Category: Science Blog

Highest air pollution in Bangladesh, China, India, and Pakistan in 2018

AirVisual and Greenpeace have jointly published the World Air Quality Report for 2018, ranking over 3000 cities based on their pollution levels. Out of the total 64% exceeded the WHO’s annual
exposure guideline for fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5. In the Middle-East and Africa all (100%) of the measured cities exceeded the WHO guideline. In South Asia and South East Asia this was 99% and 95% respectively, while 89% of cities in East Asia also exceeded the target.

The top 50 cities with the highest average PM2.5 levels during 2018, were from China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. At a country level, weighted by population, “Bangladesh is the most polluted country on average, closely followed by Pakistan and India, with Middle Eastern countries, Afghanistan and Mongolia also within the top 10”.

PM2.5 is particulate matter measuring up to 2.5 microns in size. It has the most health impact of all commonly measured air pollutants, has a range of chemical makeups and a variety of sources, such as vehicle engines, industry, wood and coal burning. Because of its small size it can penetrate deep into the respiratory system as well as the entire body.

“Air pollution steals our livelihoods and our futures,” Yeb Sano, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a statement. “In addition to human lives lost, there’s an estimated global cost of 225 billion dollars in lost labour, and trillions in medical costs,” he added.

Photo credit: AirVisual 

 

 

 

International Day of the Forests

It is the InternationalDayOfForests. There are 3 trillion trees in the world with the potential of planting 1.5 trillion more. Forests provide habitats, medicine, livelihoods, regulate climate, water and soil and decrease pollution. Resilient forests mean resilient communities because they also regulate floods, decrease erosion and landslides.The better option is to reduce deforestation. And if you engage in reforestation you have to assess what kind of trees should be planted and where. On the whole though, forests are key for both climate mitigation and adaptation activities.

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Pollution in the UK

While we have been seeing early onset of spring and and enjoying an unusually warm February, there are some worrying issues at hand too.

On Tuesday, UK residents were warned to restrict outdoor activities because of an increase in pollution in many areas in the country. Our warm weather is due to the air-mass from North Africa, which has also brought Saharan dust. This combined with vehicular and industrial emissions, as well as particles from Europe have all contributed to the increase in countrywide pollution levels.

The Environmental Department, Met Office and the National Weather Service have all warned that the levels will be highest in North England, including in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. Meanwhile, air quality in London was close to that of New Delhi, according to the app AirVisual prompting the Mayor’s office to issue alerts. All of these warnings have continued into Wednesday, 27th February, 2019 and is expected to last until Thursday. According to a study by the Royal College of Physicians, approximately 40,000 premature deaths are linked to air pollution.

The increase in pollution levels across the country just goes on to show the failure to bring pollution levels down. While the government has asked 36 of the top polluted cities to submit pollution curbing plans, many have missed the deadlines to do so. Since, 2010, UK’s pollution levels have been high due to nitrogen oxide pollution from diesel vehicles. Bringing it down requires instituting a pollution tax or bringing down the number of diesel vehicles. Effort to do either of these have been very slow due to impacts on local businesses and communities. The government has earmarked an implementation fund of £275m and a £220m clean air fund to minimise local impacts. However, extensive and concrete steps need to be taken immediately to bring down pollution levels, or the country is like to see even more pollution linked deaths and impacts on health.

Photocredit: UK Air - DEFRA

 

Good news in biodiversity

 

Fernandina Giant tortoise/ Photocredit AFP

A giant tortoise from the Galapagos, from a species last seen in 1906, has been found. Chelonoidis phantasticus or the Fernandina Giant tortoise was found on Fernandina island and is believed to be a 100 years old female. It is hoped that other individuals of the species will also be found. Genetic testing remains to be done to confirm that it is indeed the same species. The Fernandina Giant tortoise is one of the 15 known species of giant tortoises in the Galapagos. Two of the species are already extinct, one of them being the species (Chelonoidis abingdonii or Pinta Island tortoise) to which Lonesome George, the islands’ most iconic giant tortoise, belonged.

Meanwhile,one the other side of the planet, the world’s largest bee has been spotted in January, for the first time in decades. Wallace’s giant bee, Megachile pluto, which is 4 times larger than the European honeybee, was last seen in the wild in 1981. Alfred Russell Wallace, who came up with the theory of evolution by natural selection around the same time as Darwin, discovered the bee in the 1850s when he lived in the Indonesian islands and made a living by sending back animal species to the UK.

The bee is known to be elusive and was thought to have gone extinct when it was last seen in 1981.

Environment

Climate Change claims its first victim: The Bramble Cay melomys is now extinct

The Bramble Cay melomys was a rodent that lived solely on a tiny sand island in the Torres Strait, near the coast of Papua New Guinea. It has not been seen since 2009 and in 2016 it was described as the first mammalian extinction caused by climate change. Now the Australian government has officially confirmed its eradication. A report by the Australian government has highlighted sea level rise on multiple occasions during the last decade, causing habitat loss and individual mortality, as the reason for the rodent’s extinction.

While this is termed as the first recorded mammalian casualty of human induced climate change, it must also be kept in mind that according to IUCN, Australia has the world’s highest rates of animal extinction.

 

Liverpool City Region Year of Environment 2019

In January 2019, the Liverpool City Region declared 2019 as the official Year of the Environment, the City Region’s contribution to the national Year of Green Action.

This is a cross-agency programme and entails a year of activities, which will engage communities with nature, reducing waste and improving health and well-being. The idea is to involve more and more people in environmental and conservation projects. Activities will be focused around themes such as air quality, climate change and resilience, green spaces, habitats & biodiversity, health and well-being, sustainable energy, waste reduction, water quality and conservation, and connecting with nature.

In order to increase engagement and to promote events #YOE2019LCR and #iwillnature are being used and communities can follow the Liverpool City Region on twitter to keep abreast of the activities.