Wildfires are one of the reasons for increased levels of PM2.5. Photo: Flickr.com / Tony Salas CC BY-NC

Backlash for US air pollution levels

After a seven-year stretch of improvement, between 2016 and 2018 the amount of particulate matter air pollution rose, according to a new analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data by two economists at Carnegie Mellon. They found that particulate matter air pollution fell 24 per cent in the US from 2009 to 2016, but it increased 5.5 per cent in the following two years.

“That increase was associated with 9,700 premature deaths in 2018,” wrote Karen Clay and Nicholas Muller in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The researchers say three factors could explain the increase in air pollution: stronger economic growth in recent years, an increase in wildfires and weakened enforcement of clean air rules.

Source: CBS News, 22 October 2019.
Link to the paper: https://www.nber.org/papers/w26381

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In this issue

The ten best climate measures

NGOs from northern Europe propose which climate policy measures to present for national climate plans.

Editorial: The fossil fuel industry must be shut down

Annual global emissions of carbon dioxide are still more than 40 billion tonnes. To stay within a 1.5 °C global temperature rise with a 50 per cent chance ...

The Dutch nitrogen crisis

A court ruling has forced the Netherlands to promptly deal with its high nitrogen emissions. The government has decided to cut speed limits and farmers have rallied in the streets to protest against reducing livestock numbers.

European transboundary air pollution is slowly shrinking

For most European countries the biggest share of depositions of sulphur and nitrogen emanate from outside their own territory, and a significant share of the depositions originate from international shipping.

Global solar PV market set for dramatic growth over next 5 years

The installation of solar PV systems on homes, commercial buildings and industrial facilities is set to take off over the next five years ...

LNG no solution for truck emissions

Heavy goods vehicles running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) can emit up to five times as much nitrogen oxides as the latest diesel models ...

Post-Euro 6 car emissions standards

A new ICCT report highlights the limitations of current EU car emissions standards and provides detailed recommendations for how to overcome them.

The Cry of the Cryosphere

Summer snow cover in the Arctic has decreased by 2.5 million km² in fifty years. The changes for animals and human livelihoods in the affected regions are dramatic.

Modelling a shift to sustainable diets

Peer pressure was found to be the most important driver for people to adopt a plant-based diet, when researchers integrated psychological theories into a computer model.

Money quarrels delay a CAP with diluted climate ambition

EU member states have deeply divided opinions on the CAP budget, but agree on weakening the environmental and climate baseline.

Climate change threat to European farming

Yields from non-irrigated crops, such as wheat, corn and sugar beet, are projected to decrease in southern Europe by up to 50 per cent by 2050 ...

Deforestation must decrease by 95 per cent in a 1.5 °C world

Measures within the land sector could contribute about 30 per cent, or 15 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO₂e) per year ...

Cutting air pollution will save lives

Europe’s air is slowly getting cleaner, but air pollution remains the largest environmental health risk and is still responsible for about 400,000 premature deaths every year.

EU climate policies reviewed

EU reduces CO₂ emissions by 2 per cent, risks failing to meet sustainable energy targets, and gives green light to new fossil gas projects.

40 years of partnership for clean air

The Air Convention has developed and applied new tools resulting in cost-effective, effect-based strategies to tackle air pollution.

World Energy Outlook faces increasing criticism

The World Energy Outlook (WEO) from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the self-acclaimed “gold standard of long-term energy analysis”, is increasingly being questioned for pointing in the wrong direction.

Main menu

Backlash for US air pollution levels

In this issue

The ten best climate measures

Editorial: The fossil fuel industry must be shut down

The Dutch nitrogen crisis

European transboundary air pollution is slowly shrinking

Global solar PV market set for dramatic growth over next 5 years

LNG no solution for truck emissions

Post-Euro 6 car emissions standards

The Cry of the Cryosphere

Modelling a shift to sustainable diets

Money quarrels delay a CAP with diluted climate ambition

Climate change threat to European farming

Deforestation must decrease by 95 per cent in a 1.5 °C world

Cutting air pollution will save lives

EU climate policies reviewed

40 years of partnership for clean air

World Energy Outlook faces increasing criticism

In Breif

EU Commission promotes air pollution benefits of climate policy

Stop EU fossil tax subsidies to shipping

Malaysia bans open-loop ship scrubbers

London’s ULEZ cuts NO2

Publications

Food for Thought

Northern forests, climate change and the UNFCCC

EU climate targets aligned with the Paris agreement’s 1.5°C objective

Baltic Sea Offshore Wind Collaborative-Learning project

Air pollution in Europe and children’s health

Climate Change: A Himalayan Odessey

No further discussion needed. The agreed global goal is to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C

Fossil-free electricity 2021

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