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air quality

Air quality standards to be rethought next year

India is to review its air quality standards next year, addressing an environmental and public health issue of significant concern.  New national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) are likely, reports indicate. Discussions are said to be considering ultra-fine particulate matter (PM0.1), smaller than fine particulate matter or PM 2.5 which denotes particular matter of 2.5 …

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Did stubble burning fuel Delhi’s third wave?

New research claims that the practice of stubble burning may have been a key driver of Delhi’s third wave of COVID-19 infections.  The study, published in Urban Climate, identified a tenfold increase in the national capital during the biomass burning season which sees agricultural workers in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab burn the …

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Purchasing of inefficient air conditioning in India points to lessons on consumer behavior and climate change

Often, the conversation about environmental issues revolves around government regulations and business practices. However, consumer choice also plays a significant role.  A study mapping cooling energy consumption found individuals living in urban households in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) often purchase air conditioners on the basis of the brand, features and price points, rather than …

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Hidden air pollutants contributing to critical situation in Indian cities

A group of boys play soccer in the smog on a maidan in Kolkata. Environmental concerns such as pollution have a ruinous effect on public health. Image credit: edan / 123rf Indian cities’ levels of air pollution are continuing to rise. Critical contributions to this trend are coming from hidden air pollutants, scientists from the …

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Pollution in Delhi: Crop burning to blame?

Air pollution in Delhi is on the upswing, reports indicate – and analysts are pointing their fingers at farm fires. Stubble burning by farmers in neighbouring states has been highlighted as a probable cause of the uptick in pollution levels in the national capital. Saturday saw 3,216 stubble burning fires observed over Punjab, Haryana, Uttar …

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Air pollution in Delhi: Kejriwal takes a stand

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has taken a stand on air pollution in Delhi as the state government launches a campaign to safeguard the national capital’s air quality. Kejriwal said that the Yudh Pradushan ke Virudh campaign to fight air pollution in Delhi would provide separate and specific plans for thirteen identified air pollution hotspots. The …

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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 …

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“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 …

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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 …

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