Air Pollution

Air pollution is responsible for over 7 million annual deaths globally, and costs an average of 2.2 years of life worldwide. In recognition of the 2022 UN International Day of Clean Air, we share five insights shaping the discussion on one of the greatest global health challenges of our time.

According to the WHO’s 2021 updated guidelines, over 97% of the world breathes air considered to be “unhealthy”. In recognition of the 2022 UN International Day of Clean Air, we’re honored to welcome back Christa Hasenkopf, Director of Air Quality Programs at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) to discuss how the Air Quality Life Index is driving action on air quality.

In April of 2021, Berkeley Earth’s air quality data was featured in National Geographic’s cover story which called air pollution the next global health pandemic, drawing attention to the nearly 4 million annual deaths attributed to poor air quality worldwide. To mark the official launch of Berkeley Earth’s new podcast Data Points, we sit down […]

Studies estimate that the impacts of air pollution account for upwards of 5% of annual global GDP, and yet annual funding to address air quality averages around only $30million annually. As April marks the beginning of Earth Month, Berkeley Earth is focusing on the significant role that air quality data and analysis plays in improving […]

Following April’s National Geographic cover story featuring Berkley Earth’s open-source air quality data, we sit down with Berkeley Earth’s climate scientists Dr. Robert Rohde and Dr. Zeke Hausfather to discuss global air quality trends.

Berkeley Earth’s open-source air quality data has been featured in National Geographic’s April Issue, highlighting the significance of the health crises created by air pollution and poor air quality. As suppliers of comprehensive air quality data, Berkeley Earth provides not only real-time air quality readings, but also provides historic time-series data at the city and […]

In this midst of a record-setting fire season, Berkeley Earth’s climate scientists Robert Rhode and Zeke Hausfather talk with Social Media Manager Kari Hulac to discuss climate change and the fires burning across the West.

An earlier version of this article originally appeared on the Asthma Allergies Children website. By Liz Muller As I write this white ash is visible in the polluted San Francisco Bay Area air, wafting down from a smoky orange sky and into our lungs, a dangerous byproduct of wildfires burning more than 3 million acres […]

Horrific Air Pollution in Europe Reaches 7 cigarettes per day equivalent, a pack a day in India and China It’s winter, and that’s the worst air pollution period for Europe and China. The levels over much of the continent are in the unhealthy range. In the figure we show a map of the pollution of […]

by Zeke Hausfather Air pollution in China is a critical global health problem, responsible for somewhere between 700,000 and 2.2 million premature deaths annually. The largest single contributor to air pollution-related mortality is particulate matter below 2.5 microns in size, or PM2.5. Exposure to PM2.5 has been found to increase the risk of heart attacks, […]

by Richard A. Muller and Elizabeth A. Muller For many people, comparing air pollution to cigarette smoking is more vivid and meaningful than is citing the numbers of yearly deaths. When we published our scientific paper on air pollution in China in August 20151, we were surprised by the attention we got for a quick […]

Earlier this month the Shenyang EPA reported the worse levels of air pollution since record keeping began: Estimates varied between 1000 and 1400 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5— the fine particulate matter that has deadly health consequences. The US embassy in Shenyang reported “off the chart” recordings. In our recent study in PLOS on […]