Global Clean Air

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 Academic, China, Climate, Energy, Environmental Justice, Government Official/Policymaker, Monitoring, Public Health/Environmental Official, Science / Comments are closed

Efforts to fight air pollution are severely underfunded. Leaders in Latin America and across the Global South are calling for change at COP28 and beyond

By Derek Schwabe / Published: November 30, 2023
The Forum of Ministers of the Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean convenes in Panama City, Panama in October 2023. The Forum plays a crucial role in shaping environmental policies and achieving consensus across the region.

The Forum of Ministers of the Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean convenes in Panama City, Panama in October 2023. The Forum plays a crucial role in shaping and building consensus around environmental policies.

What’s new: The ministers of environment representing 33 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region recently issued a joint declaration calling out the yawning gap between the funds needed to address the global air pollution crisis and the funds currently committed. The declaration is noteworthy because it has set a tone for influential global dialogues happening this week at COP28 and in February at the 6th session of the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA-6).

Why it matters: 99% of the world’s population now breathes unhealthy air. As a result, more than 8 million people die prematurely each year due to fossil fuel-driven air pollution, making it the 4th leading cause of death worldwide. Despite the staggering human costs, currently only 1% of development funding goes to programs aimed at improving air quality each year.

The LAC region is one of the most underfunded when it comes to air quality. Expanding investments in air quality would help the region reach its climate goals and improve health outcomes. It could also set the stage for scaling investments in air quality in underfunded regions across the Global South.

The details: In the declaration, ministers stressed the need for regional and global coordination. They also called upon the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)—which is responsible for leading implementation—to provide technical support to countries as they enact key policies, like air quality standards and management plans. Specific actions requested of UNEP include:

  • Leading the implementation of the Regional Action Plan on Air Quality and mobilizing the resources needed to support it;
  • Helping countries strengthen legal frameworks to prevent and reduce air pollution by adopting air quality standards and developing plans for crucial sectors;
  • Encouraging countries to act boldly to abate emissions of short-lived climate pollutants;
  • Promoting best practices, infrastructure and sustainable transport initiatives that can ensure a just transition in hot spots, especially large cities.

What they’re saying: Senior Policy Director of Global Clean Air, Sergio Sanchez, spoke of the declaration: “This declaration marks a bold step toward realizing the vision of a thriving LAC region. When we act collectively to cut air pollution, we act to meet the climate crisis, strengthen our economy and dramatically improve health. We will continue to support the regional and global partnerships needed to mobilize this action at COP 28, UNEA-6 and beyond.”

What EDF is doing: In September 2022, EDF and UNEP launched a joint initiative to help LAC countries develop funding-ready clean air projects. Since then, EDF has continued to grow that effort by:

  • Helping UNEP implement the Regional Action Plan to coordinate strategic investments.
  • Convening two major international workshops to reactivate the region’s Intergovernmental Network on Air Pollution. These workshops have fostered new partnerships and high-impact projects backed by participant governments and global partners, such as the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and the OECD.
  • Hosting a side event at the 2023 LAC Climate Week, focused on mobilizing greater financing for air quality in the region. The event debuted a new video that lays out how such actions could transform population health and power economic growth.
  • Serving on the Climate and Clean Air Coalition task force, which is dedicated to designing the Clean Air Flagship, set to launch at COP28. The purpose of the Flagship is to enhance funding and cooperation efforts globally.

What’s next: As leaders from all sectors gather at COP28, LAC leaders have an opportunity to take their call to the global stage. It’s a chance to join with governments from across world—especially other neglected regions—to demand that the air pollution crisis receives the funding it requires.

Leaders will have a second opportunity at UNEA-6 to secure greater investments in air quality by having the global assembly ratify regional calls for broader support. If ratified, UNEP would be tasked with implementing the declaration of the global assembly. Ratification would give UNEP some additional budget—and a stronger mandate to take to donor governments and agencies.

Learn more about our clean air partnership with UNEP and LAC countries at globalcleanair.org/LAC.

Also posted in Climate, Concerned Citizen, Energy, Environmental Justice, Government Official/Policymaker, Mexico, Partners, Public Health/Environmental Official / 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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New EDF study shows unequal burden from truck-related pollution near warehouses

By Aileen Nowlan / Published: May 12, 2023

New research from EDF–Making the Invisible Visible: Shining a Light on Warehouse Truck Air Pollution—shows some 15 million people live within a half-mile of a warehouse in 10 states across the United States. The research demonstrates how the burden from truck-related air pollution exposure is not evenly distributed. In all of the states studied, warehouses and the trucks they attract are disproportionately located in Black, Latino, Asian or American Indian communities as well as areas of low wealth.

The boom in just-in-time delivery has resulted in a rise in warehouse-related truck traffic.

While warehouses and the trucks that deliver their goods became more common after the deregulation of the trucking industry, the explosion of just-in-time production and next-day delivery has brought more of these facilities much closer to people’s homes and in more communities than ever before. Understanding who is bearing the brunt of the health burdens associated with warehouse activity can help policymakers, businesses and communities implement smart, targeted policies to reduce emissions and protect health, keep kids in school and improve workforce productivity.

How we did it: Our teams identified warehouse location data and analyzed it through the lens of our Proximity Mapping framework that allowed us to learn demographic information about the people living near them.

Why it matters: More than 1 million children under 5 live within a half-mile of warehouses, making them  more vulnerable to adverse health impacts like asthma. Their families are more vulnerable to adverse birth outcomes, dementia, heart disease and stroke, , because of the pollution from the trucks that serve warehouses.

The good news: Low-cost solutions are available today to reduce the pollution burden on these communities. Increased air quality monitoring and zero-emissions goods transport are all tools we can tap into now to reduce harm from truck pollution.

Meanwhile companies are investing in zero-emission delivery vans, yard trucks and even long-haul vehicles. States can help advance this trend through policies such as the Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which eases permitting requirements for charging infrastructure. The EPA’s recently proposed tailpipe regulations are designed to ensure that half of up to half of new urban delivery freight vehicles sold by 2032 will be zero-emitting. Indirect Source Review rules are a tool for state and local leaders to ensure warehouses don’t burden their neighbors.

But we can’t let up. Communities deserve to know what kinds of businesses are operating near their homes and schools, especially if they attract vehicles that are harmful to their health. We must demand greater transparency around warehouse locations and the extent of pollution generated at warehouses. Transparency around health costs and the cost of clean up is essential for fairness to those already impacted by warehouses, while alerting communities facing warehouse expansion to the threats posed by their new neighbors.

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Collaborating on clean air in Latin America and around the world

By Sergio Sanchez / Published: February 10, 2023

Many Latin American and Caribbean countries are implementing clean air solutions, but much more must be done to protect public health and slow climate change. An intensive two-day clean air workshop in Bogotá, Colombia made one thing clear: cooperation and collaboration are critical to scaling clean air solutions in Latin America, the Caribbean and the world. 

Professionals from 15 countries attended the workshop, co-hosted by Environmental Defense Fund and the United Nations Environment Programme’s Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Participants shared best practices for clean air strategies aimed at improving public health and advancing climate action goals. 

Key workshop themes:  

  • Sensors, satellites and other advances in air quality technology are improving our ability to understand where pollution is coming from and who is being most harmed by it, which is critical for developing targeted clean air solutions. 
  • Strengthening air quality management is key to supporting LAC climate, health, biodiversity and sustainable development goals. 
  • Government leadership—supported by commitments from industry, academia, and civil society—is necessary for delivering cleaner, healthy air for the LAC region. 
  • In order to secure the funding and public support needed to prioritize clean air solutions, more must be done to make the benefits of reducing air pollution more explicit. 

Why it matters: Air pollution is the biggest environmental health threat in Latin America and the Caribbean. The UN has declared access to clean air a human right, but more than 500 million people in the LAC region breathe air that exceeds the World Health Organization’s guidelines for pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, fine particle pollution and ground-level ozone.  

What’s next: A paper to be published in February highlights priorities for integrated air quality management in 33 LAC countries.  

EDF and UNEP are collaborating to develop clean air solutions in LAC. In April, EDF, UNEP and the Climate & Clean Air Coalition will co-host a workshop in Bogotá on actions to reduce short-lived climate pollutants that harm people’s health and warm our planet. Later this year, EDF will select 10 projects to provide with technical assistance and will facilitate a resource mobilization effort to support their implementation. As the selected projects are developed and implemented, ongoing collaborative activities will be held across the region. 

Also posted in Climate, Mexico, Monitoring, Partners / Comments are closed

Environmental justice groups bring Air Tracker to cities in Alabama and California

By Alex Franco / Published: December 12, 2022

EDF’s Air Tracker pollution monitoring tool is now live in two new cities—Birmingham, AL, and Vallejo, CA—as local groups ramp up efforts to understand how industrial activity impacts community air quality and engage both the public and area regulators. 

Who’s using it: GASP, also known as the Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution, is working to learn more about the impacts of local steel, coke and cement facilities to inform public comments on Clean Air Act Title V permit renewals for these facilities. They also want to use the tool to alert regulators and inspectors of acute pollution events. 

In Vallejo, the Citizen Air Monitoring Network (VCAMN) is actively monitoring particulate matter and wants to use Air Tracker to identify potential pollution sources. The local community is surrounded by a Phillips 66 refinery, NuStar Energy tank farm, Selby toxic slag site and the I-80 interstate highway. Multiple heavy and medium industrial sites—including a wastewater treatment plant, a quarry, a concrete recycling plant and a dry dock for ship maintenance and repair—also reside within the city boundaries.  

“The Air Tracker tool from EDF is an incredible resource for small, local groups like GASP,” said GASP Executive Director Michael Hansen. “We can use it to gather information and form testable hypotheses about air quality issues in the communities we serve. We’re so grateful for the scientists who created the Air Tracker and look forward to using it in our advocacy work.”

Why it matters: We designed Air Tracker in part to help local communities learn about the air they’re breathing and hope to engage with more groups like these before bringing Air Tracker to new areas. 

Go deeper: Learn more about how Air Tracker works, read the blog post about its development or watch a recent Q&A with the team behind it.  

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Investigating air pollution inequity at the neighborhood scale

By Maria Harris / Published: November 16, 2022

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 cause of these pollution inequities is the historic legacy of disinvestment in communities of color through racist policies like redlining, along with discriminatory siting of highways and polluting industrial facilities. This results in health disparities and higher vulnerability to the health impacts of air pollution for people who live, work and play in close proximity to its sources. 

Neighborhood-scale air quality data can provide a clearer picture of air pollution’s impacts 

Air quality is often evaluated at the city or county scale, but pollution levels vary at a much finer scale, as do the demographics of neighborhoods shaped by residential segregation.  

Variability in pollution and demographics across census tracts and blocks in Minneapolis compared to the full extent of Hennepin County, MN.

New legislation recently introduced to Congress would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to advance development of hyperlocal air quality monitoring systems that will provide better, more localized data on pollution hotspots and inequity in pollution exposure. Importantly, the bill calls for monitoring “at a geographic scale that is (i) as small as practicable to identify communities; and (ii) not larger than that of a census tract.”

Why is this issue of geographic scale so important? The scale at which data is collected and analyzed can have major impacts on our understanding of pollution disparities. New research from EDF and partners explored whether it is possible to accurately estimate disparities in exposure to air pollution using larger scale data (for example, county averages) or whether finer scale data (census tract or smaller) is needed. 

We found that for two important health-harming pollutants, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), using state and county scale data led to substantial underestimates in US-wide racial/ethnic exposure disparities compared to those based on finer scale data—on average, using country vs. tract data would underestimate national exposure disparities by 20%. 

Within individual cities, while census tract scale data was often adequate to characterize disparities, it was sometimes necessary to use even finer data – as small as a city block— to capture the full magnitude of inequity across neighborhoods.  

This research adds further evidence to support what environmental justice advocates have long been telling policymakers: in order to identify the people and communities most exposed to harmful pollution, we need data and analysis at the scale of individual neighborhoods.  

Data can direct funding to communities with the greatest need 

Air pollution can vary across communities–even from block to block–and more data is needed to understand where air pollution comes from, who it’s impacting and who’s responsible for it. This is critical to reduce disparities in pollution exposures throughout the U.S. 

EPA’s recent announcement of $53m in new funding for community-level air quality monitoring is a powerful step in support of the Justice40 Initiative, a federal commitment calling for our nation’s most overburdened communities to be prioritized for investment and reductions in pollution. Continued advancements in hyperlocal monitoring and analytical methods will help accurately identify those places, track progress and hold our institutions accountable for eliminating inequities in exposure to health-harming pollution. 

Also posted in Environmental Justice, Health, Monitoring, Public Health/Environmental Official, Science, USA / Comments are closed

EDF joins global organizations calling on UNFCCC to strengthen action on short-lived climate pollutants to achieve climate goals

By Sergio Sanchez / Published: November 4, 2022

This blog is co-authored by Sergio Sanchez, Global Clean Air Policy Director and Julia Gohlke, Lead Senior Scientist, Climate & Health 

Environmental Defense Fund supports the World Health Organization (WHO), The World Bank Group, the United Nations Environment Programme and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, which have appealed to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Parties to expand the scope of pollutants under consideration and the methodology for Short-Lived Climate Pollutant (SLCP) assessment, and to strengthen the focus on sector approaches to climate action.”   

WHO issued an October 31, 2022 policy brief about SLCPs (black carbon, methane,. tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons), along with a group of other major international development organizations. The policy brief urges UNFCCC delegates gathering at COP 27 (November 6-18) to strengthen ambition, improve data reporting and encourage integrated health assessments of air pollution in each country’s nationally determined contribution (NDC). Furthermore, it calls for the full incorporation of SLCPs as an explicit agenda item under the UNFCCC.  

Credit: Climate & Clean Air Coalition

Fast action to reduce SLCPs will result in quick benefits for climate change and for human health. SLCPs have historically not been comprehensively included in country emissions inventories and NDC mitigation pledges. Some countries, such as Mexico, have included SLCPs in their NDC, pledging to reduce black carbon by 51% by 2030. Through recognition of the immediate health gains realized with SLCP reductions, climate action ambitions can be strengthened at COP27. 

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Historic investments in air quality monitoring can give communities a voice in clean air solutions

By Aileen Nowlan / Published: September 8, 2022

The United Nations General Assembly recently declared that access to clean air and a healthy environment is a universal human right, but far too many people live in communities overburdened by pollution. Together, new legislation and a historic investment in clean air present a tremendous opportunity to reduce pollution and improve public health in the U.S. And for the first time, communities have an opportunity to direct their tax dollars to local projects that can improve air quality. 

We have hotspots when it comes to air quality – and they matter  

Air pollution can vary across communities–even from block to block–and additional monitoring can shine a light on pollution hotspots. More data is needed to understand where air pollution comes from, who it’s impacting and who’s responsible for it.  

Exposure to air pollution is not equally experienced, and the health harms fall most heavily on Black and Latino communities. The discriminatory practice of redlining, for example, played a role in determining land use throughout cities. Neighborhoods falsely labeled “definitely declining” or “hazardous” in the 1930s then experienced decades of depressed property values, which allowed polluters to move in.  

Air pollution exposure leads to negative health impacts at every stage of life. New satellite analysis shows places where monitoring isn’t reflecting health burdens, and more data is urgently needed to better understand who is being impacted by air pollution.  

New legislation and investments in air quality 

The newly passed Inflation Reduction Act includes some powerful provisions that could deliver cleaner air to communities, as well as strengthen the impact of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.  

The Inflation Reduction Act includes an historic $296m investment in air monitoring including: 

  • $117.5m: grants for monitoring focused on community air toxics from industrial facilities beside fenceline communities
  • $50m: funds to expand multipollutant regulatory monitoring 
  • $3m: grants focused on air quality sensors in low-income and disadvantaged communities
  • $25m: flexible Clean Air Act grants
  • $50m: air pollution monitoring in schools
  • $18m: U.S. Environemental Protection Agency enforcement to crack down on polluters
  • $32.5m: Council on Environmental Quality data collection 

But that’s not all. For the first time, the federal government is welcoming air insights to influence how additional billions in funds are awarded. 

  • $6b in new funding where air monitoring is an eligible activity to ensure funds are prioritized to disadvantaged communities ($3b for Environmental Justice Block Grants and $3b for Neighborhood access and equity grants) 
  • $5.8b for advanced industrials, prioritized in a way that welcomes air and health insights: “projects which would provide the greatest benefit for the greatest number of people within the area in which the eligible facility is located” 
  • $15b for greenhouse gas reductions, where disadvantaged communities are to be prioritized, creating an opportunity to include health and equity impacts in the forthcoming prioritization
  • $5b for climate pollution reduction grants, where disadvantaged communities are to be prioritized, creating an opportunity to include health and equity impacts in the forthcoming prioritization 
  • $1.15b in additional funding for non-attainment areas ($400m for clean heavy-duty vehicles and $750m for ports) 

There were also three bills recently introduced that, if passed, would support communities and EPA to better understand the air we breathe: 

  • The “Technology Assessment for Air Quality Management Act,” introduced by Senator Markey and Representative McEachin, would require EPA to better enable the development and understanding of air pollution, health and equity insights at the community level.  
  • The “Environmental Justice Air Quality Monitoring Act of 2021,” introduced by Senator Markey and Representative Castor, would direct $100m a year to hyperlocal air quality monitoring. It would enable monitoring of criteria air pollutants, hazardous air pollutants and greenhouses gases at a neighborhood scale in order to identify persistent elevated levels of air pollutants in environmental justice communities.
  • The “Public Health Air Quality Act of 2022,” reintroduced by Representative Blunt Rochester and Senator Duckworth, would strengthen air quality monitoring in communities near industrial sources of pollution, require a rapid expansion of the NAAQS or national ambient air monitoring network and deploy at least 1,000 new air quality sensors in communities. 

Community-centered solutions 

There are billions of dollars available, and it’s critical that state and local leaders design good projects that provide communities with data to better understand what’s in their air and advocate for a healthier environment. Solutions to environmental problems must center the communities that are most gravely damaged by pollution. That means a multi-stakeholder, solutions-oriented public engagement process. 

This unprecedented investment in clean air can give communities a voice in their own local air quality solutions. 

Also posted in Community Organizer, Concerned Citizen, Environmental Justice, Government Official/Policymaker, Health, Monitoring, Science, USA / Comments are closed

Introducing Air Tracker: A backward take on air quality to pinpoint sources

By Tammy Thompson / Published: June 13, 2022

EDF’s new Air Tracker tool allows us to better understand how local air pollution behaves, illuminating the path it takes from a likely source area. Because this tool allows us to look backwards at where pollution likely originated, it shifts the focus, putting communities and people first. Developing it required a shift in thinking. 

Most atmospheric scientists focus on particle and air movement to help us predict what’s going to happen in the future. As a scientist working in air pollution, I wanted to use those same principles to look backwards so I could better understand how the emissions upwind of us mix and travel through the air, providing a better picture of what we’re breathing at any given time. This way, we don’t have to model every single source to know what’s important to who and when.

When I joined EDF in 2019, our scientists had already successfully shown how mobile air monitoring programs could highlight dramatic differences in pollution levels within individual city blocks. We wanted to go beyond showing the presence of pollution–and illustrate how it traveled to get there. 

 

EDF and academia joined forces to leverage cutting edge insights.

To do this, we enlisted the help of John C. Lin, an atmospheric scientist from the University of Utah who developed the STILT model (which has since been incorporated into NOAA’s HYSPLIT model). He and his team were already working with our partners at Google Earth Outreach on a source apportionment project. We also tapped Paul Dille (who pulled in Randy Sargent and Amy Gottsegen) from CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, whose Smell PGH application allows users to better understand the pollution landscape in Allegheny County, PA. EDF colleagues Alex Franco, Mindi DePaola and Grace Tee Lewis provided invaluable insight and help as well.

Air Tracker runs on  real-time, trusted, scientific models coupled with air pollution and weather data to help residents, scientists and cities learn more about the air they’re breathing. While Air Tracker is currently mapping fine particle pollution trajectories in Houston, Salt Lake City and Pittsburgh, we designed it to work with other primary pollutants anywhere in the world. 

Air Tracker allows users to trace the path of likely sources of air pollution in Houston, Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City.

Filling current air monitoring gaps

Despite advances in low-cost mobile and stationary monitoring networks, existing air pollution tracking is still lacking. Currently designed to provide us with a solid understanding of background air pollution, the federal and state government  system of monitors essentially smudges out the rough edges to create averages, which underemphasizes the very real, very harmful pollution burden many urban–often historically vulnerable–communities face. 

Air Tracker can help counter that averaging effect. It allows users to click anywhere within their city map to see the most likely source area of the air they’re breathing at any given time. 

Beyond the mapping application, it can improve air quality efforts in the following ways:

 

  • Placement of new monitors and networks

For communities that have long suspected they’ve been subjected to dirty air, Air Tracker can help them show that their air is influenced by nearby facilities. This can help them place monitors in specific locations to show just how much pollution they face and when it’s at its worst. 

Cities wanting to get serious about air quality can also use the tool to design either stationary or mobile monitoring efforts. It can also help them answer questions about specific facilities that are known emitters, while spotting ones that may not have been on their radar.  

  • Hold polluters accountable 

Even in cities like Houston–where a lack of zoning has allowed industry to flourish unchecked, putting homes, schools and entire communities in the path of harmful pollution–it can be hard to pinpoint which facilities are most likely responsible for localized emissions. The models behind AIr Tracker’s source area development use wind and weather data to illuminate which pollution sources are the most likely culprits, giving regulators a powerful enforcement tool.   

  • Putting communities and people first

Because Air Tracker can look backwards at pollution’s path, we can start with communities and people first when seeking to map exposure and its impacts. This can help correct for the current distortion of our current air pollution monitoring system, which wrongly assumes all people are exposed equally.  

We know communities face an unequal burden from air pollution. Our hope is that Air Tracker will allow us to better capture and highlight those discrepancies so the people living there can get the relief they need and deserve. Read more about the methodology here.

 

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