Global Clean Air

State of the Air Report shows America must work harder to fight pollution

By Tammy Thompson / Published: May 7, 2024

Body of water under cloudy sky during sunset with air pollution venting from smoke stack.

What’s new: The American Lung Association released its annual State of the Air report last month, showing that climate change is making it more difficult to clean up our polluted air. About one-third of all Americans were breathing unhealthy air in 2023—a greater number than in year’s past, despite gains made through ever improving vehicle, industrial, and oil and gas

emissions standards. And while these air pollution trends are another indication that a warming planet is having a negative impact on our daily lives, we still have tools within reach that can help improve air quality for millions both in the United States and around the world.  

Why it matters: As the planet warms, and wildfires become more common, high levels of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter, or soot) are reaching into corners of the country previously considered safe from such smoke. The impacts can seem like a nuisance for healthy individuals, but for those with health problems, a series of days dominated by wildfire smoke can be dangerous or even deadly.

In addition, growing numbers of hot, sunny days combined with increasing instances of high-pressure areas create the perfect conditions for ozone. In the United States, the Clean Air Act has helped reduce the amount of ozone precursors in the air and is driving down the number of people exposed to the highest number of ozone days. That has helped reduce the number of people living in counties with a failing ozone grades. However, despite that improvement, these hot, stagnant days are having a substantial impact on counties. In fact, twice as many U.S. counties are seeing air quality decline than are seeing improvement due to unhealthy levels of ozone.  

Most ever days with worst levels of particle pollution

Graphic from 2024 State of the Air Report, Courtesy of The American Lung Association.

What we can do about it: EPA recently strengthened the annual fine particle (PM2.5) standard to 9 micrograms per cubic meter and announced plans to improve monitoring. And while U.S. standards are moving in the right direction, they still do not meet those established by the World Health Organization, set at 5 micrograms per cubic meter averaged annually. Many cities met the old standard but do not meet this new strengthened federal standard. These cities represent areas where residents have been breathing unhealthy air due to human activity—not wildfires.  

Here’s a list of both government and scientific ways we can combat air pollution: 

  • We can lower pollution in the air by reducing its components like NOx, hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds (VOC)s, which are prevalent in both industrial activity and our cleaning supplies.   
  • We can conduct more studies of VOCs to determine how much they are contributing to poor air quality. 
  • We can use growing amounts of data to pinpoint hotspots, in order to better understand the sources of persistent pollution. These include data from new monitors that communities across the U.S. are now installing using the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act funds, as well as from satellites, which cover areas of the country that are not monitored at all.  

Beyond those actions, we can take personal steps to stay safe on days with high ozone and soot levels, by purchasing relatively inexpensive air filters that can go from room to room, cleaning both pollutants and allergens. It’s also possible to track both dangerous smoke and soot levels using a variety of free websites and apps, like AirNow.gov. Tools like EDF’s Air Tracker can also help us see how pollution travels to better understand its sources and impacts.  

While it’s true that impacts from climate change pose new challenges to our efforts to curb pollution, with the help of new tools and data, we can overcome them.  

Also posted in Climate, Community Organizer, Concerned Citizen, Corporate Sustainability Professional, Environmental Justice, Government Official/Policymaker, Homepage, Monitoring, Public Health/Environmental Official, USA / Comments are closed

Collaborative insights: Empowering health advocacy on methane in Mexico

By EDF Web Team / Published: April 8, 2024
A panel discussion hosted by the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA) on the Health impacts of the oil and gas sector on communities across Mexico. Photo by Veronica Southerland.

A panel discussion hosted by the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA) on the health impacts of the oil and gas sector on communities across Mexico. Photo by Veronica Southerland.

What’s new: EDF’s Global Clean Air team was proud to launch the Sall Methane and Health project in March of 2024, a new collaboration funded by the Sall Family Foundation to track the health impacts of methane emitted by the oil and gas industry in Mexico. Key partners in the project include:

  • The Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA), a civil society organization that works to strengthen legal protections for the environment in Mexico.
  • El Observatorio Mexicano de Emisiones de Metano (Obmem), a coalition that advances national and global agreements to reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas industry.

At the launch, EDF and CEMDA connected with community groups and journalists, highlighting relevant EDF findings about methane emissions in Mexico. One such finding is that methane emissions could be up-to 2.5 times higher than reported by government sources.

Why it matters: By raising awareness, fostering collaborations with diverse stakeholders and building rapport with impacted communities, policymakers and journalists in Mexico, EDF is not only enhancing scientific knowledge of methane’s impacts but also laying the groundwork for concrete policies aimed at addressing environmental and health concerns.

The details: The March 13 panel presentation with CEMDA titled “¿Huellas invisibles? Cómo impacta el metano a las comunidades,” shed light on methane’s effects on communities. Sergio Sánchez and Veronica Southerland presented on methane sources, EDF’s past research work and forthcoming efforts to highlight health impacts and strengthen methane regulations.

The EDF team also met with CEMDA and Obmem, who were instrumental in solidifying diverse cross-sector partnerships for the project. Discussions revolved around project goals, potential roles, and the formulation of a $50,000 subgrant that would enable CEMDA to convene Mexican methane policy experts to help build consensus and momentum toward solutions.

What’s next: As the project gets underway, key focus areas will include:

  • Disproportionate impacts on vulnerable demographics like women and children
  • Replicating previous US studies in Mexico
  • Expanding research avenues to encompass broader air pollutant attributable health burden studies in Mexico.

As the project moves forward, strengthening collaboration between EDF, CEMDA, Obmem and other groups will prove pivotal in shaping future insights generated and policy solutions. The EDF team will continue to share updates on the Sall Methane and Health project here on the Global Clean Air blog as they unfold—stay tuned!

Veronica Southerland is an environmental health scientist with expertise in the health impacts of air pollution.

Learn more about the health impacts of methane here. 

Also posted in Energy, Environmental Justice, Government Official/Policymaker, Homepage, Mexico, Partners, Public Health/Environmental Official, Science / Comments are closed

Mobile monitoring reveals congestion effect for vehicle emissions in London

By lpadilla / Published: March 11, 2024
University of York mobile laboratory for measuring ambient air pollution.

University of York mobile laboratory for measuring ambient air pollution (Photo taken by Shona Wilde).

New study shows just how much congestion intensifies emissions from diesel vehicles  

In a recently published study, researchers from the University of York and Environmental Defense Fund show how traffic exacerbates nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution from road vehicles, in particular from intense emitters like diesel trucks and buses, pointing to solutions that can bring an outsize benefit to air quality.  

Comparing pollution with targeted monitoring  

EDF and York designed a study that measured air pollution along two distinct routes in the London metropolitan area—one that was extremely congested in Central London and the other farther from the city center where drivers experience more free-flowing conditions including some highway driving. The Central London route was identified as a pollution hotspot in the Breathe London Pilot project, which provided motivation for the new targeted study.  

Using York’s mobile monitoring laboratory equipped with fast-response instruments, we collected ambient measurements of both NOx and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) for two weeks along the two different routes to quantify the emission intensity of the London fleet, which included a wide range of vehicle types driving in both heavy congestion and light-traffic conditions. We also used dashboard video recordings to identify which specific vehicle types were the likely cause of hotspots.  

Using the latest analysis methods, we mapped the spatial patterns of persistent emission sources, while simultaneously revealing the attributes of the most significant emitters within the vehicle fleet. We found that NOx emissions were a factor of two times higher for fleets with a high proportion of diesel vehicles operating in congested driving conditions, and a factor of five times higher for intense emitters like SCR-retrofit diesel buses and heavy goods vehicles in stop-and-go traffic. 

We then compared our data to an existing database of measurements from remote sensors, which measure vehicle emissions more directly at the tailpipe, to verify our ambient data against an established reference. The comparison further demonstrated the congestion effect whereby fleets predominately composed of vehicles rated with the highest emission standards (Euro 6/VI) generated NOx pollution that would be expected from a fleet of lower standard vehicles (Euro 2/II-5/V), when impacted by high traffic. 

Our new approach allowed us to focus on the emission intensity of both the overall fleet and specific high-emitting vehicles and make comparisons to established measurements of real-world emissions. The results provided greater insight than standard measurements solely focused on total ambient concentrations.  

Real-time, high-frequency air pollution measurements.

Real-time, high-frequency air pollution measurements. (Photo taken by Shona Wilde)

New methods increase understanding with fewer resources 

Beyond illustrating the impact congestion has on emission intensity, the study shows the feasibility of extracting valuable insights from reasonably short mobile monitoring campaigns. Compared to previous large-scale studies, such as the ~1-year long Breathe London mobile study, this campaign was less resource intensive, requiring just two weeks of driving and reducing vehicle and instrument maintenance. This campaign simplified field logistics and increased the efficiency of the data analysis. The new method could also prove useful to scientists and policy makers who want to learn more about local fleet emissions under a variety of traffic conditions in places that aren’t currently well-monitored. Mobile monitoring provided a continuous picture of emissions along a route, not limited to individual locations like stationary monitors.  

This approach offers policy makers a new way to spot specific vehicle types and conditions that produce greater emission intensity, so they can develop targeted interventions and monitor progress over time in a cost-effective manner.  

While there is no substitute for knowing the exact vehicle emitting pollution, as one might find using remote sensing, this new technique provides useful information in places where remote sensing is either impossible or impractical. It’s also especially useful when exploring the impacts of congestion, as remote sensing is not well suited for stop-and-go traffic.  

While the project focused on London, the methods and insights developed can be useful for other cities, particularly those where there are diesel vehicles operating in heavy traffic. 

Practical policy applications 

Because this method identifies the effects of the highest-polluting vehicles in the most congested areas, it gives local transportation officials a clear roadmap to develop the most impactful solutions.  

The adverse effect of congestion on tailpipe emissions can be eliminated with the transition to electric vehicles, which has added benefits for the climate, especially for heavy-duty diesel trucks and buses. Officials could also consider introducing solutions like restricting operating hours for these vehicles in high-traffic areas or creating bus lanes, both of which could ease congestion. The approach could help determine which city-owned vehicles need to come in for maintenance to restore performance of aging exhaust aftertreatment technology. 

In cities that already implement clean air zones and technology retrofit programs, air quality can improve even further if high congestion can be better addressed in places where diesel vehicles operate. In London, where the ULEZ has already helped reduce ambient Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) concentrations, accelerating replacement of the most potent polluters with electric vehicles, starting with the most congested routes, would provide additional climate, health and mobility benefits improving the driving experience for everyone. 

To learn more about the study, read the article in Atmospheric Environment: X.  

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What does EPA’s new soot standard mean for public health?

By Ananya Roy / Published: February 23, 2024
The EPA's new soot standard will bring significant health benefits to all populations across the United States, including children.

The EPA’s new soot standard will bring significant health benefits to all populations across the United States, including children.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) soot rules just got a lot stronger. On February 7, the agency lowered the national limit of annual fine particle pollution—or soot—to 9 micrograms per cubic meter, down from 12, taking a vital step forward for clean air, public health and environmental justice. According to EPA’s own estimates, the new standard will result in 4,500 fewer deaths, 800,000 fewer asthma attacks and up to $46 billion in net health benefits in its first full year of implementation alone.

Now, EPA and states will move to implement the new standard under the familiar cooperative federal-state framework that has a long-running track record of success in cutting fossil fuel emissions and driving down pollution. That will allow families across the country to breathe cleaner, healthier air. Let’s dig deeper into the details of what those health benefits will look like.

Overwhelming scientific evidence points to significant health benefits of protective standards, especially for communities of color and low-income households

Fine particle pollution contains tiny airborne particles like dust and drops of liquids that are so small they penetrate deep into the lungs and can enter the blood, causing and worsening disease. Decades of science document the devastating impact air pollution has on health, the inadequacy of the previous standard to protect health and the need for a more protective standard.

Despite using different methods, EDF’s independent analysis by IEc affirms EPA’s assessment of the health benefits of the more protective standard . It found that a 9 micrograms per cubic meter national standard would avoid thousands of childhood asthma attacks and trips to the emergency room, hospitalizations due to Alzheimer’s disease and heart attacks, and premature deaths.

These health benefits are even greater for communities of color and low-income populations. Our analysis indicates that when the rule is implemented, Black Americans (who experience the heaviest burdens from soot pollution) would see the greatest per capita benefit from meeting a more protective standard, avoiding 61 air pollution deaths per 100,000 people each year. In addition, people living below two times the poverty line stand to experience 25% higher benefits than those with higher incomes.

EPA's new soot rule will save lives across all racial groups, when enforced

For decades, communities of color and low income areas have been targeted for environmental hazards that other communities did not want: Power plants, landfills, shipping ports, freeways and factories. Our  analysis with IEc found that older Black, Asian and Hispanic Americans had greater likelihood (43%, 38% and 27% higher, respectively) than others of living in neighborhoods where air pollution levels were above 9 micrograms per cubic meter. 

The resulting inequities in pollution exposure are further aggravated by long standing discriminatory disinvestment, inadequate housing, limited health care and poor educational and economic opportunities which perpetuate health disparities and increase these communities’ vulnerability to the health impacts of air pollution. For example in Pennsylvania, soot is estimated to result in nearly 7,000 deaths per year, of which 30% are in low income populations and nearly 1 in 5 are in Black populations.

New soot rule is a huge first step

EPA’s decision to strengthen our national standards for fine particulate matter is a welcome leap forward that will reduce disparities and prevent health harms. However, a stronger standard alone is not sufficient to eradicate disparities and air pollution’s health burden. Government at all levels must continue to develop complementary policies, strengthen monitoring and invest in historically burdened communities. Further, it’s critical to defend and swiftly implement the rule to ensure communities across the country can benefit from clean air and its health benefits.

Ananya Roy is an Environmental Epidemiologist with expertise in the health effects of air pollution and lead exposure. Read more about her work here. 

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Report: One in four New York State residents lives within half a mile of a mega-warehouse

By Derek Schwabe / Published: January 18, 2024

One in four New York State residents lives within half a mile of a mega-warehouse.What’s new: A new report released today by EDF and ElectrifyNY traces the growth of mega-warehouses–and their health impacts–in communities across New York State, driven in-part by the e-commerce boom. One in four New York State residents now lives within half a mile of a large warehouse of at least 50,000 square feet. Click here to read the full report. Other key findings include:

  • 4.8 million state residents in total live within half a mile of a leased warehouse of at least 50,000 square feet.
  • Of those, 315,000 are under age five and 649,000 are over age 64.
  • Black, Hispanic/Latino and low-income populations live near warehouses at rates that are more than 59%, 48% and 42% higher, respectively, than would be expected based on statewide demographics.
  • New York mega-warehouses attract hundreds of thousands of freight truck trips daily, making them top sources of air pollution in communities where they are located.

Why it matters: Diesel trucks emit significant pollution around warehouses while idling and while traveling at low speeds, and regulations to protect health haven’t kept up. EDF research shows that nitrogen dioxide – one of the main pollutants released by these trucks – contributes to more than 21,000 new childhood asthma cases every year in the New York City metropolitan region alone. In areas with worse pollution, it contributes to more than 30% of new asthma diagnoses.

Asthma is a leading cause of missed school days and has been linked to diminished school performance. Black children are nearly nine times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma and five times more likely to die from asthma, compared to non-Hispanic white children. Air pollution from diesel trucks is also associated with increased health risks at other stages of life. It raises the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, dementia, heart disease and stroke. 

Go deeper: Download the full report.

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New interactive data story highlights air pollution and health impacts in the South Bronx

By Mindi DePaola / Published: December 20, 2023
South Bronx Unite's new interactive data story clearly maps the concentration of warehouses and other truck-attracting facilities in the South Bronx and other parts of New York City. It also maps the associated disproportionate health burden borne by the community, including higher childhood asthma rates.

South Bronx Unite’s new interactive data story clearly maps the concentration of warehouses and other truck-attracting facilities in the South Bronx and throughout New York City. It also maps some of the health impacts associated with the air pollution emitted by the facilities and large diesel trucks that often come with them.

What’s new: EDF partner, South Bronx Unite, has just launched an interactive data visualization that’s mapping what residents of the South Bronx have long experienced—that air pollution from industrial facilities is taking a disproportionate toll on the health of residents in their community and across New York City. For the last year, a multi-disciplinary team at EDF has been collaborating with South Bronx Unite to improve local air quality monitoring and create engaging tools that tell the stories found in monitoring data.

Why it matters: Every city relies on large industrial facilities, and New York City is no exception. Think waste transfer stations, power plants, printing facilities and warehouses that support in-time delivery services. Many of these facilities are major air polluters in the neighborhoods where they are placed. Beyond the facilities themselves, the heavy-duty vehicles that they attract, such as large delivery trucks, are among the leading polluters on the road.

What we know: For decades, South Bronx residents have faced disproportionately high air pollution and asthma rates. Leveraging recent EDF research that describes air pollution’s burden of childhood asthma, the new webpage now backs up residents’ lived experiences with even more quantitative information, presented as a narrated interactive visualization that helps tell the story.

How the work has been used: Presenting this additional data in an easy-to-understand format will help advance tangible policy change that can improve health outcomes in the South Bronx and beyond. South Bronx Unite leaders recently participated in NYC Climate Week events where they used this tool to tell the story of their air quality monitoring efforts and what they will mean for public health.

Moving forward: South Bronx Unite will continue to use the air quality and health insights from this new tool to advance their advocacy goals. They have begun working closely with the EDF New York State team to build consensus with local coalitions.

Real policy actions are already taking shape in New York that could help alleviate the health impacts of warehouses and other polluting facilities in the South Bronx and across the state. In November 2023, state lawmakers introduced the Clean Deliveries Act, which would require the state to review the negative impacts of so-called “mega-warehouses” and establish emissions reduction plans.

South Bronx Unite brings together neighborhood residents, community organizations, academic institutions and allies to improve and protect the social, environmental and economic future of the South Bronx. Learn more about their work and how you can support it at southbronxunite.org.

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EDF China unveils locally-tailored Air Tracker in Jinan

By EDF Web Team / Published: December 11, 2023
EDF China holds meeting to launch localized AirTracker tool in Jinan in November, 2023

EDF China holds meeting to launch localized Air Tracker tool in Jinan in November, 2023. Photo courtesy of EDF China.

What’s new: EDF China recently unveiled its localized Air Tracker tool at a meeting with government officials and policy and academic experts in Jinan. The tool will help these and other policymakers to track and mitigate air pollution in support of China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.

What is Air Tracker?: Air Tracker is an innovative air quality monitoring tool developed by EDF, the University of Utah and the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University that uses real-time, trusted scientific models to help users see where air pollution is coming from. The tool is currently operational in five U.S. cities, with plans to expand globally.

To adapt Air Tracker’s technology for use in China, EDF China collaborated with the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning and Tsinghua University on joint research projects in Jinan, a city with more than 9 million residents. Jinan was an ideal location to deploy the technology in part because it has an urgent need to further reduce air pollution levels. Concentrations of fine particles (PM2.5), sometimes called soot, stood at 40 μg/m3 in Jinan in 2022. These exceed China’s national standards (35 μg/m3), which are 7 times weaker than the World Health Organization’s recommended limits (5 μg/m3).

What we know: Tsinghua University developed a monitoring approach that utilizes meteorological, emission and observational data from monitoring stations, which complements Air Tracker. By incorporating both approaches, the new, localized Air Tracker tool will pinpoint pollution sources and inform targeted control

Why it matters: This new tool allows users to quantify the contributions of different emission sources through near-real-time data collection. This will allow government officials to develop targeted control measures to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions.

Both China and the United States have committed to jointly addressing the climate crisis. The newly localized Air Tracker tool is an example of the ways the two countries plan to promote policies and technologies that control greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

Next steps: EDF China and our partners—including the Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning and Jinan Environmental Research Academy—will test the localized Air Tracker this winter in Jinan. The team also will seek input from key government partners who were present at the launch, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China (MEE) and the Jinan Municipal Ecology and Economic Bureau.

The lessons learned from this pilot phase will provide valuable insights to other cities in the Global South who may also benefit from Air Tracker or similar technologies. The learnings will likely also inform future expansions of the tool to other cities in China and around the world.

Learn more about EDF’s Air Tracker tool at globalcleanair.org/AirTracker.

Also posted in China, Climate, Energy, Environmental Justice, Government Official/Policymaker, Homepage, Monitoring, Public Health/Environmental Official, Science / Comments are closed

New science to help policymakers address unequal impacts of air pollution

By Maria Harris / Published: November 13, 2023
NO2 pollution in the United States and the extent to which tools capture differences in exposure by marginalized groups

This graphic maps nitrogen dioxide pollution levels in the United States as quantified by satellite, monitor and model data sources (left) and shows how these datasets differ in estimating inequities in pollution exposure (right)

What’s new: EDF and partners have just published new research that explores how novel data sources, including satellites and computer models, can help improve our ability to map, identify, track and reduce disparities in air pollution exposure and health impacts.

What we know: Air pollution in the United States has declined dramatically over the last several decades, thanks to strong, protective clean air policies. And yet, unjust disparities in pollution exposure remain, with people of color in the United States burdened by higher levels of health-harming pollution than white people, regardless of income. One root cause of this pollution inequity is historic disinvestment in communities of color through racist policies like redlining, along with discriminatory siting of highways and polluting industrial facilities.

Levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a key health-harming pollutant emitted by trucks, cars and industrial facilities, can vary substantially at fine spatial scales – even from one end of a block to the other. For example, an EDF study in West Oakland, California found that NO2 levels could be up to four times higher in areas of the neighborhood close to truck traffic and other pollution sources.

Research and policy decision-making has historically relied on NO2 measurements from government regulatory monitors—complex and expensive stationary instruments that must meet rigorous standards. Data from these monitors helps the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identify areas where air pollution levels exceed Clean Air Act health standards and guides actions to reduce pollution. However, given how much NO2 concentrations can vary across small distances, it is unlikely we will ever deploy enough of these monitors to enable a full understanding of exposure disparities that exist between population groups.

What this research adds: New datasets, including satellite data, statistical models and photochemical models, can estimate NO2 at a relatively high spatial resolution and across the entire United States. Our new research compared estimates of NO2 levels and racial/ethnic exposure disparities using these novel data sources to estimates based on traditional data from the US EPA regulatory monitoring network.

The new NO2 data sources showed that Black, Hispanic, Asian and multiracial Americans experienced average NO2 levels that were 15-50% higher than those experienced by the US population in 2019. Meanwhile, the non-Hispanic white population experienced levels that were 5-15% lower. In contrast, data from the regulatory monitors indicated more moderate patterns of racial/ethnic disparities, suggesting that the regulatory network does not currently provide a full understanding of inequity in pollution exposure.

NO2
dataset*

How it can contribute to better policies and enforcement
Regulatory Monitors • Monitoring attainment of National Ambient Air Quality Standards
• Ground-truthing satellite and model datasets
Satellites • Guiding placement of future regulatory monitors or measurement campaigns
• Identifying potential pollution
Photochemical and statistical models • Tracking and reporting trends over time in pollution disparities
• Estimating NO2-attributable disease burdens and associated disparities
• Quantifying source sector contributions to ambient NO2 (Photochemical models)

Moving forward: This research demonstrates that policymakers and regulators will need to incorporate new sources of data beyond the existing regulatory monitoring network to accurately understand which policies are or could be most effective in helping close the racial-ethnic gap in air pollution exposure.

The table above outlines how satellite and modeling data can complement existing sources. Satellite data can be leveraged to identify pollution hotspots currently not measured by regulatory monitors, which could guide placement of new government monitors and investigations of potential emissions sources. Air pollution models can enable tracking and reporting of pollution disparity trends over time   and make it easier to quantify health impacts.

Integrating these new data sources into regulatory decision-making would improve the coverage of the regulatory monitoring network, enable a more complete understanding of inequities in air pollution exposure and inform policies aimed at mitigating this environmental injustice.

Maria Harris in a Senior Scientist at Environmental Defense Fund. Learn more about her work here. 

*Table adapted from Table 1 in Kerr et al. 2023

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EDF and Brazilian leaders lay the groundwork for a national air quality plan

By Sirianna Blanck / Published: October 24, 2023

What’s new: This summer, Global Clean Air’s Senior Policy Director, Sergio Sanchez, and Program Manager, Melanie Scruggs, with consultant Armando Retama, visited Brazil to help leaders in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change start laying the groundwork for a national strategy on air quality. Such a strategy would deliver significant population health benefits and strengthen Brazil’s existing climate action plan, as well as serve as a model for other countries. 

What we know: It is not currently possible to create a comprehensive understanding of air quality in Brazil, due to uneven monitoring from state to state. The new Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is dedicated to solving this problem. Broadly speaking, the main sources of air pollution in Brazil are understood to include transportation and local industries. Other sources vary by region but can include dust storms during the dry season, agricultural burning and wildfires.  

Next steps: Brazil’s leaders understand that they can’t combat air pollution until they know where it’s coming from. That’s why a critical next step will likely be to collect high-quality air quality data nationally. Making this happen will include such actions as:  

  • Creating long-term, sustainable funding mechanisms for air quality management (AQM). 
  • Updating current air quality monitoring guidelines. 
  • Deploying and upgrading monitoring networks across the country. 
  • Strengthening collaborations between all levels of government as well as global partners. 

Photo: Rebeca Hoefler/MMA

Opportunities: With the help of a national strategy and better air quality data, Brazil has the chance to make big strides toward cleaner air. Other actions that national leaders are considering include: 

  • Adding air quality to its plans for sustainable development and for health and transportation, which are currently being updated. 
  • Launching a national campaign to generate long-term public support for improving air quality. 
  • Deploying federal grants to help states, cities and civil society invest in better monitoring. 
  • Securing funding from global donors. 
  • Replicating aspects of São Paulo’s successful AQM program in other regions. 

Moving forward: Brazil and EDF aim to co-design a National Air Quality Strategy by March of 2024, incorporating novel monitoring and policy approaches used in EDF’s past work around the world. The national strategy will include guidelines for AQM and monitoring plans for priority “air basins,” including the metropolitan region in the Federal District of Brasilia.

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Methane and Health: Crucial Intersections between Climate Mitigation and Public Health

By EDF Web Team / Published: September 21, 2023

New report identifies near-term actions to reduce methane emissions and benefit human health 

Methane and Health Dialogue Series ReportEditor’s note: This post was adapted from an article originally published on RESOLVE’s Insights blog. Access the original article here.  

EDF is pleased to announce the release of the report “Methane and Health Dialogue Series” during New York Climate Week. The report, prepared by our partners at RESOLVE, summarizes key findings and recommendations from the recent Methane and Health Dialogue Series, convened by EDF and facilitated by RESOLVE. The virtual dialogue series brought together experts on agriculture, oil and gas, public health and waste management from around the world to identify near-term opportunities to reduce methane emissions and improve human health. 

Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas with 80 times the global warming potential of CO2 over a 20-year period. However, it is also short-lived in Earth’s atmosphere, degrading in a matter of decades rather than centuries. This means that rapidly reducing methane emissions is one of the most promising ways to rapidly mitigate climate change.  

The vast majority of methane emissions come from three sectors: Agriculture, oil and gas and waste. Today, emissions from all three sectors are rising and their rise is projected to continue under business-as-usual scenarios – but in all three sectors, mitigation strategies exist that, if implemented today, could rapidly reduce planetary methane to levels that would slow global warming and help keep a 1.5° C goal in sight.  

While awareness of methane’s climate mitigation potential is growing, the public health benefits of cutting methane are less well understood. For example, methane is often emitted by the oil and gas industry as part of normal operations. Some oil producers use flares to burn methane gas, a process which also releases co-pollutants such as Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and fine particle pollution (PM2.5) that are linked to asthma, cardiovascular disease and premature death. Taking action to address flaring can reduce methane emissions as well as the associated negative health impacts in nearby communities.  

We recently kicked off these efforts at an exciting event co-hosted by The Global Climate & Health Alliance at New York Climate Week, “Methane Matters: Exploring the Health Impacts of Methane Mitigation,” which explored opportunities to reduce methane emissions and improve health, building on the results of the Dialogue Series. We look forward to supporting future initiatives that broaden our understanding of climate change, human health and the strategies that can create a healthier future for our communities and the planet. 

Access the report here: https://www.edf.org/methane-and-health-dialogues 

FIGURE 1: A chart showing the potential pathways to improve human health through productivity improvements in the livestock industry, which would decrease the methane intensity of the sector.
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