Characterization, Source Apportionment and Health Analysis of Air Pollutants in India

In recent years, severe pollution events occurred frequently in India, which are of significant concern of the public. However, limited studies have been conducted to understand the formation, sources and health effects of high pollution levels and the information for design of effective control strategies is urgently needed. First, criteria air pollutants data at 10 sites for 2017 in Delhi were analyzed to understand the current pollution status. The results show that annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), India of 60 µg/m3 at all sites. Source-oriented versions of the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model will be applied to quantify the contributions of eight source types (energy, industry, residential, on-road, off-road, agriculture, open burning and dust) to PM2.5 and its major components including primary PM (PPM) and secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) in India in 2015. Anthropogenic emissions are from Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), biogenic emissions are from the Model for Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN) v2.1, and meteorology factors are from the simulation of Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Concentrations of PM2.5 are highest in the Indo-Gangetic region, including northern and eastern India. In Delhi, industry and residential activities contribute to 80% of total PM2.5. Then, the health risks were estimated based on the predicted PM2.5 concentrations and the air quality benefits from potential policy interventions in future were analyzed. Premature mortality due to cerebrovascular disease (CEV) was the highest in India (0.44 million), followed by ischaemic heart disease (IHD, 0.40 million), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 0.18 million) and lung cancer (LC, 0.01 million), with a total of 1.04 million deaths. A total of up to 0.68 million premature mortality and 43% years of life lost (YLL) would be avoided by applying all controlling strategies

Urban local air quality management framework for non-attainment areas in Indian cities

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. Increasing urban air pollution level in Indian cities is one of the major concerns for policy makers due to its impact on public health. The growth in population and increase in associated motorised road transport demand is one of the major causes of increasing air pollution in most urban areas along with other sources e.g., road dust, construction dust, biomass burning etc. The present study documents the development of an urban local air quality management (ULAQM) framework at urban hotspots (non-attainment area) and a pathway for the flow of information from goal setting to policy making. The ULAQM also includes assessment and management of air pollution episodic conditions at these hotspots, which currently available city/regional-scale air quality management plans do not address. The prediction of extreme pollutant concentrations using a hybrid model differentiates the ULAQM from other existing air quality management plans. The developed ULAQM framework has been applied and validated at one of the busiest traffic intersections in Delhi and Chennai cities. Various scenarios have been tested targeting the effective reductions in elevated levels of NOx and PM2.5 concentrations. The results indicate that a developed ULAQM framework is capable of providing an evidence-based graded action to reduce ambient pollution levels within the specified standard level at pre-identified locations. The ULAQM framework methodology is generalised and therefore can be applied to other non-attainment areas of the country

Potential air pollutant emission from private vehicles based on vehicle route

Air emissions related to the transportation sector has been identified as the second largest emitter of ambient air quality in Indonesia. This is due to large numbers of Private vehicles commuting within the city as well as inter-city. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Semarang city involving 711 private vehicles consisting of cars and motorcycles. The survey was conducted in random parking lots across the Semarang districts and in vehicle workshops. Based on the parking lot survey, the average distance Private cars travelled in kilometers (VKT) was 17,737 km/year. The machine start-up number of cars during weekdays; weekends were on average 5.19 and 3.79 respectively. For motorcycles the average of kilometers travelled bas 27,092 km/year. The machine start-up number of motorcycles during weekdays and weekends were on average 5.84 and 3.98, respectively. The vehicle workshop survey showed the average kilometers travelled to be 9,510 km/year for motorcycles, while for private cars the average kilometers travelled was 21,347 km/year. Odometer readings for private cars showed a maximum of 3,046,509 km and a minimum of 700 km. Meanwhile, for motorcycles, odometer readings showed a maximum of 973,164 km and a minimum of roughly 54.24 km. Air pollutant emissions on East-West routes were generally higher than those on South-North routes. Motorcycles contribute significantly to urban air pollution, more so than cars. In this study, traffic congestion and traffic volume contributed much more to air pollution than the impact of fluctuating terrain

Preparing for a Northwest Passage: A Workshop on the Role of New England in Navigating the New Arctic

Preparing for a Northwest Passage: A Workshop on the Role of New England in Navigating the New Arctic (March 25 - 27, 2018 -- The University of New Hampshire) paired two of NSF\u27s 10 Big Ideas: Navigating the New Arctic and Growing Convergence Research at NSF. During this event, participants assessed economic, environmental, and social impacts of Arctic change on New England and established convergence research initiatives to prepare for, adapt to, and respond to these effects. Shipping routes through an ice-free Northwest Passage in combination with modifications to ocean circulation and regional climate patterns linked to Arctic ice melt will affect trade, fisheries, tourism, coastal ecology, air and water quality, animal migration, and demographics not only in the Arctic but also in lower latitude coastal regions such as New England. With profound changes on the horizon, this is a critical opportunity for New England to prepare for uncertain yet inevitable economic and environmental impacts of Arctic change

Transport and energy in India. Energy used by Indian transport systems and consequent emissions: the need for quantitative analyses (Well-to-Wheel, Lifecycle)

The purpose of this work is, at first, a general overview on the state-of-art of the transportation system in India outlining the related energy consumption, for the different transport modes, with consequent estimated emissions. These elements are essential for the preparation of a high-level strategic transport planning on the whole energy issue, to help India in the choices of most suitable transportation systems, according to the well-to-wheel analysis (WTW). Pursuing a WTW global index for India that takes into account both the energy and environmental aspects on a uniform basis is an important aim: it allows the best choices to be made as well as enabling the comparison between some of the most important powertrain and fuel options on the Indian market, the results are discussed from three different points of view: energy, environmental and economic impac

Long-term trends in PM2.5 mass and particle number concentrations in urban air : The impacts of mitigation measures and extreme events due to changing climates

Urbanisation and industrialisation led to the increase of ambient particulate matter (PM) concentration. While subsequent regulations may have resulted in the decrease of some PM matrices, the simultaneous changes in climate affecting local meteorological conditions could also have played a role. To gain an insight into this complex matter, this study investigated the long-term trends of two important matrices, the particle mass (PM2.5) and particle number concentrations (PNC), and the factors that influenced the trends. Mann-Kendall test, Sen's slope estimator, the generalised additive model, seasonal decomposition of time series by LOESS (locally estimated scatterplot smoothing) and the Buishand range test were applied. Both PM2.5 and PNC showed significant negative monotonic trends (0.03-0.6 mg m(-3).yr(-1) and 0.40-3.8 x 10(3) particles. cm(-3). yr(-1), respectively) except Brisbane (+0.1 mg m(-3). yr(-1) and +53 particles. cm(-3). yr(-1), respectively). For the period covered in this study, temperature increased (0.03-0.07 degrees C.yr(-1)) in all cities except London; precipitation decreased (0.02-1.4 mm.yr(-1)) except in Helsinki; and wind speed was reduced in Brisbane and Rochester but increased in Helsinki, London and Augsburg. At the change-points, temperature increase in cold cities influenced PNC while shifts in precipitation and wind speed affected PM2.5. Based on the LOESS trend, extreme events such as dust storms and wildfires resulting from changing climates caused a positive step-change in concentrations, particularly for PM2.5. In contrast, among the mitigation measures, controlling sulphur in fuels caused a negative step-change, especially for PNC. Policies regarding traffic and fleet management (e.g. low emission zones) that were implemented only in certain areas or in a progressive uptake (e.g. Euro emission standards), resulted to gradual reductions in concentrations. Therefore, as this study has clearly shown that PM2.5 and PNC were influenced differently by the impacts of the changing climate and by the mitigation measures, both metrics must be considered in urban air quality management. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Monsoon [+ other] Airs

Proceedings of the Monsoon [+ other] Airs Symposium convened by Monsoon Assemblages at the University of Westminster, 20-21 April 2017

Cities and the New Climate Economy: the transformative role of global urban growth

Urbanisation is one of the most important drivers of productivity and growth in the global economy. Between 2014 and 2050, the urban population is projected to increase by around 2.5 billion people, reaching 66% of the global population. By 2030, China’s cities alone will be home to nearly 1 billion people. India, Nigeria and Indonesia will also experience rapid population growth. If managed well, the potential benefits of this urban growth are substantial. The economic potential is driven by raised productivity resulting from the concentration of people and economic activities in cities that leads to a vibrant market and fertile environment for innovation in ideas, technologies and processes. Similarly, well-managed cities in high income countries could continue to concentrate national economic growth, through re-densification and the roll out of innovative infrastructure and technologies

Always in control? Sovereign states in cyberspace

For well over twenty years, we have witnessed an intriguing debate about the nature of cyberspace. Used for everything from communication to commerce, it has transformed the way individuals and societies live. But how has it impacted the sovereignty of states? An initial wave of scholars argued that it had dramatically diminished centralised control by states, helped by a tidal wave of globalisation and freedom. These libertarian claims were considerable. More recently, a new wave of writing has argued that states have begun to recover control in cyberspace, focusing on either the police work of authoritarian regimes or the revelations of Edward Snowden. Both claims were wide of the mark. By contrast, this article argues that we have often misunderstood the materiality of cyberspace and its consequences for control. It not only challenges the libertarian narrative of freedom, it suggests that the anarchic imaginary of the Internet as a ‘Wild West’ was deliberately promoted by states in order to distract from the reality. The Internet, like previous forms of electronic connectivity, consists mostly of a physical infrastructure located in specific geographies and jurisdictions. Rather than circumscribing sovereignty, it has offered centralised authority new ways of conducting statecraft. Indeed, the Internet, high-speed computing, and voice recognition were all the result of security research by a single information hegemon and therefore it has always been in control