Jill Johnston, University of Southern California y Lara Cushing, University of California, Los Angeles
A study shows that low-income communities and communities of color are bearing the brunt of the energy industry’s pollution in the region. The risks also extend to the unborn.
A swarm of giant Asian honey bees.
Rickythai/Shutterstock
Electric vehicles can have a positive impact on the climate and air pollution levels, but governments should rethink how they electrify the transportation network.
Fresno, California and the surrounding San Joaquin Valley have some of the nation’s highest levels of fine particle air pollution.
AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian
A new study shows that while fine particle air pollution has declined nationwide over the past 40 years, the health and environmental benefits haven’t been shared evenly.
Flaring gas at an oil production site outside Williston, North Dakota.
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
Flaring, or burning, waste gas from energy production has sharply increased over the past decade. It wastes usable fuel, pollutes the air, and helps drive climate change.
Kids spend more time outdoors than adults, performing more activities that increase breathing rates, which result in increased exposure to air pollutants.
Situated on a plateau and surrounded by mountains, Mexico City – seen here in a haze on May 20, 2018 – is a ‘bowl’ that traps smog and dust.
AP Photo/Marco Ugarte
The Aztecs had a shining city on a lake, with canals, causeways and aqueducts – until the Spanish came. Mexico City is still suffering the consequences of their bad public health decisions.
Much of India experiences both extreme heat and extreme air pollution, as seen in this photo of the Akshardham Hindu temple. Days with both are going to increase.
Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images
In South Asia, days with both extreme heat and extreme pollution are expected to increase 175% by 2050. Separately, the health effects are bad; together they will likely be worse.
Bike routes have been expanded in many major cities, including Bogata, Columbia, to encourage people to avoid crowded public transportation.
(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Bike shops have seen record sales during the pandemic as people try to avoid crowded transportation. But governments must do more to keep new cyclists in the saddle.
Strict physical distancing restrictions have resulted in cleaner air, but atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise.
PeteLinforth/Pixabay
We found that air pollution levels in Nairobi increased by 182% over the study period, Kampala by 162% and Addis Ababa by 62%.
Surfers walk on the beach while the fire continues to blaze on the mountains behind them in 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Shelley Christians/The Times/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Until now, the interaction of temperature and air pollution and its contribution to these diseases hasn’t been studied conclusively in South Africa - or anywhere on the African continent.
Artisanal small-scale gold mining polluted this stream and deforested sections of the Madre de Dios area of Peru.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Small-scale gold mining operations in developing countries are major sources of toxic mercury pollution, using techniques that haven’t changed much since the California Gold Rush 150 years ago.
Smog enshrouding the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan city, China, in 2013.
EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG
From Nairobi to Los Angeles, pandemic lockdowns have cleared pollution from the skies. But those blue vistas may be temporary, and shutdowns aren’t slowing climate change.
Diesel emissions are a major source of fine particle pollution.
Bob Chamberlin/Getty Images
After a 5-year review, the EPA is leaving US standards for fine particle air pollution unchanged, even though recent studies suggest that tightening them could save thousands of lives yearly.
Professor & Chair in Air Quality and Health; Founding Director, Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Co-Director, Institute for Sustainability, University of Surrey, University of Surrey