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Revealing Global Air Quality Trends Through Innovative Visualizations

A groundbreaking tool has emerged to illustrate the changes in air quality since the Industrial Revolution in urban centers worldwide. This platform produces a visual representation comprising colored stripes that depict pollution levels in major cities over the years.

These colorful stripes highlight the significant variations in air quality across different regions, reflecting the ongoing battle against pollution and underscoring the positive impact of environmental initiatives. While air pollution has markedly decreased in affluent Western nations, it continues to pose serious health challenges in many other parts of the world.

“These images make the invisible visible.”

According to Kirsty Pringle, a project co-director at the University of Edinburgh, “Air pollution is often called the ‘invisible killer,’ but these images make the invisible visible,” as noted in a press release.

The initiative is a collaborative effort involving the University of Leeds, the University of Edinburgh, North Carolina State University, and the UK Met Office. Researchers have utilized data from the UK Met Office to estimate the average annual concentrations of PM2.5, which are fine particulate matters small enough to penetrate the lungs and enter the bloodstream. These particulates are generated from various sources, including industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and increasingly from wildfires exacerbated by climate change.

The resultant stripes have been generated for capital cities and additional urban areas, providing a visual timeline of air pollution trends from 1850 to 2021. While satellite and ground-level data supply evidence for the last two decades, researchers also employed computer models to extrapolate data for earlier years.

The color spectrum of these stripes spans light blue, indicative of clean air, to dark brown or black, denoting “extremely poor” air quality. To develop a meaningful color palette, the project team collaborated with artist Ethan Brain, drawing inspiration from approximately 200 photographs sourced through online searches focused on air pollution.

The lightest blue shade corresponds to air quality levels below the World Health Organization’s recommended threshold of less than 5 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter of air (5 µg/m³). Both London and Los Angeles have made significant strides towards achieving these air quality levels in recent years, reflecting decades of effective industry regulation and transportation policies. In the United States, a notable decline in pollution levels began following the implementation of the historic Clean Air Act in 1970.

However, discrepancies in air quality can often be seen within cities, particularly affecting communities of color in the U.S., which frequently endure a disproportionate share of pollution rising from nearby highways and industrial sites.

The troubling reality is that 99 percent of the global population resides in areas where air quality fails to meet the World Health Organization’s guidelines for PM2.5. Cities in low to middle-income nations, especially in parts of South Asia and Africa, face severe pollution challenges. For instance, research indicates that air quality in Delhi, India, and Abuja, Nigeria, has increasingly approached “extremely poor” and “very poor” levels, respectively, since the 1970s.

To explore visualizations for various cities, visit the Air Quality Stripes website. The imagery presented on this platform is reminiscent of climate warming stripes, which have gained popularity for showcasing the rise in global temperatures due to greenhouse gas emissions.

Fortunately, initiatives addressing climate change have the potential to enhance air quality in the near future. During last year’s annual United Nations climate summit, at least 118 nations pledged to increase the world’s renewable energy capacity threefold by 2030. Achieving climate goals necessitates a global commitment to transitioning toward renewable energy while ensuring that no country is left behind. Advocates around the globe are urging affluent nations and Wall Street to cease supporting new fossil fuel projects and to provide debt relief that hinders financial investment in clean energy by less affluent countries.

The potential for improvement remains vivid, as depicted in the blue hues of clear skies.

Pringle emphasized the importance of progress, stating, “The images show that it is possible to reduce air pollution; the air in many cities in Europe is much cleaner now than it was 100 years ago, and this is improving our health. We really hope similar improvements can be achieved across the globe.”

Source
www.theverge.com