COVID-19 may be perceived by many as the defining challenge of the moment. It can be wagered that the health of our environment – indeed, the health of our planet – is the defining challenge of our time. This is not to exculpate COVID-19 as the real threat that it is, nor to downplay the […]
Air Pollution
Environmentalism in a time of COVID
Last year, Time magazine named Greta Thunberg their Person of the Year. The now-seventeen-year-old climate activist from Sweden has inspired a global movement, assuming the role of a bastion for environmentalism. Across the world, young people have protested for their future, for the future of their environment, and their planet – including in India. Thunberg […]
Clean air, saving 650,000 lives?
Air pollution is a well-known and well-documented factor in a number of diseases. It can not only be linked to respiratory diseases, but a host of other conditions. The coronavirus pandemic has shown India that clean air is a very real possibility. A previous article on Health Issues India discussed the silver lining of the […]
Air pollution in the COVID-19 crisis
Though it seems morbid to identify a silver lining of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the pandemic has shone a light on the impacts of human activity on air pollution. Many of India’s cities — identified as being among the most polluted in the world — now sport clear views. Residents of New Delhi are […]
India remains top of the list for air pollution
Of the world’s thirty most-polluted cities, 21 are in India. This is according to data compiled in IQAir AirVisual’s 2019 World Air Quality Report, which found that six Indian cities take spots among the top ten for air pollution. This is hardly unsurprising, nor is it without precedent. Recent years have seen India home to […]
Child health and wellbeing: The world needs to invest
Child health and wellbeing: “The most powerful investments a society can make” What kind of country does one wish theirs to be? There are many possible answers to this question. Perhaps one of the most compelling and morally imperative answers would be that it is a country that provides for its children – in both […]
“Toxic air” – The price we pay for pollution
A recently unveiled report has calculated the cost of air pollution due to fossil fuels, pegging it at US$2.9 trillion a year – equivalent to 3.3 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) lost to toxic air. The cost of toxic air as a result of fossil fuels translates to US$8 billion – a […]
Pollution emergency continues in Delhi
The air pollution emergency persists in Delhi, where Air Quality Index (AQI) readings for the national capital continue to hover well above levels deleterious to human health. According to the centrally-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the AQI score for Delhi stood at 391 yesterday. An AQI score between nought […]
Waived carbon tax on coal, who benefits?
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) under Narendra Modi has proposed to waive the current tax on coal within India, according to a recent article by Reuters. Such a proposal invites the question: who would benefit? Hardik Shah, deputy secretary at the PMO, advocated waiving the carbon tax on coal in a note sent to the […]
Depression, suicide, and pollution
When considering the link between exposure to air pollution and health problems, mental health may not seem an obvious connection to draw to breathing toxic air. However, research has indicated a link between the two in the past – and a recent paper indicates that exposure to air pollution increases the risk of developing depression […]