GLOBAL AIR POLLUTION: Getting Worse

There are very few places in the world where you can breathe air clean enough to meet WHO standards. The focus is on a type of air pollution called PM2.5, which is smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, and mostly comes from auto emission and burning of biomass and fossil fuels.  This fine particulate matter is associated with a wide range of heart and lung disorders, plus cancers.

In the study, scientists examined pollution data from monitoring stations in 6,475 cities in 117 countries and territories.  

• Only 3.4% got an acceptable grade.
• 93 cities had PM2.5 concentrations 10 times higher than WHO standards.
• Central and South Asia had 46 of the world's most polluted cities.
• In Africa only one of 65 cities examined met WHO air quality standards.
• Asia?  Only 4 of 1887 cities.
• Europe should be okay, right?  Nope.  Only 55 of 1588 cities achieve this.
• What about the USA?
• This report said:  not a pretty picture.
• 2408 American cities climbed from 9.6 in 2020 to 10.3.
• While Los Angeles was the worst, the average level dropped 6%.
• The West Coast overall had the highest AQI in the country.
• Atlanta and Minneapolis saw significant increases.
• 
  Bangladesh, Chad, Pakistan, Tajikistan and India had air pollution levels at least 10 times higher than WHO standards.
• Still terrible, but more than half of Chinese cities reported reduced air pollution from 2020 to 2021.  I wonder if this pandemic had anything to do with that.
• 
  Could it be that WHO standards are too strict?  They did set new ones only in 2021.  Their aim was to save lives.
• Globally, air pollution is estimated to cause 7 million premature deaths/year.
• Interestingly enough, this COVID-19 pandemic has thus far killed almost 7 million, but over a three-year period.

People in Hawaii brag about our fabulous weather.  However, we do have volcanic eruptions, and there are times when the wind flow  moves these emissions rom the Big Island to Honolulu and Kauai, such as yesterday.

Readings were as high as an Air Quality Index of 105, but only on the Big Island.  The Honolulu you see below was around 65, the worst I've seen in many years.  This the view from where I post this blog.

I yesterday also checked the AQI for the World, and there are places with significantly higher readings:

• Bayero University, Nigeria  2735!!!
• Nouna, Burkino Faso  2695!!!
• Sanampura, India  624.
• Gwalior, India  355
• Changde, China  324
• Kolkata, India  321
• Zhuzhao China  315
• Lahore, Pakistan  301
• Manitoba, Canada  248
• Cairo, Egupt  248
• Area between Seoul and Incheon, S. Korea  150-200.
• St. Paul, Minnesota  164
• Indianapolis, Indiana  157
• Lima, Peru  132
• Kyoto, Japan  127
• Chiba, Japan  117

If Honolulu looked so terrible and was only at 65, wow, the rest of the world must, indeed, be in poor shape.

• I further checked and saw that an AQI above 500 is rare, so those African scores look out of place.  
• In the past, Beijing has reached 755.
• The 25 worst air quality cities can only be found in India (the worst of this worst being Bhiwadi at 106 average for the year), Pakistan and China.
• Whoops, latest 2022 average AQIs for the past year:
• Dammam, Saudi Arabia  124
• Lahore, Pakistan  112
• Dhaka, Bangladesh  85
• Delhi, India  84
• Regarding the sudden appearance of Saudi Arabia, during our recent stay in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, I did notice that air pollution was definitely a problem.
• Most air polluted areas are in dark red, so maybe those startling African numbers could be real.  This map is from the World Health Organization, and notice how they have shielded China.

• While that analysis at the top had bad things to say about the U.S., that green color  from this map must indicate that the USA is relatively in better shape.  Give credit to the 1967 Clean Air Act.
• The worst is still Los Angeles-Long Beach, with Bakersfield #2.
• The lowest led by Urban Honolulu, with Maui next and Cheyenne, Wyoming following.
• The cleanest air in the world can be found in Zurich, Reykjavik, Launceston (Australia), Honolulu, Bergen (Norway), Wollongong (Australia) and Trondheim (Norway).

What is the solution?  How will global warming affect air pollution?  There will be a part 2 to this.

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