Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Podcast - How Tata Power and Jio-BP are charging up for an EV empire

Podcast - Smells Like Teen Climate Anxiety (by The War on Cars)

Podcast - Who pays for climate change (by Short Wave)

Podcast - Can Climate Talk turn to climate action (by Short Wave)

Journal Article - A long-term analysis of atmospheric black carbon MERRA-2 concentration over China during 1980–2019

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Tracking PM2.5 and O3 Pollution and the Related Health Burden in China 2013–2020

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Emission factors and emission inventory of diesel vehicles in Nepal

Journal Article Link

Monday, December 27, 2021

Report - The science everyone needs to know about climate change, in 6 charts

With the United Nations’ climate conference in Scotland turning a spotlight on climate change policies and the impact of global warming, it’s useful to understand what the science shows. Here are six things you should know, in charts.

Journal Article Link

Podcast - A self-contained environment for open source geospatial tools (by the MapScaping)

Video - NOAA Arctic Report Card 2021

Podcast - It's impossible to have healthy people on a sick planet (by TED Climate)

Journal Articles - A systematic review of household energy transition in low and middle income countries

Journal Article Link

Journal Articles - Viability assessment of electric cars for personal use in India

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Assessment of Airport-Related Emissions and Their Impact on Air Quality in Atlanta, GA, Using CMAQ and TROPOMI

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Large contribution of biomass burning emissions to ozone throughout the global remote troposphere

Journal Article Link

Friday, December 17, 2021

Journal Article - Health benefits of decreases in on-road transportation emissions in the United States from 2008 to 2017

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Development and Assessment of a High-Resolution Biogenic Emission Inventory from Urban Green Spaces in China

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Modeling secondary organic aerosol formation from volatile chemical products

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Why is the city's responsibility for its air pollution often underestimated? A focus on PM2.5

Journal Article Link

Video - Data Gaps and Opportunities for Air Quality Analysis

This is a narrative presentations from AGU 2021 Conference for the session - Where Are the Gaps in Monitoring, Forecasting, and Managing Air Quality in Developing Countries?

 

An MS Excel Based Air Quality Index (AQI) Calculator - 7 Methodologies from USA, EU, UK, India, China, South Korea and Singapore

Version (01) calculates AQI for one time data using 7 methodologies - USA, EU, UK, India, China, South Korea, and Singapore 

Download the calculator here and see the video for instructions
 

Version (02) calculates AQI for a large dataset using 7 methodologies - USA, EU, UK, India, China, South Korea, and Singapore, and presents a comparisons chart. 

Download the calculator here and see the video for instructions.
  

Friday, December 10, 2021

Journal Article - A review of statistical methods used for developing large-scale and long-term PM2.5 models from satellite data

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - COVID-19 Pandemic: What Can We Learn for Better Air Quality and Human Health?

Journal Article Link

Podcast - Ten years to 1.5°C: how climate anxiety is affecting young people around the world (The Conversation Weekly)

Podcast - Tracking the whole world's carbon emissions -- with satellites and AI (by TED Climate)

Podcast - Are Cities Still Relevant in the Metaverse Era? (by All Things Policy)

Saturday, November 27, 2021

Journal Article - Air Pollution Over India: Causal Factors for the High Pollution with Implications for Mitigation

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - COVID-19 Lockdowns Afford the First Satellite-Based Confirmation That Vehicles Are an Under-recognized Source of Urban NH3 Pollution in Los Angeles

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Response of atmospheric composition to COVID-19 lockdown measures during spring in the Paris

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Changes in PM2.5 concentrations and their sources in the US from 1990 to 2010

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Evaluation methods for low-cost particulate matter sensors

Journal Article Link

Friday, November 19, 2021

Journal Article - What rainfall rates are most important to wet removal of different aerosol types?

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Relating geostationary satellite measurements of aerosol optical depth (AOD) over East Asia to PM2.5: insights from the KORUS-AQ aircraft campaign and GEOS-Chem model simulations

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Wind-blown dust and its impacts on particulate matter pollution in Northern China: current and future scenarios

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - A sulfur dioxide Covariance-Based Retrieval Algorithm (COBRA): application to TROPOMI reveals new emission sources

Journal Article Link

Sunday, November 07, 2021

Journal Article - Green transportation for sustainability: Review of current barriers, strategies, and innovative technologies

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Impact of transboundary PM2.5 pollution on health risks and economic compensation in China

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Monthly Global Estimates of Fine Particulate Matter and Their Uncertainty

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Aerosol-modulated heat stress in present and future climate of India

Journal Article Link

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Journal Article - Modeling for the source apportionments of PM10 during sand and dust storms over East Asia in 2020

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - THE NASA ATMOSPHERIC TOMOGRAPHY (ATom) MISSION: Imaging the Chemistry of the Global Atmosphere

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Global trends of methane emissions and their impacts on ozone concentrations

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Climate and health adaptation: evidence needs for policy (Stakeholder mapping in Europe)

Journal Article Link

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Podcast - Katharine Hayhoe On Healing Dangerous Climate Divisions (by The Climate Pod)

Podcast - Electric cars can cost 40% less to maintain than gasoline cars (by Climate Connections)

Journal Article - Characterization of Exhaust CO, HC and NOx Emissions from Light-Duty Vehicles under Real Driving Conditions

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Assessment of air pollution by PM10 suspended particles in the urban agglomeration of Central Europe in the period from 2001 to 2018

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Global distribution of methane emissions: a comparative inverse analysis of observations from the TROPOMI and GOSAT satellite instruments

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - The MAPM (Mapping Air Pollution eMissions) method for inferring particulate matter emissions maps at city scale from in situ concentration measurements

Journal Article Link

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Journal Article - A multi-year source apportionment of PM2.5 at multiple sites in the southern Po Valley (Italy)

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - The Monitoring Nitrous Oxide Sources (MIN2OS) satellite project

Journal Article Link

Resource - ATom: Merged Atmospheric Chemistry, Trace Gases, and Aerosols, Version 2



Data Link - This dataset provides information on greenhouse gases and human-produced air pollution, including atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), tropospheric ozone (O3), and black carbon (BC) aerosols, collected during airborne campaigns conducted by NASA's Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission. This dataset includes merged data from all instruments plus additional data such as numbered profiles and distance flown. Merged data products have been created for seven different aggregation intervals (1 second, 10 seconds, and 5 instrument-specific intervals). In the case of data obtained over longer time intervals (e.g., flask data), the merge files provide (weighted) averages to match the sampling intervals. This comprehensive dataset will be used to improve the representation of chemically reactive gases and short-lived climate forcers in global models of atmospheric chemistry and climate.

Monday, September 20, 2021

Journal Article - MODIS high-resolution MAIAC aerosol product: Global validation and analysis

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Estimating monthly PM2.5 concentrations from satellite remote sensing data, meteorological variables, and land use data using ensemble statistical modeling and a random forest approach

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - India’s Maiden air quality forecasting framework for megacities of divergent environments: The SAFAR-project

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Ship emissions around China under gradually promoted control policies from 2016 to 2019

Journal Article Link

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Podcast - This Is Your Brain on Pollution (by Freakonomics Radio)

Journal Article - Agricultural ammonia emissions and its impact on PM2.5 concentrations in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region from 2000 to 2018

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Are cities responsible for their air pollution?

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - How well do the CMIP6 models simulate dust aerosols?

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Wintertime Air Quality in Megacity Dhaka, Bangladesh Strongly Affected by Influx of Black Carbon Aerosols from Regional Biomass Burning

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Measurement report: Photochemical production and loss rates of formaldehyde and ozone across Europe

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Effects of Anthropogenic and Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds on Los Angeles Air Quality

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - A mass-balance-based emission inventory of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) for solvent use in China

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Historical (1750–2014) anthropogenic emissions of reactive gases and aerosols from the Community Emissions Data System (CEDS)

Journal Article Link

Monday, September 13, 2021

Journal Article - Call for Emergency Action to Limit Global Temperature Increases, Restore Biodiversity, and Protect Health

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Mortality risk attributable to wildfire-related PM2·5 pollution: a global time series study in 749 locations

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - A new methodology for inferring surface ozone from mutltispectral satellite measurements

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - A review of land-use regression models to assess spatial variation of outdoor air pollution

Journal Article Link

Wednesday, September 08, 2021

Journal Article - Underreporting and open burning – the two largest challenges for sustainable waste management in India

Journal Article Link

Podcast - Wildfire smoke is especially dangerous for children, researcher warns (by Climate Connections)

Podcast - The Mental Health In Environmental Health (by Marine Lines with Raghu Karnad)

Podcast - Cracking the Case of the Vanishing Air Pollution Data, with Eric Zou (by Resources Radio)

Podcast - Air conditioning is not cool (by Recode Daily)

Journal Article - Emission of black carbon and other particulate matter from transportation sector

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Ozone and aerosols over the Tibetan Plateau

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Air quality management in India using satellite data

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Role of meteorology in atmospheric aerosols and air pollution over South Asia

Journal Article Link

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Thinking Air Purifiers Will Solve Air Pollution Problem is Disingenuous and a Waste of Important Resources


There are many ideas to improve air quality. Some of them have been tossed around for a couple of decades now. An action plan the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) published in 1997 found its way after 20 years into the hands of the Delhi government.

These are not overnight solutions. They include improving infrastructure, urban transport and solid waste management. As a result, it requires patience, long-term planning, interdepartmental cooperation and, most importantly, joint action by all political parties, since the implementation and outcomes can have a considerable time lag. All straightforward – but not simple to pull off.

This is why technological gimmicks that promise overnight improvements without any reduction in emissions, systemic policy changes or infrastructural improvement are bound to be disingenuous, and a waste of important resources. And this is exactly what the multiple proposals to install air purifiers at intersections to reduce ambient air pollution are.

We cannot improve air pollution by sucking pollutants out of the atmosphere. The only way to control pollution is by controlling pollutants entering the atmosphere – i.e. by controlling emissions.

Full article @ theWIRE

Journal Article - African anthropogenic emissions inventory for gases and particles from 1990 to 2015

Journal Article Link

Sunday, August 22, 2021

Podcast - Solar-powered lamp and charger (by A History of the World in 100 Objects)

Journal Article - volcanic eruptions since 1990, calculated with a chemistry-climate model and vertically resolved satellite measurements

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - High-definition spatial distribution maps of on-road transport exhaust emissions in Chile, 1990–2020

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Probing air pollution sources in the Indo-Gangetic Plain through 52 hydrocarbons measured rarely at Delhi & Mohali

Journal Article Link

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Journal Article - Improved spatial representation of a highly resolved emission inventory in China: evidence from TROPOMI measurements

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Daily nonaccidental mortality associated with short-term PM2.5 exposures in Delhi, India

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - The role of chlorine in global tropospheric chemistry

Journal Article Link

Podcast - TIL about the electric grid (by TILclimate)

Podcast - TIL about removing CO2 from the atmosphere (by TILclimate)

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Journal Article - Health Benefits of Emission Reduction under 1.5 °C Pathways Far Outweigh Climate-Related Variations in China

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Data Analytics for Environmental Science and Engineering Research

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - Non-exhaust vehicle emissions of particulate matter and VOC from road traffic: A review

Journal Article Link

Journal Article - A microscale hybrid modelling system to assess the air quality over a large portion of a large European city

Journal Article Link

Resource - WAQI - Real Time Air Quality Index for Manila, Philippines

Resource - WAQI - Real Time Air Quality Index for Bogota, Colombia

Podcasts - The Problem With Satellite Data Is ...That It Is Not A Commodity (by The MapScaping)

Podcasts - Public transit & air quality: Stories from Colombia (by Atmospheric Tales)

Podcasts - Fighting air inequality, one dataset at a time (by Atmospheric Tales)

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Journal Article - Secondary organic aerosols from anthropogenic volatile organic compounds contribute substantially to air pollution mortality

Journal Articles - Satellite-based estimation of the impacts of summertime wildfires on PM2.5 concentration in the United States

Journal Article - Various Sources of PM2.5 and their Impact on the Air Quality in Tainan City, Taiwan

Journal Article - Switching to electric vehicles can lead to significant reductions of PM2.5 and NO2 across China

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Data - (0.1° × 0.1°) Multi-Pollutant Road Transport Emission Inventory for India

 

Full paper and link to download the data - RTEII: A new high-resolution (0.1° × 0.1°) road transport emission inventory for India of 74 speciated NMVOCs, CO, NOx, NH3, CH4, CO2, PM2.5 reveals massive overestimation of NOx and CO and missing nitromethane emissions by existing inventories

Monday, July 26, 2021

Journal Article - Lightning occurrences and intensity over the Indian region: long-term trends and future projections

Journal Article - High-Spatial-Resolution Estimates of Ultrafine Particle Concentrations across the Continental United States

Journal Article - Societal shifts due to COVID-19 reveal large-scale complexities and feedbacks between atmospheric chemistry and climate change

Journal Article - Development and evaluation of a new compact mechanism for aromatic oxidation in atmospheric models

Data - Daily National and Gridded CO2 Emissions Inventory


Thursday, July 22, 2021

Data - Gridded Emisions Inventory for India (SMoG System by IIT-Mumbai)

 

The data is spatially resolved into 0.25 deg x 0.25 deg. 

It is available in "ASCII" format as text files along with the "README" describing the details of the emission.

SMoG-India V0, which was used in GBD-MAPS India 2018 and Venkataraman et al., 2018 is now superseded by SMoG-India V1.

 

Journal Article - Effects of fuel change to electricity on PM2.5 local levels in the Bus Rapid Transit System of Bogota

Journal Article - Development of ozone reactivity scales for volatile organic compounds in a Chinese megacity

Journal Article - Satellite soil moisture data assimilation impacts on modeling weather variables and ozone in the southeastern US – Part 1: An overview

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Data - Air Quality Forecasts (Global) from FMI's SILAM System

 
96-hour (4-days) air quality forecasts from Finnish Meteorological Department (FMI)'s global SILAM system are accessible here for PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, and Ozone

 

Data - Air Quality Forecasts (Global) from NASA-GEOS_CF System

96-hour (4-days) air quality forecasts from NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) by region are accessible here for PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, and Ozone

Journal Article - Application of the high spatiotemporal resolution soil fugitive dust emission inventory compilation method based on CAMx model

Journal Article - Quantifying Atmospheric Parameter Ranges for Ambient Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation

Journal Article - Global air quality and health impacts of domestic and international shipping

Journal Article - Seasonal distribution and drivers of surface fine particulate matter and organic aerosol over the Indo-Gangetic Plain

Journal Article - A comprehensive dataset for global, regional and national greenhouse gas emissions by sector 1970–2019

Journal Article - The 2019 Raikoke volcanic eruption – Part 1: Dispersion model simulations and satellite retrievals of volcanic SO2

Journal Article - PAPILA dataset: a regional emission inventory of reactive gases for South America based on the combination of local and global information

Journal Article - Ahmedabad's BRT System A Sustainable Urban Transport Panacea?

Journal Article - Mainstreaming Built Environment for Air Pollution Management Plan in Delhi

Podcast - Climate Science, Communication, and Common Ground (by Theories of Change)

Podcast - Climate Security: Bringing Climate into all Sectors (by Theories of Change)

Monday, July 05, 2021

Journal Article - Three Decades of Climate Mitigation: Why Haven't We Bent the Global Emissions Curve?

Journal Article - Aerosol characteristics from earth observation systems: A comprehensive investigation over South Asia (2000–2019)

Journal Article - Source apportionment of carbon monoxide over India: a quantitative analysis using MOZART-4

Journal Article - A Review of Tropospheric Atmospheric Chemistry and Gas-Phase Chemical Mechanisms for Air Quality Modeling

Journal Article - An Overview of Particulate Matter Measurement Instruments

Journal Article - Grid-Stretching Capability for the GEOS-Chem 13.0.0 Atmospheric Chemistry Model

Sunday, July 04, 2021

Journal Article - Chemical source profiles of fine particles for five different sources in Delhi

Journal Articles - Potential health risks due to in-car aerosol exposure across ten global cities

Journal Article - The state of science on severe air pollution episodes: Quantitative and qualitative analysis

Journal Article - Meteorological impact on winter PM2.5 pollution in Delhi: Present and future projection under a warming climate

Journal Article - Anthropogenic emission inventory of multiple air pollutants and their spatiotemporal variations in 2017 for the Shandong Province, China

Thursday, July 01, 2021

Journal Article - RTEII: A new high-resolution (0.1° × 0.1°) road transport emission inventory for India of 74 speciated NMVOCs, CO, NOx, NH3, CH4, CO2, PM2.5

Journal Article - Source sector and fuel contributions to ambient PM2.5 and attributable mortality across multiple spatial scales

Journal Article - Overview of the Lake Michigan Ozone Study 2017

Journal Article - Modeling of PM2.5 for assessment of associated health impacts in crowded urban area of Southeast Asia

Journal Article - Estimating CO2 Emissions from Large Scale Coal-Fired Power Plants Using OCO-2 Observations and Emission Inventories

Podcast (Hindi) - Urbanization (in India) Done Right (by Puliyabaazi)

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Video - TED-Ed - Can we create the "perfect" farm?

Video - What is Soil (and Why is it Important)?

Journal Article - Health impacts of changes in travel patterns in Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana

Journal Article - Data assimilation of satellite-retrieved ozone, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide with ECMWF's Composition-IFS

Journal Article - Improving National Air Quality Forecasts with Satellite Aerosol Observations

Journal Article - Strong evidence of lead deposited during the 20th century to the atmospheric environment in London of today

Journal Article - Particulate matter in the atmosphere: which particle properties are important for its effects on health?

Video - Development and Application of a United States wide correction for PurpleAir PM2.5 data

Journal Article - Development and application of a United States-wide correction for PM2.5 data collected with the PurpleAir sensor

Journal Article - Sensitivity of PM2.5 and O3 pollution episodes to meteorological factors over the North China Plain

Journal Article - Influence of Regional Transportation on PM2.5 Based on the RAMS-CMAQ Model in Weihai

Monday, June 07, 2021

Journal Article - Tracking NO2 emission from thermal power plants in North India using TROPOMI data

Report - Dirty Stacks, High Stakes An Overview of Brick Sector in South Asia

Journal Article - Garbage Burning in South Asia: How Important Is It to Regional Air Quality?

Journal Article - Uncertainties in emissions estimates of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in India and their impacts on regional air quality

Wednesday, June 02, 2021

Journal Article - Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) aircraft mission: Design, execution, and first results

Journal Article - Air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Journal Article - Gridded 1 km × 1 km emission inventory constrained by measured emission factors of 77 VOCs and district-wise crop yield data in India

Journal Article - Integrating Clean Air, Climate, and Health Policies in the COVID-19 Era

Journal Article - A fuel-based method for updating mobile source emissions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Video - Ozone Hole (Fuse School)

Video - Making Ozone (Fuse School)

Friday, May 28, 2021

Journal Article - Health and Climate Impacts of Scaling Adoption of LPG for Clean Household Cooking in Cameroon

Journal Article - Contribution of the world's main dust source regions to the global cycle of desert dust

Journal Article - A review on low carbon emissions projects of steel industry in the World

Journal Article - Calibration of low-cost PurpleAir outdoor monitors using an improved method of calculating PM2.5

Journal Article - Comparison of vehicle emissions by EMFAC-HK model and tunnel measurement in Hong Kong

Video - Black and Hispanic minorities in the U.S. bear a disproportionate burden from air pollution

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Journal Article - The Climate Response to Emissions Reductions Due to COVID-19

Journal Article - Direct estimates of biomass burning NOx emissions and lifetime using daily observations from TROPOMI

Journal Article - Air quality–related health damages of food

Journal Article - Estimating lockdown-induced European NO2 changes using satellite and surface observations and air quality models

Journal Article - Air traffic and contrail changes over Europe during COVID-19: a model study

Video (Hindi): Power Transmission Line

Video (Hindi): How Solar Panel Work

Video (Hindi): Thermal Power Plant

Video: Trends and challenges in the coking coal market | IEACCC Webinars

Video: Carbon capture and utilisation CCU | IEACCC Webinars

Video: CCUS- status, barriers and potential | IEACCC Webinars

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Journal Article - Distinct Regimes of O3 Response to COVID-19 Lockdown in China

Journal Article - Stereoscopic Monitoring: A Promising Strategy to Advance Diagnostic and Prediction of Air Pollution

Journal Article - Sensitivity of modeled Indian monsoon to Chinese and Indian aerosol emissions

Journal Article - CMIP6 Historical Simulations (1850–2014) With GISS‐E2.1

Journal Article - Cycling behaviour in 17 countries across 6 continents: levels of cycling, who cycles, for what purpose, and how far?

Journal Article - Cloud-height-based parameterisations of global lightning flash rate, and their impact on lightning-produced NOx and tropospheric composition in a chemistry–climate model

A high-resolution typical pollution source emission inventory and changes during the COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, China

Journal Articles - Harmonized Emissions Component (HEMCO) 3.0 as a versatile emissions component for atmospheric models: application in the GEOS-Chem, NASA GEOS, WRF-GC, CESM2, NOAA GEFS-Aerosol, and NOAA UFS models

Wednesday, May 05, 2021

Journal Article - Unravelling a large methane emission discrepancy in Mexico using satellite observations

8 Common Myths About Air Pollution in Delhi That are Unlikely to Ever Contribute to a Long-Lasting Solution


From a commentary piece @ the Wire
  1. Awareness that Delhi is the most polluted city in India. The fact is that Delhi is the most studied and the most documented city on air pollution issues. Almost all the national as well as international agencies want to work in Delhi. The city has the most number of air-pollution monitors operated by multiple agencies, including the emerging non-regulatory low-cost monitors. So, with most coverage, it has obviously become known as the most polluted city in the country. If data from other cities can be as freely documented and disseminated at the same scale, this could be different.
  2. Most of Delhi’s pollution comes from outside Delhi. Somehow, that air pollution knows no administrative boundaries becomes suddenly applicable here and Delhiites become more willing to point fingers at their neighbours. This is partly true – particularly when there is a dust storm coming in from the Thar desert or the Middle East (common occurrences in April and May) and during the agricultural-clearing season in Punjab and Haryana (common occurrences in November). Other than that, everything is very much local. The media usually starts talking about air pollution in late October and November as the agricultural clearing peaks. For the same reasons, we simply assume all our pollution, all year long, comes from outside Delhi. 
  3. We need more studies to ascertain where the pollution is coming from. As a scientist, I agree, we need more studies – to enhance our understanding. However, we do know most of the sources to act now. Consider any 2-3-km-wide block in Delhi and you are likely to find residential cooking and heating, waste burning (it is banned only on paper), some form of industrial activity, diesel generators, vehicles and associated road dust, construction activities – all low-lying sources that contribute to local pollution.
  4. Transport is the biggest contributor to air pollution in the city. The Central Pollution Control Board released one report in 2010 that put transport contribution at under 20%. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee released one report in 2015 that put transport contribution at under 25%. Both were conducted by the same team, at IIT-Kanpur. This means up to 75% of the pollution is from non-transport sources. This is a classic case of “what we see is what we believe in”. We are stuck in traffic for a few hours a day, moving at 15 km/hr, with an engine under the hood that can go at 100 km/hr and we start blaming transport for all air pollution problems. Transportation’s contribution must be cut – but we shouldn’t be neglecting other contributions along the way.
  5. The odd-even pilot was good for mitigating air pollution. The average commute speeds in the city went up but no statistically significant change could be monitored for air quality. We missed the bus here: the goal is to cut the demand for personal transport, not target individuals with cars. Take Hong Kong or Singapore, example: both cities managed to cut down the demand for personal transport by setting up a very wide network of public transportation systems (road and rail), walkways and bikeways, and promoted them aggressively. They also have economic measures in place, such as higher vehicle sales and congestion taxes that further enabled the move from personal to public modes of transport. All this was possible only because the alternatives were in place – more buses and inter-connectivity via rail, walkways and bikeways. The odd-even policy was, and is, a good policy but for the level of infrastructure in Delhi, this will remain an experiment. If we want this move to be permanent, irrespective of whether someone owns a car/motorcycle or its registration number, we need a safe and clean infrastructure that will move people from point A to point B using rail, bus, bike and walk – and eliminate the need for personal transport. The Delhi Transport Corporation operates approximately 6,000 buses but the city could use at least 15,000.
  6. There is a silver bullet to control pollution. This is a long term game and history tells us that this fight was not easy – neither in the EU nor in the US. Today, countries like India and China are better placed in terms of there being examples to look up to, lessons to take home from the EU’s and USA’s experiences, and the technology to control pollution is far superior than what was available in the 1980s and 1990s. If anything, the challenge is now in convincing policymakers to learn from the past and act fast. In India, we are seeing changes in some sectors, such as new emission standards for coal-fired thermal power plants, accelerated introduction of cleaner fuel for the transportation sector, promotion of liquefied petroleum gas and incentives for better industrial efficiency. These are good global measures that will take some time to trickle down. But more importantly, the faster we act on implementing these developments, the faster we will move towards having cleaner air.
  7. Installing more monitors to control pollution. Measuring pollution is not controlling pollution. Nonetheless, official statements continue to claim this step of air quality management as a control strategy. Though we do need more data and nothing beats an informed decision, generating information is not controlling pollution.
  8. Pollution can be controlled with air filters. This is more like avoiding the problem and diverting attention away from the problem than solving it. Emissions should be controlled at the source. If you are in a room with one door, it makes perfect sense to filter the air; but what sense does it make if there are no walls altogether?
 Read the full commentary on this topic @ the Wire