In the last one year, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about open data and how it can be helpful for improving the quality of air we breath everyday. In collaboration with Amod Karmacharya at Clean up Nepal, we distilled some of these thoughts and wrote an opinion piece in Nepali Times on the role of open data in help clean up the air we breathe. Read the piece, and let us know what you think.
Category: News
Nepal Air Pollution Perception Survey
As part of a workshop organized by Air South Asia and Clean up Nepal in August 2018, groups of participants prepared specific work products based on issues of local importance. One group, comprised of Enna Mool, Dristy Shrestha and Prasidha Raj Neupane analysed results from a perception survey and prepared a short video.
The survey was conducted by Air South Asia and Clean Up Nepal on social media between August and November 2018 and 211 people submitted responses. The survey was aimed to understand the perceptions of people in Nepal on the issue of air pollution, including their assessment of major sources and health impacts as well as solutions to improve air quality.
Results from the survey were recently covered in Nepali Times.
You can also check out other videos of stakeholder interviews here.
For any other questions or comments, please write to info[dot]airsouthasia[dot]gmail[dot]com.
Waste burning in Birtamod, Nepal
As part of a workshop organized by Air South Asia and Clean up Nepal in August 2018, groups of participants prepared specific work products based on issues of local importance. One of the major sources of air pollution in Nepal is open burning of waste, which has increasingly come into the spotlight since the emissions are often in close proximity of residents.
One of the groups focused on the issue of waste burning in Birtamod, Jhapa and produced an infographic which was later disseminated in the local area.
MOOC on Air Pollution
***Crossposted from Air Quality in India***
Institut Mines-Télécom, France has launched a MOOC (massive open online course) on air quality! It focuses on issues related to air quality. Learn the basics of air pollution and its environmental, health, social and economical effects to better understand and address this problem.
The course starts on October 8, 2018 and is free and open to all. For details and registration, go here.
AQ Sensor workshop in Kathmandu
On October 4 and 5, 2018, Clean up Nepal is organizing a DIY Workshop on air quality sensors in collaboration with The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and Clean Power in Kathmandu.
The workshop will focus on the knowledge sharing for identifying research gaps in low-cost sensors, scaling up their application and enabling citizen science activities with AQ sensors. It will feature a sensor building session, supplemented with sessions on sensor data validation and quality control (QC), scope and application of sensors followed by a brainstorming sessions.
New report on Household Air Pollution and Noncommunicable Disease
HEI has published a new report on Household Air Pollution and Noncommunicable Disease, which provides a critical assessment of the state of the science examining the linkages between household air pollution formed by the burning of solid fuels and noncommunicable diseases. The report updates previous systematic reviews with the most recent studies and answers fundamental questions on the scientific basis for estimating health burden and what the evidence suggests about the exposure reductions necessary to achieve improved health outcomes. A Summary for Policy Makers is also available.
Key conclusions from the report:
- Widespread use of solid fuel stoves by approximately one third of the world’s population imposes a heavy burden on global public health. The most recent estimate from the IHME GBD study estimates that in 2016, the number of deaths attributable to HAP was 2.6 million worldwide, making it the 8th leading risk factor globally, and with ambient air pollution, the leading environmental risk factor.
- Overall, the new evidence reviewed in this report is broadly consistent with previous conclusions that HAP is strongly associated with numerous diseases.
- Though data gaps and challenges in intervention effectiveness remain, epidemiological evidence indicates that reducing HAP exposures should be an effective way to improve public health worldwide.
- Accelerating transitions to modern fuels and electricity that are most likely to achieve the necessary exposure reductions would be an ideal path forward.
- Strategic efforts are now needed to change, and perhaps transform, energy systems to deliver high quality energy services to low-income households, not only for cooking, but also for heating and lighting.
Note: Taken from HEI’s website
Special issue of AAQR
The Editorial Office of Aerosol and Air Quality Research (AAQR) is issuing this call for papers for a special issue with the theme “Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics at Mountain Sites “. All high quality scientific papers relevant to this theme are welcome. All accepted papers will be collected in a single volume as a special issue.
This special issue will focus on recent research on atmospheric chemistry and physics in the mountain environment. This includes field measurements of air constituents at mountain sites, analysis of the data and model evaluation of the measurements. Papers presenting scientific findings on the following or related subjects are encouraged:
- Gaseous components at mountain site
- Baseline observations at mountain sites
- Interpretation of boundary layer and free tropospheric exchange and modeling at mountain sites
- Aerosol particles, new particle formation and/or size distributions at mountain sites
- Aerosol optical properties and remote sensing application in mountain environment
- Chemistry of fog/cloud, rain, and dew at mountain sites
- Long-range transport of pollutants
- Integration of satellite and mountain observations
- Atmospheric modeling of data from mountain sites
The Guidelines for Authors for submitting a manuscript and publication fee policy can be found on the website of AAQR (http://aaqr.org). The deadline for manuscript submission is March 31, 2018. Manuscripts submitted after the deadline are considered only when the space is available. The targeted publication date is December 2018.
If there are any questions, please contact via e-mail: lcwang@csu.edu.tw.
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