Air pollution: WHO’s stark air quality message and the road ahead for India

Air Pollution 02 Reuters

Delhi’s average life expectancy is 6.4 years lower than 69.4 — the national average. (Reuters/File) The World Health Organization’s message while updating its air quality guidelines (AQGs) last month was stark: impact of air quality on public health was twice as bad as estimated previously. Despite lax standards, India is home to 37 of the … Read more

International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer: Significance of the most successful global climate treaty

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Several common chemicals are known to cause severe damage to the ozone layer. (UN) As climate change and global warming take centre stage, a less heralded hero of the Earth’s atmosphere quietly battles on. A thin layer of gas surrounding the Earth, the ozone layer protects the planet from the sun’s harmful rays, thus preserving … Read more

Smoggy Air Might Raise Black Women’s Odds for Fibroids

By Denise Mann HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, May 18, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Exposure to ozone air pollution may make Black women more likely to develop fibroids. Compared to women exposed to the lowest levels of the pollutant, Black women exposed to the highest levels had a 35% increased risk for developing the non-cancerous growths in … Read more

COVID Lockdowns’ Boost to Air Quality Limited

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WEDNESDAY, Jan. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Two types of air pollution declined in cities around the world during initial COVID-19 lockdowns, but one type increased, a new study finds. Researchers assessed changes in levels of nitrogen dioxide, ozone and fine particulate (PM2.5) air pollution during lockdowns in 11 cities: Beijing and Wuhan in … Read more

High Ozone Levels Up Cardiac Arrest Risk: Study

By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Nov. 9, 2020 (HealthDay News) — High levels of ozone air pollution could increase the risk of cardiac arrest, a new study says. It included 187,000 people, average age 63, in the United States who suffered out-of-hospital cardiac arrest between 2013 and 2016. … Read more

Ozone hole over Antarctic in its ‘maximum annual size’, largest and deepest in recent years: Scientists

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Scientists monitoring the ozone layer have warned that the ozone hole over the Antarctic has reached its “maximum annual size” and is one of the largest and deepest in recent years. The ozone layer is a region of Earth’s stratosphere that absorbs most of Sun’s ultraviolet radiation that would be damaging to life on our … Read more