Air Pollution News & Alerts - November 30th, 2012

Last on November 1st, 2012

Hindustan Times, November 30th, 2012
India tops China in air pollution level increase.

Pacific Standard, November 30th, 2012
Your Guide to the Carbon Rainbow.

The Indian Express, November 30th, 2012
Move to double fine for polluting cars.

TIME, November 30th, 2012
India’s Air Pollution: Is It Worse Than China’s?

Times of India, November 29th, 2012
Need curbs on the killer fuel: Environmentalists.

UC Berkeley News Center, November 28th, 2012
Let there be clean light: Kerosene lamps spew black carbon, should be replaced.

Shanghai Daily, November 27th, 2012
Alarming air pollution in Shanghai.

TUNZA Eco Generation, November 27th, 2012
Face to air pollution of Ulaanbaatar.

Mongolia News, November 25th, 2012
Air Pollution Killing Ulaanbaatar's Residents.

SEI, November 22nd, 2012
Transitioning away from large-scale power projects: A simple and effective fix for the CDM?

Times of India, November 21st, 2012
23 Delhiites die every day due to respiratory ailments.

WRI Insights, November 21st, 2012
The Trillion RMB Question: How Can China Fund its Sustainable Urban Transport Growth?

The Daily Climate, November 20th, 2012
We can slow near-term climate change.

Green Economy, November 20th, 2012
Beijing Makes Changes To Fight Air Pollution.

Indian Express, November 19th, 2012
Smog-hit city to penalise polluting cars.

Smart Planet, November 19th, 2012
Asian cities at highest risk to climate change.

Peoples Daily Online, November 19th, 2012
Air pollution hangs on another day in Shanghai.

Global Times, November 18th, 2012
Shanghai updates air pollution gauge.

The Independent, November 16th, 2012
Air pollution at dangerous level.

China Daily, November 16th, 2012
Air quality gets better test.

Hindustan Times, November 16th, 2012
To tackle pollution, focus on buses, BRT.

NRDC Switchboard, November 16th, 2012
Latin America Green News: Chile bikes to work, Costa Rica retires old refrigerators, and Mexico fights air pollution.

The Wall Street Journal, November 16th, 2012
Coal India Eyes Forests.

Chile News, November 16th, 2012
Chile Presents Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Mongolia News, November 16th, 2012
Philippine company makes air-cleansing device in Ulaanbaatar.

South China Morning Post, November 15th, 2012
It's official: Hong Kong has poor air quality.

Hindustan Times, November 14th, 2012
Hike in parking rates to curb pollution.

NDTV, November 14th, 2012
With China and India ravenous for energy, coal's future seems assured.

Times of India, November 14th, 2012
Delhi smog lifts somewhat, but pollution stays.

Huffingtons Post, November 14th, 2012
Climate Disruption: New Delhi's Trees Need A Helping Hand.

New York Times, November 14th, 2012
Delhi’s Disappearing Night Sky.

The Economic Times, November 14th, 2012
Big cities are gasping for fresh air; air pollution worsens in metros.

China Daily, November 14th, 2012
Quarry workers get new jobs in clean-city push.

China Daily, November 13th, 2012
Environment the biggest challenge.

The Hindu, November 13th, 2012
Slew of measures mooted to curb air pollution in Delhi.

South China Morning Post, November 11th, 2012
China's birth defects blamed on pollution, unhealthy living.

The Hindu, November 11th, 2012
Smog, pollution multiply health risks.

The Indian Express, November 11th, 2012
Burning of paddy straw will be illegal.

Indian Express, November 11th, 2012
Coming up at key locations: Air quality info, smog alerts.

Times of India, November 10th, 2012
Lax pollution control norms exposed: Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training.

NDTV, November 10th, 2012
Will Delhi have a smog-filled Diwali? High-level meeting today to discuss situation.

Times of India, November 10th, 2012
Govt to act against air pollution soon.

Hindustan Times, November 10th, 2012
Pollution likely to get worse after Diwali in Delhi.

Wall Street Journal, November 9th, 2012
Delhi Journal: Five Ways to Avoid the Pollution.

UB Post, November 9th, 2012
Another Winter Looms and So Does the Smog.

UB Post, November 9th, 2012
National Committee for Reducing Air Pollution Convenes.

Hindustan Times, November 9th, 2012
Officials meet EPCA to devise ways to control smog levels.

Today Online, November 9th, 2012
Delhi smog blamed on farmers burning straw.

NDTV, November 8th, 2012
Haze due to farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh: Sheila Dikshit.

First Post, November 8th, 2012
Dear Mrs Dikshit, don’t blame farmers but Delhi cars for smog.

IBN Live, November 8th, 2012
SC expresses concern as smog situation worsens; Delhi govt blames UP, Haryana.

PTI News, November 8th, 2012
Delhi govt to crack down burning of leaves, garbage.

Wall Street Journal, November 8th, 2012
Delhi’s Air Pollution Worse Than Ever.

Science Network, November 8th, 2012
Air pollution study must factor in bushfire smoke.

BBC, November 8th, 2012
Delhi smog blamed on burning straw.

The Guardian, November 7th, 2012
Barack Obama stokes expectations of climate change action in second term.

Fort Worth Weekly, November 7th, 2012
Notice How Much Cleaner the Air Is?

Science Daily, November 7th, 2012
Climate Science: Trends in Use of Words in Scientific Studies May Impact Public Perceptions.

The Economist, November 6th, 2012
Air pollution in India - A Delhi Particular.

Deccan Chronicle, November 6th, 2012
Smog to lift over Delhi by Friday November 9th, 2012.

NDTV, November 6th, 2012
Delhi smog worrying, we'll take up matter: Chief Justice of India.

The National, November 6th, 2012
New Delhi haze sets in, prompting warnings city 'will choke by 2021'.

The New York Times, November 5th, 2012
Delhiites: Why Don’t You Use Public Transportation?

IBN Live, November 5th, 2012
Delhi smog sets alarm bells ringing, haze to continue for three days.

Times of India, November 5th, 2012
Smog screen thickens, to stay.

NDTV, November 5th, 2012
Winds back, Delhi smog shows signs of let-up after five days.

Science Daily, November 5th, 2012
Indian Monsoon Failure More Frequent With Global Warming.

Money Life, November 3rd, 2012
Protecting your Parisar in Pune.

Down to Earth, November 3rd, 2012
Diwali is far, but smog is here.

Science Daily, November 1st, 2012
Air Pollution, Gone With the Wind: Proposed New Building Guidelines to Clean Up the Air We Breath.

The Hindu, October 28th, 2012
Will walkers unite?

The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2012
Check Manufacturers to Cut Emissions in Lahore.

The Nation, October 16th, 2012
Absence of mass transit system ups traffic woes in Karachi.

The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2012
More women than men in Pakistan get lung disease in Pakistan.

An Emissions Inventory for Delhi - PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NOx, CO, and VOCs

This was published in Atmospheric Environment in November, 2012

Abstract

In Delhi, between 2008 and 2011, at seven monitoring stations, the daily average of particulates with diameter < 2.5 micron meter was 123 ± 87 μg m⁻³ and particulates with diameter < 10 micron meter was 208 ± 137 μg m⁻³. The bulk of the pollution is due to motorization, power generation, and construction activities. In this paper, we present a multi-pollutant emissions inventory for the National Capital Territory of Delhi, covering the main district and its satellite cities – Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad. For the base year 2010, we estimate emissions (to the nearest 000's) of 63,000 tons of PM_2.5, 114,000 tons of PM₁₀, 37,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, 376,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, 1.42 million tons of carbon monoxide, and 261,000 tons of volatile organic compounds. The inventory is further spatially disaggregated into 80 × 80 grids at 0.01° resolution for each of the contributing sectors, which include vehicle exhaust, road dust re-suspension, domestic cooking and heating, power plants, industries (including brick kilns), diesel generator sets and waste burning. The GIS based spatial inventory coupled with temporal resolution of 1 h, was utilized for chemical transport modeling using the ATMoS dispersion model. The modeled annual average PM_2.5 concentrations were 122 ± 10 μg m⁻³ for South Delhi; 90 ± 20 μg m⁻³ for Gurgaon and Dwarka; 93 ± 26 μg m⁻³ for North-West Delhi; 93 ± 23 μg m⁻³ for North-East Delhi; 42 ± 10 μg m⁻³ for Greater Noida; 77 ± 11 μg m⁻³ for Faridabad industrial area. The results have been compared to measured ambient PM pollution to validate the emissions inventory.

Two figures from the paper are presented below.

Location of power plants and brick kilns in Delhi

Gridded emissions inventory for Delhi

Swing at a Bus Stop in Moscow (Playful Spaces)

SIM-air Workshop at the Better Air Quality Conference - December 4th, 2012

Details @ Better Air Quality 2012 Conference

Month by Month Meteorology in India - Surface Wind Speeds and Precipitation

Meteorology for the year 2010 for the Indian Subcontinent is now available as animations for January to December. Access them @ UrbanEmissions.Info

Sources of Aerosols - Desert Dust, Forest Fires, Fossil Fuels, and Seasalt (NASA)

More at NASA's website

A Short Film on Short Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP)

Air Pollution in Hong Kong - November, 2012

Particulate Pollution in Hyderabad, India

An article published in EMAS, November, 2012

Abstract

Air quality in Hyderabad, India, often exceeds the national ambient air quality standards, especially for particulate matter (PM), which, in 2010, averaged 82.2 ± 24.6, 96.2 ± 12.1, and 64.3 ± 21.2 μg/m³ of PM₁₀, at commercial, industrial, and residential monitoring stations, respectively, exceeding the national ambient standard of 60 μg/m³. In 2005, following an ordinance passed by the Supreme Court of India, a source apportionment study was conducted to quantify source contributions to PM pollution in Hyderabad, using the chemical mass balance (version 8.2) receptor model for 180 ambient samples collected at three stations for PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 size fractions for three seasons. The receptor modeling results indicated that the PM₁₀ pollution is dominated by the direct vehicular exhaust and road dust (more than 60 %). PM_2.5 with higher propensity to enter the human respiratory tracks, has mixed sources of vehicle exhaust, industrial coal combustion, garbage burning, and secondary PM. In order to improve the air quality in the city, these findings demonstrate the need to control emissions from all known sources and particularly focus on the low-hanging fruits like road dust and waste burning, while the technological and institutional advancements in the transport and industrial sectors are bound to enhance efficiencies. Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board utilized these results to prepare an air pollution control action plan for the city.

Air Pollution in Delhi (The Economist)

The Economist, November 6th, 2012

MID-AFTERNOON in Delhi, and a red blob looms in the haze. The sun barely illuminates the city. A yellow-green smog hangs low. Even indoors, fuzzy halos of dust and smoke surround lamps. Those foolish enough to be out jogging, or compelled to stand at junctions directing traffic, complain of shortness of breath, migraines, clogged lungs. Newspapers are crammed with articles about asthma, wheezing children at clinics, an epidemic of grumpiness and gloom, the frail and elderly falling victim to an annual—and worsening—scourge: Delhi’s winter pea-soupers.

Top 100 cities with the worst air quality in the World (WHO, 2011).  

By one estimate the Delhi smog kills 10,500 people a year: smog can trigger heart or asthma attacks, particulate matter causes cancer. Like just about every big Asian city that has grown fast, with only a passing concern for environmental standards, its air is wretched. Official data prove it so. India’s minister for the environment, Jayanthi Natarajan, said so explicitly before parliament in March, explaining that India sets national standards for various nasty pollutants, and monitors for them in 216 towns and cities.



For Delhi, between 2001 and 2010, there was one bright light. The annual average level of sulphur dioxide fell from 14 micrograms per cubic meter to just five. For that Dilliwallahs should thank improvements in transport: a court order roughly a decade ago compelled some 100,000 buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws to switch from running on diesel to compressed natural gas; a successful metro network has been rolled out; a ban on lorries from Delhi’s roads is reasonably well enforced, between 6am and 9pm.

On other scores, matters are much worse. Levels of nitrogen oxide almost doubled over the same period, from 29 micrograms to 55, on average. A measure of particulate matter known as PM10 (any dust with a diameter less than 10 micrometres) has also more than doubled, from 120 to 261, way above the prescribed limit of 100. Keep in mind, too, that pollution is relatively low in the blazing summer months, and during the monsoon. In the winter, by contrast, truly terrifying levels lift the annual average. A glance at the website of a Delhi government agency on November 5th, for example, showed the PM10 level at 749, more than seven times over the safe limit. And for more dangerous tiny particles, known as PM2.5, the agreed safe limit is 60, whereas the official Delhi site reported a level of 489, over eight times too high.

Such statistics are not really needed. Rub your skin after a short walk outside and your fingers are left coated with black smudges. As the worst of the smog appears,it becomes riskier than ever to drive or walk on chaotic roads as visibility falls to just a few metres. Come the new year, Delhi’s airport is battered by delays as fog and smog, usually in the morning, slow the departure and arrival of aircraft. The huge annual festival of Diwali—to be celebrated on November 13th this year—sees a series of immense, deafening and beautiful firework displays, which leave sulphur and gunpowder smoke choking the air for days.

Add to that the impact of the huge bonfires of waste, post-harvest. A striking picture just released by NASA shows thousands of orange dots, blazes that give off the smoke and smog that gathers across much of north India and then sits unmoving as temperatures drop and air pressure—an “inversion”—holds everything still. It is as if a greenhouse is erected above Delhi, to catch and contain the swirling brown exhaust from cars, smoke from oily fires, along with dust and industrial fumes. Right now, too, meteorologists say a distant cyclone, off the east coast of India, has left extra moisture over the northern plains, which has helped to make the smog even denser.

By some measures, Delhi’s rotten air, at least at the worst time of year, competes with the most gasp-inducing of all. One ranking (by UN Habitat) of carbon-dioxide levels, indoor pollution and PM10, suggests its air is worse even than that in Beijing, China’s capital. Residents there may beg to differ, saying their own smogs are worse yet. Even if, on average around the year, some other cities are arguably even worse—Karachi in Pakistan and Dhaka in Bangladesh look particularly dire—it is a miserable competition to join.

What could be done? Getting away from the city makes good sense: Kashmir is rather nice at this time of year. Individuals are told they may protect themselves a bit, for example by hiding indoors, keeping doors and windows closed and using air filters. General advice against exercising outdoors at least gives couch potatoes an excuse to put off keep-fit regimes for another few months.

For Delhi, a series of other measures make sense. Perhaps a fifth of all the pollution in the city is still caused by traffic, notably from diesel cars. Scrapping subsidies on diesel might help, for example by pushing more people on to public transport or at least into more efficient vehicles. The metro is now some 180km long, and is rather good, but it could be expanded further. Lots more buses, and bus lanes, would be useful too.

Beyond vehicle emissions, there are other causes of woe aplenty, as well described by Sarath Guttikunda of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in a recent study (subscription required). He notes for example that some 1,000 brick kilns surround Delhi, serving its construction boom, baking bricks by burning coal, wood and other organic smoky stuff. Such kilns are traditional, inefficient and dirty. Converting these to something cleaner—or moving them farther away—would surely help.

Similarly coal- and oil-fired power stations near Delhi have, over the years, been converted to gas or moved away. Six power plants remain near the city, but as the general power grid fails repeatedly, wealthy residents, hospitals and businesses turn increasingly to diesel-generators in the city centre, points out Mr Guttikunda. Making the grid more reliable, therefore, would cut the use of such stinky and noisy machines. Paving more roads would lessen the amount of dust (a big portion of PM10) thrown up into the air, while a ban on burning rubbish would cut the oily particles, and so on.

The lesson from the court-ordered transport switch is that official intervention, and proper monitoring, can bring direct and most welcome improvements. It helps, too, that the rich, aside from fleeing, can hardly breathe different air from the poor; thus almost everyone should have a strong interest in doing something to improve matters. Delhi, after all, is gasping for a change.

Air Pollution in Delhi - November 2012

NDTV, November 8th, 2012
Haze due to farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh: Sheila Dikshit.

First Post, November 8th, 2012
Dear Mrs Dikshit, don’t blame farmers but Delhi cars for smog.

IBN Live, November 8th, 2012
SC expresses concern as smog situation worsens; Delhi govt blames UP, Haryana.

PTI News, November 8th, 2012
Delhi govt to crack down burning of leaves, garbage.

Wall Street Journal, November 8th, 2012
Delhi’s Air Pollution Worse Than Ever.

IBN Live, November 5th, 2012
Delhi smog sets alarm bells ringing, haze to continue for three days.

Times of India, November 5th, 2012
Smog screen thickens, to stay.

NDTV, November 5th, 2012
Winds back, Delhi smog shows signs of let-up after five days.

Down to Earth, November 3rd, 2012
Diwali is far, but smog is here.

NDTV, November 6th, 2012
Delhi smog worrying, we'll take up matter: Chief Justice of India.



The National, November 6th, 2012
New Delhi haze sets in, prompting warnings city 'will choke by 2021'.

The New York Times, November 5th, 2012
Delhiites: Why Don’t You Use Public Transportation?

The Economist, November 6th, 2012
Air pollution in India - A Delhi Particular.

Particulate pollution from brick kiln clusters in the Greater Dhaka region, Bangladesh

Published in Air Quality, Atmosphere, and Health

Abstract


View Larger Map
Brick manufacturing is the fastest-growing industrial sector in Bangladesh and among the top three sectors, along with vehicle exhaust and resuspended road dust, contributing to the air pollution and health problems in Dhaka. The brick manufacturing in the Greater Dhaka region, from ~1,000 brick kilns spread across six districts, is confined to the winter season (October to March) as current technologies do not allow production during the monsoon. The total emissions are estimated at 23,300 t of PM2.5; 15,500 t of sulfur dioxide (SO2), 302,000 t of carbon monoxide (CO), 6,000 t of black carbon, and 1.8 million tons of CO2 emissions from these clusters, to produce 3.5 billion bricks per year, using energy-inefficient fixed chimney bull trench kiln technology and predominantly using coal and agricultural waste as fuel. The associated health impacts largely fall on the densely populated districts of Dhaka Metropolitan Area (DMA), Gazipur, and Narayanganj. Using the Atmospheric Transport Modeling System dispersion model, the impact of brick kiln emissions was estimated over DMA—ranging from 7 to 99 μg/m3 (5th and 95th percentile concentration per model grid) at an average of 38 μg/m3;

and spatial contributions from the surrounding clusters—with 27 % originating from Narayanganj (to the south with the highest kiln density), 30 % from Gazipur (to the north with equally large cluster spread along the river and canals), and 23 % from Savar. The modeling results are validated using evidence from receptor modeling studies conducted in DMA.

An introduction of emerging vertical shaft combustion technology can provide faster benefits for public health in DMA and reduce climate precursor emissions by selecting the most influential clusters discussed in this paper.

Air Pollution News & Alerts - November 1st, 2012

Last on October 14th, 2012

Hindustan Times, November 1st, 2012
Winter spurts air pollution in Delhi.

Scientific American, November 1st, 2012
People in Poor Neighborhoods Breathe More Hazardous Particles.

Bangkok Post, October 31st, 2012
Judge backs bus pollution guilty verdict in Bangkok.

The Nation, October 31st, 2012
BMTA told to maintain clean buses.

All Africa, October 29th, 2012
South Africa: Govt Needs to Be Tough on Air Polluters.

UB Post, October 29th, 2012
Prime Minister Challenges on Recent Air Pollution Initiatives.

Environment News Service, October 29th, 2012
Atlas Aims to Ease Extreme Weather Impacts on Public Health.

Transport Extra, October 26th, 2012
A manifesto to make UK urban transport amongst the best in Europe.

China Daily, October 25th, 2012
Better use of air quality reports urged.

CNN, October 25th, 2012
Report: More Chinese cities need to come clean on air pollution.

CNN, October 25th, 2012
Report: More Chinese cities need to come clean on air pollution.

China Daily, October 25th, 2012
China's energy policy 2012.

Khaleej Times, October 25th, 2012
People power in China.
Hindustan Times, October 24th, 2012
Delhi: Ten points where the city chokes.

Bloomberg, October 24th, 2012
China Electric Vehicle Sales to Fall Short of Target.

NASA, October 24th, 2012
Haze over Eastern China.

The Huffington Post, October 24th, 2012
Fighting Climate Change and Air Pollution With One Swat.

The Telegraph, October 24th, 2012
Linfen: how China's Chernobyl turned the corner.

Phys.Org, October 23rd, 2012
Making transport a driver for development in Africa.

Renewables Biz, October 23rd, 2012
Environment so Far Taking a Back Seat.

China.Org, October 22nd, 2012
Air quality drops in Shanghai as PM2.5 spikes in fog.

The Washington Post, October 22nd, 2012
Obama’s record: Environmental agenda pushes sweeping attack on air pollution.

The Economist, October 20th, 2012
Climate change needs better regulation, not more political will.

City InfoOnline, October 20th, 2012
EPA Sued Over Vehicle Fees for Ozone Pollution.

Healthline, October 20th, 2012
Pollution from Megacities Decreases Air Quality in the U.S.

MIT News, October 19th, 2012
Researchers examine health impacts of more U.K. runways.

Environmental Health News, October 19th, 2012
Clean air regulations reduce hospital admissions in New York.

Phys.Org, October 19th, 2012
Hong Kong to tighten power plant emission limits.

Nature, October 18th, 2012
Technology: Clean stoves benefit climate and health.

The Breakthrough, October 18th, 2012
Cheap Gas — Not EPA Regs — Driving Coal’s Decline.

The National, October 17th, 2012
India green tax would be breath of fresh air: World Bank.

The Atlantic, October 17th, 2012
A Visual Guide to Chinese Air Pollution.

Bloomberg, October 17th, 2012
Is Obama Really Waging a War on Coal?

Xinhua Net, October 17th, 2012
China's power consumption slows further.

Hindustan Times, October 16th, 2012
Now, China to fly kites to keep pollution in check.

China Dialogue, October 15th, 2012
Official air pollution data in Beijing still failing the public.