Posts tagged with 'Particulate Matter'
Southeast Asian Cities Have Some of the Most Polluted Air in the World. El Niño Is Making it Worse
Southeast Asian Cities Have Some of the Most Polluted Air in the World. El Niño Is Making it Worse
Residents of Jakarta, Indonesia woke up on August 31, 2023, to a thick blanket of haze and news that their city was again ranked the most polluted in the world — one of many times during the last several months when air quality became ...
5 Car-Free Day Myths Debunked: Unveiling the True Benefits of Open Streets
5 Car-Free Day Myths Debunked: Unveiling the True Benefits of Open Streets
As cities become more congested, traffic fatalities continue to rise and the impacts of climate change escalate, the need for sustainable and safe transportation solutions has reached a critical juncture. The World Health Organization reports an alarming statistic: 186,300 children ...
New Data Dashboard Helps Cities Build Urban Resilience in a Changing Climate
New Data Dashboard Helps Cities Build Urban Resilience in a Changing Climate
Climate change is impacting cities and their residents in many profound ways, from poor air quality to flooding to biodiversity loss and extreme heat. Now, with the help of a new tool, select cities can access localized, integrated data to ...
Clean Indore Making Strides for Clean Air
Clean Indore Making Strides for Clean Air
Indore is known as India’s cleanest city, having secured the title seven years in a row in Swachh Bharat National Cleanliness Surveys, and it is now determined to clean its air too. On February 15, the “Clean Air, Clean Indore” ...
The Most Successful Air Pollution Treaty You’ve Never Heard Of
The Most Successful Air Pollution Treaty You’ve Never Heard Of
International consensus on cross-border environmental issues has been difficult to achieve, but the 40-year-old Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (or LRTAP as it is known to development professionals) has enjoyed great, if largely unsung, success in the fight against air ...
Here’s What Smoke from California’s Wildfires Looks Like from Space
Here’s What Smoke from California’s Wildfires Looks Like from Space
Several wildfires are still burning through California. The Camp Fire in Northern California has killed at least 48 people and is now the deadliest ever recorded. The fire has burned 130,000 acres near Paradise, 80 miles north of Sacramento. Near Thousand Oaks, Woolsey Fire ...
Independence Haze: Data Shows Air Pollution Spikes from July 4th Fireworks
Independence Haze: Data Shows Air Pollution Spikes from July 4th Fireworks
Fireworks, block parties and barbeques: Those are the first things that come to mind when the 4th of July rolls around. But what’s least talked about is the quality of breathable air on the nation’s birthday. Data shows that levels of fine ...
A type of fine particulate matter, black carbon causes millions of premature deaths in cities worldwide and is considered the second most important human emission contributing to climate change. Photo by Eduardo M.C./Flickr.
Cities fighting black carbon to achieve public health and climate benefits
Black carbon – a short-lived climate pollutant emitted into the air by incomplete combustion of fuels – is a both major contributor to climate change and a concern for public health in cities. At the global scale, black carbon has ...
As national leaders prepare plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions at COP20, they can look to sustainable transport for win-win solutions that curb emissions while generating jobs, boosting economic growth, and improving public health. Photo by Associacao Ciclocidade/Flickr.
Low-carbon urban transport boosts social and economic development
This week in Lima, Peru, national-level decision makers, mayors, business leaders, international finance institutions, and civil society actors come together for the COP20 climate negotiations, and the world is expecting progress towards an international climate agreement expected to be reached ...
The city of Indore is a pilot city for the creation of a new Health Impact Assessment methodology that will be used to evaluate the potential impacts of transport developments and policies on city residents. Photo by McKay Savage/Flickr.
Integrating health benefits into transport planning and policy: The case of Indore, India
India alone accounts for about 10% of traffic fatalities worldwide. Fourteen lives are lost every hour, totalling 330 people that die each day on India’s roads. Out of this number, pedestrians comprise 21% of these deaths. In order to combat ...
Air quality and smog in China. Photo by Niccoló Mazzati/Flickr.
Air pollution in China forces short-term responses, requires long-term solutions
As severe air pollution grips Beijing, China and the surrounding region, the sharp rise in harmful particulate matter has forced authorities to consider both immediate responses and long-term strategies to combat air pollution. The current situation The height of the ...
Steering Indian Cities Towards Higher Fuel Quality Standards
Steering Indian Cities Towards Higher Fuel Quality Standards
While scaling up sustainable transportation solutions worldwide, it’s important that we still consider the reality of personal automobile demand. Tackling the lower-hanging fruit of vehicular emissions reductions in densely populated developing countries is critical for mitigating climate change and improving ...
TheCityFix Picks, March 9: Elevated BRT, Airbags for Pedestrians, Equal Housing Rights
TheCityFix Picks, March 9: Elevated BRT, Airbags for Pedestrians, Equal Housing Rights
Welcome back to TheCityFix Picks, our series highlighting the newsy and noteworthy of the past week. Each Friday, we’ll run down the headlines falling under TheCityFix’s five themes: integrated transport, urban development and accessibility, air quality and climate change, health and ...
WHO: Air Pollution Kills More Than 2 Million People Each Year
WHO: Air Pollution Kills More Than 2 Million People Each Year
The World Health Organization released an unprecedented compilation of air quality data last week hat shows a dangerous increase in air pollution levels. According to the data, over 2 million people die every year from indoor and outdoor air pollution, ...
The Double Edge of Density: Local Pollution
The Double Edge of Density: Local Pollution
The environmental movement is, rightfully, focused almost entirely on greenhouse gas emissions right now. That is almost certainly strategically correct, given the stakes. It’s important to remember, though, that there lots of kinds of pollution out there that aren’t GHG ...
Right Menu Icon