by Walther Ploos van Amstel
It was a tough week for air quality folks. Suddenly, wood smoke is more important than traffic emissions. Even, more harmful than smoking. Painful for policymakers. Up until last year, home biomass burners were still getting subsidies for their poisonous smoke. We know better now.
Better air quality has led to a significant reduction of premature deaths over the past decade in Europe. However, the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) latest official data show that almost all Europeans still suffer from air pollution, leading to about 400,000 premature deaths across the European continent.
The significant reduction in vehicle journeys during the COVID-19 lockdown did not reduce the level of toxic fine particles in Scotland’s air, according to experts at the University of Stirling. Analysis of fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) in the first month of restrictions found little change despite a 65 percent reduction in the number of …
Air pollution? There are many models predicting air pollution levels. But, models are nor very accurate nor precise. Dutch company Caeli is the source of air quality and environmental data that enables businesses and individuals to make better decisions based on air pollution levels. Caeli provides solutions where artificial intelligence meets sensor data from multiple sources.
Air pollution is considered a large threat to human health. Freight transport vehicles are responsible for a large share of air pollution. The impact of pollutants is heavily depending on the number of people present in the proximity of the emission source. This impact is generally calculated using the impact-pathway-approach.
Paediatric asthma incidence is associated with exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP), but the TRAP-attributable burden remains poorly quantified. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a major component and common proxy of TRAP. In a new study, researchers estimated the annual global number of new asthma cases attributable to NO2 exposure at a resolution sufficient to resolve …
In a new paper, Cedric D. Koolen and Prof. Dr. Gadi Rothenberg outline the serious problems caused by air pollution in Europe. Using two types of metrics, level assessment, and trend assessment, they quantify the contribution of ammonia, NOx, SOx, non‐methane volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter in terms of years of life lost per capita …
Many European countries are failing to comply with international and European standards on air quality. Moreover, many governments have failed to take effective action to improve air quality and hence to protect their citizens’ health.
Exposure to environmental pollution is thought to cause as many as 9 million premature deaths each year. The largest health impacts are associated with air pollutants and particulate matter in particular. The latter is thought to cause an average reduction in life expectancy of 6 to 12 months in Europe.
So far, city logistics has played a limited role in improving air quality in cities. The focus on clean vehicles has been positive for air quality. But shouldn’t we really be talking about economically sound, vital and healthy city centers and neighborhoods when developing urban freight policies? Today, “zero impact” city logistics should be the …