scholarly journals Coronavirus Lockdown Brings Clean Air to Spanish Cities

Eos ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Barbuzano
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Side Effect ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Clean Air

Measures against the spread of the new coronavirus have an unexpected side effect: record-low air pollution levels.

Control and Suppression in Sarnia’s Chemical Valley during the 1960s

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 380-412
Author(s):  
OWEN TEMBY
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Policy System ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Local Air Pollution ◽  
Economic Elites ◽  
Chemical Valley ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The One

During the 1960s, Sarnia was the wealthiest city in Ontario and the one with the dirtiest air. Its economy was dominated by Chemical Valley, the city’s petrochemical industry. Chemical Valley firms and executives were civically active, donating to public causes, dominating the local chamber of commerce, and working closely with provincial and municipal officials to ensure a friendly business environment. They also maintained a monopoly on information about local air pollution levels and were not required by government to adhere to clean air regulations. However, like the rest of the chemical industry at the time, Chemical Valley was exposed to an onslaught of negative publicity, raising the threat of regulation and loss of their control over emissions data and production processes. This article illustrates how economic elites in Sarnia prevented the problematization and regulation of air pollution. In doing so, it describes the actors in the policy system and examines its recourse to suppress dissent when activists sought to raise the air pollution issue.

Towards a sensory politics of the Anthropocene: Exploring activist-artistic approaches to politicizing air pollution

2021 ◽  
pp. 239965442098160
Author(s):  
Friederike Landau ◽  
Alexandra Toland
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Environmental Communication ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Sensory Experiences ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Antagonistic Potential

In this paper, we investigate five activist-artistic approaches to argue for a sensory politics of the Anthropocene. Our aim is to highlight the affective and speculative potentials of art by examining how artists engage with the senses to make air pollution and its political implications visible, tangible, or otherwise experiential. The paper touches on widerreaching discourses on the politics of sensing, sensible politics, and sensory studies. Rather than situating air pollution within a policy framework, such as that of the international sustainable development goals, we locate our arguments within recent scholarship on postpolitics and the Anthropocene. Despite its epistemological slipperiness, we consider the Anthropocene to be a potent heuristic as well as a rich resource of ideas, data, and collaborative and antagonistic potential for artists working on issues of air pollution. The five case studies are each grounded in an explicit engagement with at least one of the five basic senses and include works by Amy Balkin, Hanna Husberg, Zane Cerpina and Stahl Stenslie, Lingling Zhang, Kitchen Budapest and Baltan Laboratories (NL). Clustered into three lines of argumentation, we demonstrate the ways in which these works contribute to the politicization of air: first, by framing air as a contested common good that problematizes the commodification of clean air; second, by integrating artistic research and environmental communication strategies; and third, by providing sensory experiences of the complicated constellations of agency and perception in the interscalar phenomenon of air pollution. Although our analysis is not exhaustive, three particularities could be identified in the works: an openness to other forms of knowledge and communication; a potent critique of the Anthropocene; and a radical questioning of ‘the political’. In conclusion, we argue that art can mobilize a sense of urgency and empowerment towards a multi-sensory politics of the Anthropocene.

scholarly journals Pathways of China's PM2.5 air quality 2015–2060 in the context of carbon neutrality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Cheng ◽  
Dan Tong ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Yu Lei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Near Term ◽  
Who Guideline

ABSTRACT Clean air policies in China have substantially reduced PM2.5 air pollution in recent years, primarily by curbing end-of-pipe emissions. However, further reaching the WHO guideline may instead depend upon the air quality co-benefits of ambitious climate action. Here, we assess pathways of Chinese PM2.5 air quality from 2015 to 2060 under a combination of scenarios which link Global and China's climate mitigation pathways (i.e. global 2°C- and 1.5°C-pathways, NDC pledges, and carbon neutrality goals) to local clean air policies. We find that China can achieve both its near-term climate goals (peak emissions) and PM2.5 air quality annual standard (35 μg/m3) by 2030 by fulfilling its NDC pledges and continuing air pollution control policies. However, the benefits of end-of-pipe control reductions are mostly exhausted by 2030, and reducing PM2.5 exposure of the majority of the Chinese population to below 10 μg/m3 by 2060 will likely require more ambitious climate mitigation efforts such as China's carbon neutrality goals and global 1.5°C-pathways. Our results thus highlight that China's carbon neutrality goals will play a critical role in reducing air pollution exposure to the WHO guideline and protecting public health.

scholarly journals Daily air pollution levels and acute asthma in southern Sweden

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 900-905 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Forsberg ◽  
N. Stjernberg ◽  
R. Linné ◽  
B. Segerstedt ◽  
S. Wall
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Acute Asthma ◽  
Southern Sweden ◽  
Pollution Levels

The Relationship Between Atmospheric Boundary Layer Structure, Brown Haze, and Air Pollution in Auckland, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Marley ◽  
Kim Dirks ◽  
Andrew Neverman ◽  
Ian McKendry ◽  
Jennifer Salmond
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
High Surface ◽  
Residual Layer ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Haze Formation

<p><span><span>A brown air pollution haze that forms over some international cities during the winter has been found to be associated with negative health outcomes and high surface air pollution levels. Previous research has demonstrated a well-established link between the structure of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and surface air quality; however, the degree to which the structure of the ABL influences for formation of local-</span></span><span><span>scale</span></span><span><span> brown haze is unknown. Using continuous ceilometer data covering seven consecutive winters, we investigate the influence of the structure of the ABL in relation to surface air pollution and brown haze formation over an urban area of complex coastal terrain in the Southern Hemisphere city of Auckland, New Zealand. Our results suggest the depth and evolution of the ABL has a strong influence on severe brown haze formation. When days with severe brown haze are compared with those when brown haze is expected but not observed (based on favorable meteorology and high surface air pollution levels), days with severe brown haze are found to coincide with significantly shallower daytime convective boundary layers (~ 48% lower), and the nights preceding brown haze formation are found to have significantly shallower nocturnal boundary layers (~ 28% lower). On severe brown haze days the growth rate during the morning transition phase from a nocturnal boundary layer to a convective daytime boundary layer is found to be significantly reduced (70 m h</span></span><sup><span><span>-1</span></span></sup><span><span>) compared to days on which brown haze is expected but not observed (170 m h</span></span><sup><span><span>-1</span></span></sup><span><span>). Compared with moderate brown haze, severe brown haze conditions are found to be associated with a significantly higher proportion of days with a distinct residual layer present in the ceilometer profiles, suggesting the entrainment of residual layer pollutants may contribute to the severity of the haze. This study illustrates the complex interaction between the ABL structure, air pollution, and the presence of brown haze, and demonstrates the utility of a ceilometer instrument in understanding and predicting the occurrence of brown haze events. </span></span></p>

Use of face masks and allergic rhinitis from ragweed: why mention only total pollen count and not air pollution levels?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gennaro Liccardi ◽  
Matteo Martini ◽  
Maria Beatrice Bilò ◽  
Manlio Milanese ◽  
Paola Rogliani
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Allergic Rhinitis ◽  
Pollen Count ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Total Pollen

CAMS-Net: The Clean Air Monitoring and Solutions Network

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Westervelt ◽  
Celeste McFarlane ◽  
Faye McNeill ◽  
R (Subu) Subramanian ◽  
Mike Giordano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Linear Regression ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Air Monitoring ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Calibration Methods ◽  
The World ◽  
Clean Air

<p>There is a severe lack of air pollution data around the world. This includes large portions of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as rural areas of wealthier nations as monitors tend to be located in large metropolises. Low cost sensors (LCS) for measuring air pollution and identifying sources offer a possible path forward to remedy the lack of data, though significant knowledge gaps and caveats remain regarding the accurate application and interpretation of such devices.</p><p>The Clean Air Monitoring and Solutions Network (CAMS-Net) establishes an international network of networks that unites scientists, decision-makers, city administrators, citizen groups, the private sector, and other local stakeholders in co-developing new methods and best practices for real-time air quality data collection, data sharing, and solutions for air quality improvements. CAMS-Net brings together at least 32 multidisciplinary member networks from North America, Europe, Africa, and India. The project establishes a mechanism for international collaboration, builds technical capacity, shares knowledge, and trains the next generation of air quality practitioners and advocates, including domestic and international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. </p><p>Here we present some preliminary research accelerated through the CAMS-Net project. Specifically, we present LCS calibration methodology for several co-locations in LMICs (Accra, Ghana; Kampala, Uganda; Nairobi, Kenya; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Kolkata, India), in which reference BAM-1020 PM2.5 monitors were placed side-by-side with LCS. We demonstrate that both simple multiple linear regression calibration methods for bias-correcting LCS and more complex machine learning methods can reduce bias in LCS to close to zero, while increasing correlation. For example, in Kampala, Raw PurpleAir PM2.5 data are strongly correlated with the BAM-1020 PM2.5 (r<sup>2</sup> = 0.88), but have a mean bias of approximately 12 μg m<sup>-3</sup>. Two calibration models, multiple linear regression and a random forest approach, decrease mean bias from 12 μg m<sup>-3 </sup>to -1.84 µg m<sup>-3</sup> or less and improve the the r<sup>2</sup> from 0.88 to 0.96. We find similar performance in several other regions of the world. Location-specific calibration of low-cost sensors is necessary in order to obtain useful data, since sensor performance is closely tied to environmental conditions such as relative humidity. This work is a first step towards developing a database of region-specific correction factors for low cost sensors, which are exploding in popularity globally and have the potential to close the air pollution data gap especially in resource-limited countries. </p><p> </p><p> </p>

Preliminary hazard assessment of air pollution levels in Nizwa, Rusayl and Sur in Oman

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Patrick Amoatey ◽  
Hamid Omidvarborna ◽  
Mahad Said Baawain ◽  
Issa Al-Harthy ◽  
Abdullah Al-Mamun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Pollution Levels
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