Category: Air Pollution
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Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a house? What are the building materials used in construction? And how does it affect our environment? In this episode of Soil Sense, we dig deeper to find out how bricks are made, how eco-friendly they are and what major threats they pose.  From the bylanes […]
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By LMB Staff
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India’s air quality may have improved a bit but a large number of cities continue to be in the top list of polluted cities across the world.  On Tuesday, IQAir, a Swiss company, released its ‘World Air Quality Report’ which ranked India as the eighth most polluted country in 2022, indicating a drop from its […]
By Bhadra Mahapatra
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Pollution has gripped Thailand and crippled the lives of people. Chiang Mai, a popular tourist city in the north, was declared the world’s second most polluted city according to reports. As per Thailand’s public health official, the PM2.5 level has been over 51 micrograms per cubic metre of air for more than three consecutive days […]
By Bhadra Mahapatra
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Apart from smartphones, London’s teenagers now have another nemesis that can abnormally increase their blood pressure. King’s College London recently conducted a new study published in PLOS One journal, which observes that air pollution in London can cause an increase in the systolic blood pressure of adolescents. The study suggests that a nominal increase of […]
By Danish Alam
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It’s that time of the year again when poor air quality, respiratory diseases, and a rise in hospitalisation increases in most parts of Northern India. While an air quality tracker report by NCAP put India’s capital Delhi as the most polluted city of 2022, poor air is not just restricted to one country. Two days […]
By Smitha Verma
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India’s national capital remains at the top when it comes to polluted cities in 2022, as per a report released by the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). Based on an analysis of air quality monitoring data, the national capital of Delhi ranked the most polluted in 2022, with an annual average PM 2.5 concentration of […]
By Bhadra Mahapatra
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In a bid to make India energy-independent and decarbonise major sectors, the country has approved an incentive plan of $2.11 billion to promote green hydrogen. It is the country’s big announcement this year in a bid to cut emissions and become a major exporter in the field.  The Union Cabinet on January 4 approved the […]
By Bhadra Mahapatra
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Climate Change looks like small words but the impact it has on the planet is unmissable. In 2022, we saw the worst of wildfires and flash floods, landslides and heatwaves. We heard people asking “What can I do about climate change?” Let Me Breathe told you what we can do together. The need to act […]
By Smitha Verma
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On December 19, the biggest biodiversity conference COP15 came to a historic conclusion.  In a landmark decision aimed at safeguarding biodiversity, nations have agreed to protect a third of the planet for nature by 2030. The most significant part of the agreement is a commitment to protect 30% of land and water considered important for […]
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By LMB Staff
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Ambient air pollution is a public health crisis for South Asia, not only imposing high economic costs but also causing an estimated two million premature deaths each year, according to the World Bank report. The report released last week cites how nine out of ten most polluted cities are from South Asia.  Countries like India, […]
By Bhadra Mahapatra
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Meet 16-year-old Maya Anandan, who has come up with an innovative idea of providing hyperlocal air pollution data to the people impacted by its effects. Delhi will remain one of the top three polluted cities in the world and population exposures to PM 2.5 are likely to increase by over 40 percent by 2050. “With […]
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By LMB Staff
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Joshua Gabriel Oluwaseyi, a climate activist from Nigeria, educates people about the adverse impacts of fossil fuels and how they increase air pollution. To fight climate change, his only ask is to end the licensing of new oil contracts.  “We just have been saying stop licensing new oil deals, stop the over-reliance on oil and […]
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By LMB Staff
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India formally took over the G20 presidency, which rotates annually between members, of the Group of Twenty countries on Thursday. Indonesian President Joko Widodo had officially handed it over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of the G20 summit in November. “The previous 17 Presidencies of the G20 delivered significant results—for ensuring macro-economic […]
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By LMB Staff
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Air pollution travels around the globe and crosses national borders in various forms that are both unseen and seen. Vehicular emissions, air pollution from coal-fired power plants and from factories circle the earth together with vaporised mercury, methane and sulphate aerosols and other airborne toxic chemicals and pesticides. From a health perspective, deaths from toxins […]
By Padu S Padmanabhan
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The COP27 Presidency connected climate and biodiversity on Wednesday, marking the opening of Biodiversity Day at COP27. The day kicked off with a high-level opening on “Connecting Climate and Biodiversity” that set the agenda to address the urgent need for integrated responses at scale. The day also saw the launch of the ENACT initiative for […]
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By LMB Staff
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While the world leaders discussed climate commitments and pledged funds, a quiet group of persistent mothers set forth their demand earnestly, once again. The mothers called on rich countries to provide adequate finance for a just transition, adaptation and loss and damage to help communities and families already bearing the brunt of climate change. “From […]
By Smitha Verma
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Once again, as winter sets in, the capital city of India has been engulfed in severe air pollution. The thick smog that blanketed Delhi for the second consecutive day has led to GRAP coming into force.  The poor air quality is primarily due to unfavourable meteorological conditions and raging farm fires in Punjab. For the […]
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By LMB Staff
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A panel of experts got together to discuss the existing charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Delhi. The panel looked at busting some commonly-held myths around EVs for the audiences. The key highlights involved explaining battery swapping and talking about the progress Delhi has so far made and how the State can overcome challenges involved […]
By ritumadan
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As winter months approach one of the most heated topics of discussion in several cities across the world would be air pollution. Especially in several cities in India, the air quality index (AQI) has started showing to be ‘poor’.  The significance of individual action in bringing about a meaningful change in global warming and environmental […]
By Supriya Patil
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As India’s Capital gets ready for another winter, the government has already drawn out its strategy to tackle air pollution. Delhi, in the middle of the festive season, is also preparing itself for the arrival of smog, an increase in air pollution and also the annual ‘dangerous’ reading on the Air Quality Index (AQI). In […]
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By LMB Staff
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In the past one year, Delhi has seen an increase in the usage of electric vehicles (EVs) and the biggest reason for that upswing are the policies of the Delhi government which is promoting and incentivising the usage of EVs. The sales of EVs have soared by 40 per cent since the implementation of electric […]
By Sahil Sharma
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In April, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its air quality database and the figures remain grim as ever. Almost 99 percent of the world breathes foul air that exceeds WHO’s air quality limits and people in low and middle-income countries suffer from the highest exposure.While the database shows the region-wise air degradation, what remains […]
By Smitha Verma
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Working with a think tank’s air pollution and climate change projects as a communication and policy engagement, I learnt two things. One, the impending environmental crisis has greater impacts than I thought. And two, it’s not too late to curb the issue with the right policies and control measures. Anyone with a regular school education […]
By pranoti a
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The Government of Delhi in August 2020, introduced the Delhi Electric Vehicles Policy, which the Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal described as a big step toward curbing the pollution levels in the city.  The Policy paves the way for disruption in the transport sector, EV penetration, and pollution control.  Now, two years after the notification of […]
By Sahil Sharma
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The market for Electric Vehicles (EVs) is slowly growing across the globe and India is no different.  More and more people are switching to electric vehicles and leaving their petrol or diesel-powered vehicles behind. Delhi is not just the capital of India, but it is now on the fast track to become the EV capital […]
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By Payel Sen
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It’s not been very long since I switched to an electric vehicle. If I were to describe my EV in a line, I would say ‘My Ride is My Pride’. For me every letter of the word ELECTRIC means something. It stands for elated, leisure, easy-going, calm, time, radiant, intelligent and cute. This is how […]
By Meenu Agrawal
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In a virtual conference, organised by LetMebreathe recently, several experts got together to discuss the preparedness of Delhi to switch to electric vehicles (EVs) as a desired mode of transportation. The conference, ‘The road to EV – From Policy to Action’, witnessed a free-wheeling discussion between EV users, policy experts and urban planners on Delhi’s […]
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By suchamojo
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The second panel discussion, in the run-up to the World Environment Day highlighted the role of promoting cycling in cities and creating an infrastructure around it. The panel ‘Cycling: A Sustainable Mode of Transportation’ was organised by LetMeBreathe and UN Environment Programme, India. The four-membered panel discussed how India can bolster the adoption of a […]
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By Payel Sen
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With the government actively promoting the use of Electric Vehicles in India, what is the future of electrical transportation in India looking like? Much like NFTs, cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence, electric vehicles (EVs) are increasingly becoming a buzzword not just around the world, but in India as well. Following Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s recent announcements […]
By Abhiir Bhalla
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It may sound far-fetched and beyond the grasp of reality, but it is true.  China is trying to look for a planet with Earth-like conditions, calling it Earth 2.0. As per a report in the Nature journal, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has already conceptualised Earth 2.0, which is the name of the mission and […]
By Sahil Sharma