India: Could there be an alternative to 'stubble burning'?

The yearly practice of "stubble burning" in Northern India has far-reaching effects. Delhi, some 250 kilometers away, once again faces dangerous levels of smog as farmers burn off their fields to prepare for the next crop. It's a major cause of air pollution in the country.

Air Pollution From Animal Farming Causes 12,700 Deaths A Year

This resident became one of the hog industry’s most outspoken critics after a neighboring farm started spraying its waste next to her family home. A recent study found that air pollution from animal farming causes 12,700 deaths a year.

How much does air pollution amplify COVID-19 severeness? | COVID-19 Special

 

A toxic and potentially deadly partnership - air pollution and COVID-19: There is a strong correlation between air pollution and COVID-19 mortality rates. The risk of dying from the disease is higher the longer we are exposed to air polluted with these particles.

Does air pollution make cornavirus more dangerous? | COVID-19 Special

Coronavirus studies suggest that high air pollution levels from before the crisis could have contributed to higher COVID-19 death tolls. Is there a connection between air pollution and the coronavirus? What the scientific evidence says about pollution and coronavirus fatalities.

What makes Delhi's air so deadly

Every November, Northern India experiences some of the most dangerous air pollution levels in the world. Typical pollution sources like car exhaust, construction dust, and industry emissions are partially responsible, but there is another factor that makes Delhi's air deadly. A policy was enacted in 2009 and it is wreaking havoc on the lungs of residents in India's capital city. To learn what it is and what's being done to stop it, make sure to watch the video above.

How London is fighting its nightmare traffic

We took a look at London, a city that enacted a congestion charge in 2003, to see some of the benefits. Check out the video above to learn more.

Exposing Australia’s recycling lie

There is no doubt Australia is one of the most wasteful nations in the world, so the practice of recycling helps to lessen our guilt. As we drag our bins out for collection each week, we feel like we’re helping the environment. But the reality is that we’re all being conned. Right now, Australia is stuck in an unsightly and worsening recycling crisis. What is being done with plastic waste, the material most people think would be easy to salvage and re-use, is of the greatest concern. As Liam Bartlett discovers, most of it ends up either being buried or worse – exported to countries like Malaysia, a place we are now treating like a garbage bin.

The Diesel Disaster | DW Documentary

Diesel cars were long praised as being eco-friendly, now they are considered to be highly polluting. Strict EU limits on NO2 levels could lead to Diesel cars being banned. How dangerous are Diesel emissions really? Hundreds of thousands of people in German cities like Stuttgart and Cologne face the prospect of being unable to drive to work because of bans on most types of diesel cars in downtown areas. Environmental Action Germany says diesel emissions cause the premature deaths of 13.000 people each year in Germany. Yet the case is not as clear-cut as it might seem.

The Chinese Government Censors Pollution

China's government has decided that censoring pollution is the only way to prevent its citizens from experiencing some of the worst pollution on the planet.  Under The Dome an anti pollution documentary has been removed even though its a difficult to miss all that pollution spewing into the air and water right in front of your face.

The authorities in China have a removed from websites a popular documentary which highlights the country's severe pollution problem. 

Under the Dome explains the social and health costs of pollution, and was watched by more than 100 million people online, sparking debates.

It was removed just two days after Premier Li Keqiang called pollution a blight on people's lives.
Mr Li had promised to fight it with all the government's might.

The environmental issue has dominated the current session of the Chinese parliament, the National People's Congress, in Beijing.

The newly appointed environmental protection minister, Chen Jining, had praised Under The Dome, telling reporters it should "encourage efforts by individuals to improve air quality".

But the huge popularity of an impassioned, independent film on the issue appears to have made the communist authorities nervous, correspondents say. 

When the government of the country is more afraid of its citizens than external threats that speaks volumes about the Chinese Communist government and its inability to deal with critical appraisals of government policies.


  

How Do You Prove There's no Air Pollution in Beijing: Block U.S. Air Polltution App

The Chinese wanting to insure that the public knows the current levels of particulate matter in the Beijing air blocked access to the U.S. Embassy's mobile air pollution app just as the APEC summit was starting in the Chinese capital. 

Chinese authorities have asked sites and apps which monitor air pollution in Beijing to stop using data provided by the US embassy, say media reports.


Many Beijingers use apps and sites to check pollution readings, including levels of dangerous PM2.5 particles.
The city, which is often engulfed in a thick blanket of haze reaching well beyond healthy levels, had clear blue skies for the days leading up the summit.
However on Monday as world leaders met for bilateral talks, our correspondents reported there was smog in the capital again.
Most apps and sites provide a daily reading from both the city government and the US embassy reading. The US reading is considered by many to be more reliable and often shows a higher pollution count.

What's More Important: A Football Friendly or The Players Health?

While that may seem like a rhetorical question it isn't.  Brazil and Argentina will play an international friendly in Beijing where the current air pollution air alert level is currently orange  the second highest level.  You'd think that the health of the players might be a concern but apparently not.  In capitalism profit  trumps everything.

From the Guardian:

An orange pollution alert – the second highest level – has been issued by officials after pollution levels rose 20 times the maximum daily exposure recommended by the World Health Organisation, with Brazil’s players confined to their hotel for much of the week.

The air quality, which is roughly equivalent to Brazil's performance against Germany in the last World Cup, has Brazil manager Dunga planning to make a large number of substitutions "so that the players will not be affected by it." But after enduring a 60-minute training session at the Bird's Nest Stadium, it seems it's already too late for that.

“The air is a bit strange, sometimes you think it’s the middle of the night. It’s very dusty,” [Coutinho] said.

Those sentiments were backed up by the former Manchester City forward Robinho: “It’s difficult to breathe. My throat is dry, it’s like we’re standing next to a bonfire, like hot smoke.”

Top 20 most polluted cities in the world

Air quality in most cities that monitor their pollution levels exceed what the World Health Organization deems as safe.

Delhi has the highest level of the airborne particulate matter, PM2.5 considered most harmful to health, with 153 micrograms. Not far behind is another Indian city, Patna with 149 micrograms. These figures are six times what the WHO considers a "safe" limit -- which is 25 micrograms.

Half of the top 20 cities in the world with the highest levels of PM2.5 were in India, according to the pollution data released by the WHO, which included 1,600 cities. Other cities with high levels were located in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

PM2.5 refers to the diameter measured in microns of particulates such as ammonia, carbon, nitrates and sulfate -- which are small enough to pass into the bloodstream and cause diseases such as emphysema and cancer.

Shanghai Choking On Air Pollution-video

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Shanghai authorities ordered schoolchildren indoors and halted all construction Friday as China's financial hub suffered one of its worst bouts of air pollution, bringing visibility down to a few dozen meters, delaying flights and obscuring the city's spectacular skyline. The financial district was shrouded in a yellow haze, and noticeably fewer people walked the city's streets. Vehicle traffic also was thinner, as authorities pulled 30 percent of government vehicles from the roads. They also banned fireworks and public sporting events. "I feel like I'm living in clouds of smog," said Zheng Qiaoyun, a local resident who kept her 6-month-old son at home. "I have a headache, I'm coughing, and it's hard to breathe on my way to my office." Shanghai's concentration of tiny, harmful PM 2.5 particles reached 602.5 micrograms per cubic meter Friday afternoon, an extremely hazardous level that was the highest since the city began recording such data last December. That compares with the World Health Organization's safety guideline of 25 micrograms. The dirty air that has gripped Shanghai and its neighboring provinces for days is attributed to coal burning, car exhaust, factory pollution and weather patterns, and is a stark reminder that pollution is a serious challenge in China. Beijing, the capital, has seen extremely heavy smog several times over the past year. In the far northeastern city of Harbin, some monitoring sites reported PM 2.5 rates up to 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter in October, when the winter heating season kicked off