4 ms·

Tangentially, here's a neat WHO's map of global air pollution I find useful when traveling abroad: http://maps.who.int/airpollution/ http://maps.who.int/airpoll

Tangentially, here's a neat WHO's map of global air pollution I find useful when traveling abroad: http://maps.who.int/airpollution/ http://maps.who.int/airpollution/

sxates 7y ago
Fascinating! Surprised that almost the whole of Africa is red on here - what's the source of pollution in these areas? Lots of "burning stuff" for cooking and heat?
- snthd 7y ago
  https://theconversation.com/africa-has-an-air-pollution-problem-but-lacks-the-data-to-tackle-it-69057 https://theconversation.com/africa-has-an-air-pollution-prob... >In the first major attempt to estimate the health and economic costs of air pollution in Africa, an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report[0] found that air pollution in Africa already causes more premature deaths than unsafe water or childhood malnutrition. >Given the lack of PM2.5 ground measurements in Africa, the PM2.5 data derived from the WHO air quality model for Africa should be viewed with caution. >The review [1] concluded that (based on the few studies) 17%, 10%, 34%, 17% and 22% of PM2.5 levels in Africa are due to traffic, industry, domestic fuel burning, unspecified source of human origin and natural sources - such as dust and sea salt. [0] https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/the-cost-of-air-pollution-in-africa_5jlqzq77x6f8-en https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/the-cost-of-air-po... https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/the-cost-of-air-pollution-in-africa_5jlqzq77x6f8.pdf?itemId=%2Fcontent%2Fpaper%2F5jlqzq77x6f8-en&mimeType=pdf https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/the-cost-of-air-pollution-in-a... [1] https://source-apportionment.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Docu/Karagulian_et_al_2015.pdf https://source-apportionment.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Docu/Karagulia...
- kiliantics 7y ago
  Having just spent some time in East Africa, I can say the air on any road was barely breathable. Many vehicles were very visibly spewing massive clouds of black smoke. I would not be surprised if this was largely due to lack of regulation/enforcement for vehicle emissions.
  - ido 7y ago
    When visiting India ~15 years ago, even mid-sized (for India, so ~1m people) cities were so polluted that the air was yellow. This was despite the fact that far fewer Indians own a car per capita than in the west- but the car they did own (and/or fuel they used) were horribly polluting.
ip26 7y ago
What is going on in Coyhaique, Chile, I wonder. Edit: made headlines https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/17/a-city-suffocating-most-polluted-city-in-americas-struggles-to-change-coyhaique-chile https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/17/a-city-suffoc...
11235813213455 7y ago
but.. traveling (other than train, bike) is one of the significant cause for air pollution

Tangentially, here's a neat WHO's map of global air pollution I find useful when traveling abroad: http://maps.who.int/airpollution/ http://maps.who.int/airpollution/

sxates 7y ago

Fascinating! Surprised that almost the whole of Africa is red on here - what's the source of pollution in these areas? Lots of "burning stuff" for cooking and heat?

snthd 7y ago
https://theconversation.com/africa-has-an-air-pollution-problem-but-lacks-the-data-to-tackle-it-69057 https://theconversation.com/africa-has-an-air-pollution-prob... >In the first major attempt to estimate the health and economic costs of air pollution in Africa, an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report[0] found that air pollution in Africa already causes more premature deaths than unsafe water or childhood malnutrition. >Given the lack of PM2.5 ground measurements in Africa, the PM2.5 data derived from the WHO air quality model for Africa should be viewed with caution. >The review [1] concluded that (based on the few studies) 17%, 10%, 34%, 17% and 22% of PM2.5 levels in Africa are due to traffic, industry, domestic fuel burning, unspecified source of human origin and natural sources - such as dust and sea salt. [0] https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/the-cost-of-air-pollution-in-africa_5jlqzq77x6f8-en https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/the-cost-of-air-po... https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/the-cost-of-air-pollution-in-africa_5jlqzq77x6f8.pdf?itemId=%2Fcontent%2Fpaper%2F5jlqzq77x6f8-en&mimeType=pdf https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/the-cost-of-air-pollution-in-a... [1] https://source-apportionment.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Docu/Karagulian_et_al_2015.pdf https://source-apportionment.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Docu/Karagulia...
kiliantics 7y ago
Having just spent some time in East Africa, I can say the air on any road was barely breathable. Many vehicles were very visibly spewing massive clouds of black smoke. I would not be surprised if this was largely due to lack of regulation/enforcement for vehicle emissions.
- ido 7y ago
  When visiting India ~15 years ago, even mid-sized (for India, so ~1m people) cities were so polluted that the air was yellow. This was despite the fact that far fewer Indians own a car per capita than in the west- but the car they did own (and/or fuel they used) were horribly polluting.

ip26 7y ago

What is going on in Coyhaique, Chile, I wonder. Edit: made headlines https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/17/a-city-suffocating-most-polluted-city-in-americas-struggles-to-change-coyhaique-chile https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/17/a-city-suffoc...

11235813213455 7y ago

but.. traveling (other than train, bike) is one of the significant cause for air pollution