Air pollution’s direct relation to urban population has been measured for the first time by NASA scientists.
Using satellite technology, NASA examined air pollution in the USA, Europe, China and India, finding the pollution-population relationship varies throughout different regions, even if regions have similar population rates.
A city of 1 million in Europe will experience six times higher nitrogen dioxide pollution compared to an equally populated city in India.
Air pollution more than doubled when a population increased from 1 million to 10 million; however, in China’s case the increase was approximately fivefold.
The regional variances have been attributed to industrial development, per capita emissions and geographical locations.
Read more at University of Brighton