October 9th, 2009
Will Obama bypass Congress on climate rules?

Oil & Gas Journal, October 9th, 2009
IEA: Stronger economic outlook boosts oil forecast.

Wired, October 9th, 2009
Super-Efficient BMW Concepts Are Simple and Clever.

Science Daily, October 9th, 2009
Key New Ingredient In Climate Model Refines Global Predictions.

Guardian, October 9th, 2009
Developed country emissions pledges fall short.

Asia Times, October 9th, 2009
China's electric car revolution.

Deccan Herald, October 9th, 2009
13 deaths every hour in accidents.

MIT Technology Review, October 9th, 2009
Is China Beating the U.S. in Clean Tech?

Public Service News, October 8th, 2009
New plans to stop Asian urban chaos.

Science Daily, October 8th, 2009
Nitrogen Deposition Limits Climate Change Impacts On Carbon Sequestration.

Huffington Post, October 8th, 2009
Environmental mayhem in Pakistan.

WHIG Standard, October 8th, 2009
As the economy grows, so do garbage woes.

The Economist, October 8th, 2009
Air pollution - Taken to the cleaners.

Scientific American, October 8th, 2009
Just How Sensitive Is Earth's Climate to Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide?

Deccan Herald, October 8th, 2009
Kicking up a storm.

Guardian, October 8th, 2009
Peak oil could hit soon.

BBC, October 8th, 2009
Warning over global oil 'decline'.

Vietnam Net, October 8th, 2009
Eight companies suspended from production for air pollution.

Environmental Health News, October 7th, 2009
Common air pollutants react and make more pollution.

Science Daily, October 7th, 2009
Air Quality Improvements Over The Last Decade May Be A Factor In Fewer Ear Infections.

Science Daily, October 7th, 2009
Do Dust Particles Curb Climate Change?

Guardian, October 7th, 2009
Why global warming isn't taking a break.

The Journal, October 7th, 2009
You've got to kill to be kind.

Take In News, October 6th, 2009
How pedestrians can reduce intake of traffic pollution.

Web Newswire, October 6th, 2009
Hong Kong: Public forum on Air Quality Objectives Review.

Hindustan Times, October 6th, 2009
Economic crisis has given the world a second chance.

Business Day Online, October 6th, 2009
Climate change: A serious hazard to Nigeria.

Financial Times, October 6th, 2009
IEA call to make emissions slump permanent.

Science Daily, October 6th, 2009
Going Green On Hold: Human Activities Can Affect 'Blue Haze,' World's Weather.

Science Daily, October 6th, 2009
Air Pollution Worse On One Side Of The Street.

Science Daily, October 6th, 2009
18th Century Ships' Logs Predict Future Weather Forecast.

Scientific American, October 5th, 2009
Climate Change Equals Culture Change in the Andes.

World Watch, October 5th, 2009
India Steps Up Climate Change Efforts.

The Daily Star, October 5th, 2009
Project for Clean Air Begins in Dhaka.

Treehugger, October 5th, 2009
China, Once Climate Scapegoat, Is Now Our "Sputnik" (Really?)

Business Green, October 5th, 2009
London promises tighter pollution controls as threat of EU fines increases.

My Bangalore, October 4th, 2009
Car Pooling: A step to Reduce Traffic Congestion and Pollution.

New York Times, October 2nd, 2009
After a Devastating Fire, an Intense Study of Its Effects.

Telegraph, October 2nd, 2009
Development as China's environmental solution.

EEA, October 1st, 2009
EU set to miss 2010 air pollutant limits.

Center for American Progress, September 22nd, 2009
Myth vs. Reality on International Climate Change Negotiations.

BBC, September 15th, 2009
Surviving Kyoto's 'do or die' summit.

Discover, September 8th, 2009
The Easiest Way to Fight Global Warming.

Center for American Progress, August 23rd, 2009
Counting All the Benefits - Energy Efficiency and Systems Thinking.

Center for American Progress, August 10th, 2009
Natural Gas: A Bridge Fuel for the 21st Century.

Center for American Progress, July 23rd, 2009
The Cost of Inaction Is Far Greater than the Cost of Action.

Center for American Progress, July 15th, 2009
Making Buses Cool Again.

McKinsey, November 15th, 2008
Energy Efficiency is the low-hanging fruit.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Making Buses Cool Again (CAP)

Transportation is responsible for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. This means that bold changes in transportation policies—for both the developed and developing world—must be part of solving the climate crisis. The trick is to curb the world’s emissions—from industry as well as transportation—without preventing poor countries from developing and lifting their people out of poverty. The New York Times recently highlighted a promising mass transportation solution that could help make this possible: bus rapid transit, or BRT. This mode of transportation, which works like an above-ground subway, is already helping reduce emissions and fight poverty around the world, and could do even more if it gets a boost from the U.N. treaty in Copenhagen this December.

Read more about it @ CAP

Also read

Intelligent Transport - How Cities Can Improve Mobility (IBM)

Cities around the world face common transport challenges – from increasing congestion, safety concerns and aging infrastructure to a lack of funding and increasing environmental impacts. Like their colleagues in city administration and government, transport officials are starting to implement "smart solutions" to address these challenges and provide improved mobility in their cities, better services for citizens and a more cost-effective transport network.

But intelligent transport is about more than implementing discrete technologies. Leading cities are using these technologies to evolve their transport systems from single modes to integrated ones, improve transport services and provide an improved value proposition to customers.

For details visit the IBM's Intelligent Transport.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

I am a TED Fellow !!

I’m excited and honored to be a 2009 TEDIndia Fellow!

See the complete list of TEDIndia Fellows. TEDIndia conference will take place in Mysore, India, in November, 2009. The lineup of fellow participants seems really interesting and am looking forward to meet them.

One of the first posts on this blog was a comment on "Simplicity" using David Pogue's TED Talk - of course, linked to the air pollution concerns.

The inspiring conference features some of the world’s biggest thinkers and doers. Over the years, My wife and I’ve spent many hours downloading and watching videos from TED that include

Sir Ken Robinson on how schools kill creativity
Al Gore on averting climate crisis
Hans Rosling on best development statistics and gapminder
Jonathan Harris on web secret stories
Vilayanur Ramachandran on how the brain functions
Doris Kearns Goodwin on the two presidents - work, love, & play
Jimmy Wales on the birth of Wikipedia
David Pogue on how simplicity sells

I am looking forward to see some of these presentations in person.

The TED Fellows program focuses on attracting applicants living or working in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East, with attention given to individuals who have shown unusual accomplishment, exceptional courage and the potential to increase positive change in their respective fields. The program focuses on innovators in technology, entertainment, design, science, film, art, music, entrepreneurship and the NGO community.

Applications to become a 2010 TED Fellow are open and applicants can apply online at: http://www.ted.com/pages/view/id/247

Cheers,
Sarath

Monday, October 05, 2009

Melting Glaciers in the Himalayas

An article published on CNN today titled, "the high stakes of melting Himalayan glaciers". The article quotes Dr. Vandana Shiva, an environmental activist, physicist and leader in the International Forum on Globalization, raising the awareness of the melting glaciers, flash floods in the villages of Ladakh region, and possible drying of underground aquifers.

This is an alarming issue and have been in discussion among the scientific community and also highlighted by IPCC in their last report.

In August, I trekked through the Zanskar and Ladakh ranges for 30 days and had an opportunity to see the changing scenarios along the ranges. The places where the trek description talks of glacier walks were gone. For example, one of the highest passes along the way of Shinge La, after which we were supposed go down a steep glacier. Once on top, there were only remnants of a glacier.

As far as the underground aquifers are concerned, one should also look into the growing demand for water in the urbanized and tourist parts. For example, in Leh, the demand for water has increased many folds and most of it is supported by underground aquifers.

Recent publications (and newspaper articles) were pinpointing at Black Carbon, whose contribution to global warming and possible role in the glacier melts is increasing. While the science of black carbon's role is being studied and understood (see a review by Princeton University), the sources of black carbon is still uncertain. The scientific community should restrain for blaming low-income groups (New York Times), who are dependent on biomass for cooking and heating in the region, for black carbon emissions (see Black Carbon to the Rescue?).

Low Carbon Transport in Asia (Earthscan)

Low Carbon Transport in Asia - Strategies for Optimizing Co-benefits
Edited By Eric Zusman, Ancha Srinivasan and Shobhakar Dhakal (IGES)

This publication is in the press. The Hyderabad co-benefit study (co-authored with Dr. Ramani from APPCB) is presented as one the case studies.

This book is essential reading for transport policy makers, planners, and researchers concerned with low carbon transport, climate change and development in Asia and the wider world.

The introductory section makes the case for co-benefits in developing Asia's transport sector. The second section features analytical frameworks to identify strategies with potential co-benefits, offering new findings on black carbon and dieselization. The third section grounds the analytic work in case studies on fuel switching in Pakistan, urban planning in Bandung, Indonesia, congestion charges in Beijing, vehicle restraints in Hanoi and bus rapid transit in Jakarta. A final section examines how the climate regime can help transform a rapidly motorizing Asia into a climate-friendly Asia.

Cities can learn from comparing their carbon footprints (Economist)

An article in the Economist (September 28th, 2009) "Cities can learn from comparing their carbon footprints" presents a good summary of a paper published in Environment Science and Technology titled "Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Global Cities".

The cities compared in the study are four were in North America (Denver City and County, Los Angeles County, New York City and the Greater Toronto Area). Four were in Europe (Barcelona City, the Canton of Geneva, the Greater London Authority area and the Greater Prague Region). The other two were in Asia (Bangkok) and Africa (Cape Town).

A similar paper 24-2009, "Motorized Passenger Travel in Urban India: Emissions & Co-benefits Analysis" paper presents the emissions analysis of the motorized “in-city” passenger travel from twenty cities in India, covering

the current trends in four modes of transport (passenger cars, motorcycles, 3 wheelers, and buses)
estimated energy consumption for the assumed growth patterns, and
possible co-benefits of three combined scenarios (public transport, policy reforms, and non-motorized transport).

The cities included in this analysis are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kanpur, Agra, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Jaipur, Surat, Pondicherry, Bhubaneswar, Panaji, Patna, Kochi, Nagpur, and Guwahati.

This emphasizes the need to share information and learn from experiences across the world and between cities.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Air Pollution Alerts - October 4th, 2009