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WHO issues new, lower Global Air Quality Guidelines for classical pollutants

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New WHO has issued new Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) that reduce levels of key air pollutants, some of which also contribute to climate change. Since WHO’s last 2005 global update, there has been a marked increase of evidence that shows how air pollution affects different aspects of health. Source: WHO.

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NOAA study finds reducing particulate air pollution in N America & Europe increases hurricanes in N Atlantic

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A new NOAA study covering four decades of tropical cyclones found that reducing particulate air pollution in Europe and North America has contributed to an increase in the number of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic basin and a decrease in the number of these storms in the Southern Hemisphere. Credit: NOAA.

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UCL-led study finds climate impact caused by growing space industry needs urgent mitigation

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The rapidly growing space industry may have a greater climate effect than the aviation industry and undo repair to the protective ozone layer if left unregulated, according to a new study led by UCL and published in the journal Earth’s Future as an open-access paper. —Ryan et al. —Ryan et al.

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Studies find global COVID-19 lockdowns have significantly reduced PM2.5 and NO2 pollution, but ozone up

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Levels of two major air pollutants have been reduced significantly since lockdowns began in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a secondary pollutant—ground-level ozone—has increased in China, according to new research. For comparison, columns over the same time periods are shown for 2019.

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IRENA: doubling global share of renewable energy by 2030 could save trillions annually from avoided expenditures on pollution and climate change

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There is also great potential to increase renewables in transport, buildings and industry, but these sectors are currently lagging behind. The energy transition is well underway in the power sector, but to reach global climate and development targets, the next phase will require more focus on transport, heating and cooling.

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Study: air pollution causes 800,000 extra deaths a year in Europe and 8.8 million worldwide

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Air pollution could be causing double the number of excess deaths a year in Europe than has been estimated previously, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal. Air pollution caused twice as many deaths from CVD as from respiratory diseases. The researchers found that air pollution caused an estimated 8.8

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Ice core data show why air pollution is dropping more slowly in US and Western Europe despite lower sulfur emissions

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We need to understand this multiphase chemistry in the atmosphere to design an efficient strategy to manage air pollution and accurately predict future air pollution and climate change impacts. During most of the 20 th century, sulfur dioxide emissions increased with industrialization in many parts of the world.

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