Which is the better option for cars in cities, diesel or petrol-driven engines? As a report reveals the new fleet of green, hybrid electric-diesel buses in London produce less CO2 but more harmful pollutants…
Thick haze has shrouded Shanghai for the past week, in the latest instance of extreme air pollution.
Wikimediacommons/Galaxyharrylion
The current “airpocolypse” emergency in Shanghai - which has seen schoolchildren ordered indoors to protect them from the polluted air, flights grounded and companies ordered to cut production - comes…
The role pollution aerosols play in climate change is incredibly complicated.
CzechR/Flickr
Climate scientists have established a convincing case for the link between increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases and observed warming of the Earth since the 19th century. The Fifth Assessment Report…
Around three billion people in the world, largely in developing countries, rely on fuels like wood and charcoal for cooking and heating in the home. But burning these biomass fuels, not least in confined…
So serious are the effects of air pollution on human health - the WHO recently categorised it as carcinogenic, responsible for 223,000 deaths a year worldwide - that it is easy to neglect its wider impact…
Cold weather and coal-burning fires have plunged China into another air pollution disaster.
EPA/Hao Bin
The cold weather has come, the coal-powered heating has been switched on, and China’s north is once more swathed in thick smog. Air pollution has been a worsening problem in China in recent years, and…
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans.
Andrew Tseng
Late last week, the world’s leading experts on cancer, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans. The agency’s report, Air Pollution…
Raphael Calel, London School of Economics and Political Science e Cameron Hepburn, London School of Economics and Political Science
When the carbon price collapsed to below €3 in April this year, EU policymakers sought to prop up carbon prices by a deal that would delay the release of carbon allowances (known as “backloading”). This…
What is coming out of our tailpipes that we can’t see?
Lewis Whyld/PA
Hearing the words “airborne nanoparticles” for the first time, one would probably ask: just how tiny are they, where do they come from, and do we need to worry about them? These tiny particles between…
Clean up your act, Shanghai. Just add some more trees at the right places.
Corinna A. Carlson
There is something of a sensory dissonance in modern cities. Glamorous as they are, the breath of contemporary cities stinks. A recent study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters found…
Densely populated areas and busy traffic increase risk.
PA/Andy Butterton
Breathing in air pollution at a lower rate that prescribed EU limits for prolonged periods of time increases your risk of lung cancer, according to a new study published in the Lancet Oncology. The study…
It may seem odd for the European Commission to declare 2013 the “Year of the Air” in order to focus on improving air quality standards. Most would feel air pollution is a problem that has been more or…
Enter the dragon: China joins higher-income countries with similar health concerns.
PA/Fiona Hanson
China is now facing similar health issues to higher income countries including the UK and US, according to new global health figures. Poor diet and cancer are a growing concern in China compared to issues…
Tiny particles of air pollution can stunt the growth of coral reefs, according to a [new study in Nature Geoscience](http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1780](http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1780). Using coral…
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