300 Million Children Breathe Highly Toxic Air

United Nations Children’s Fund report

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robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

1 31 Oct 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/31/world/asia/unicef-children-toxic-air.html

About 300 million children in the world breathe highly toxic air, the United Nations Children’s Fund said in a report on Monday that used satellite imagery to illustrate the magnitude of the problem.

The vast majority of these children, about 220 million, live in South Asia, in places where air pollution is at least six times the level that the World Health Organization considers safe, Unicef said.

The agency said the children faced serious health risks as a result.

“Children are uniquely vulnerable because their lungs are still developing,” said Nicholas Rees, the author of the report.

“Early exposure to toxic air has lifelong consequences for them,” he said.

Among the most dangerous pollutants are air particles known as PM2.5, which are a small fraction of the width of a human hair.

They can be released from fossil fuel combustion and industry, and include natural sources like dust.
(UNICF report at http://www.unicef.org/
About Australian research at http://www.ansto.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/39313/Newsletter38.pdf)

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

2 7 Nov 2016

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Delhi-pollution-Centre-says-it-is-an-emergency-situation/articleshow/55265422.cms
Delhi is witnessing an "emergency situation" due to alarming pollution level, the Centre today said and called a meeting of Environment Ministers of all neighbouring states on Monday to curb stubble burning by farmers which has made Delhi a "gas chamber".
As a blanket of haze continued to cover the city with pollution level remaining very high and breaching the safe limit by over 17 times at several places, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met Environment Minister Anil Dave and sought Centre's urgent intervention to deal with the challenge.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/http/timesofindia-indiatimes-com/smog-chokes-delhi/liveblog/55264278.cms
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday held an emergency meeting to discuss the city's severe air pollution and announced a slew of measures, including shutting schools and stopping construction for a few days, to tackle the menace.
Here are some of the important measures decided upon at the emergency meet to deal with the air pollution in Delhi:
1. All Delhi schools will remain shut for the next 3 days.
2. For the next 5 days, no construction and demolition work will take place in Delhi.
3. All diesel generator sets have been banned for the next 10 days, except at hospitals and in emergencies.
4. The Delhi government will supply power to unauthorized colonies which use diesel generators.
5. The coal-based Badarpur power plant will be shut down for 10 days. There will be no fly ash transportation from the power plant.
6. The Environment department will launch an app to monitor the burning of leaves.
7. Vacuum cleaning of roads will start from November 10.
8. Water sprinkling will start on all roads from tomorrow.

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

3 7 Nov 2016

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2043493/cold-front-lift-smog-choking-beijing-now
Beijing was finally given respite from smog on Sunday with a cold front dispersing pollution that had cut visibility and caused flight cancellations.

But the let-up will be brief because air quality is expected to worsen again this week, according to the National Meteorological Centre (NMC).

Beijing’s air quality index dropped to 62 by 6pm on Sunday, suggesting moderate air quality, according to the municipal environmental monitoring centre. But the US embassy’s reading was 139, meaning the air was unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Despite the big difference, AQI figures measured by both parties were well down on the “unhealthy” levels of Friday and Saturday.

A photo of the obscured view from the control tower of the Beijing airport went viral on Weibo since it was uploaded by a user on Saturday. The photo showed the staff facing windows, with the view completely obscured by thick smog. “You are not mistaken, no curtains were drawn here,” the user said in the post.

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

4 8 Nov 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/08/world/asia/india-delhi-smog.html
NY Times on New Delhi smog-
Levels of the most dangerous particles, called PM 2.5, reached 700 micrograms per cubic meter on Monday, and over the weekend they soared in some places to 1,000, or more than 16 times the limit India’s government considers safe. The damage from sustained exposure to such high concentrations of PM 2.5 is equivalent to smoking more than two packs of cigarettes a day, experts say.