Some of the dirty air associated with vehicles seems to be creeping up again as the UK eases itself out of lockdown. The latest data acquired by the EU’s Sentinel-5P spacecraft, which was built in the UK, suggests levels of…
Year: 2020
Air Quality News: Can better data give us the political will to address air pollution?
COVID-19 has given us the opportunity to address toxic emissions – can better data give us the political will to do it, writes Dani Simons, head of public sector partnerships at Waze a live navigation platform that utilises technology and…
Siemens’ eHighway system could slash road freight transport emissions
Siemens has been trialling an eHighway system that uses overhead electrified wires to power long-haul heavy goods vehicles on major roads. Installing this infrastructure could cut out two-thirds of the UK’s road freight emissions. The UK could eliminate the majority…
Guardian: Air pollution still down despite normal return to traffic – study
Air pollution has remained at lower levels in UK towns and cities despite a return to near-normal traffic levels after the easing of coronavirus restrictions, according to research. Analysis of data from more than 100 urban roadside locations shows nitrogen dioxide…
Chair of Air Monitoring talks about the COVID-19 effect on air quality on Channel 4
Roland Leigh, WCRAQ’s Chair of Air Monitoring, appeared on Channel 4’s Dispatches documentary, Coronavirus: How Britain is Changing. As Technical Director of EarthSense, he discussed how COVID-19 has caused a change in air quality and what this means for the…
British Heart Foundation: Government publishes analysis on how lockdown has affected air pollution levels
A report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) assessing the impact of lockdown measures to the end of April has revealed that overall concentrations of PM2.5 have been higher in this period than in previous years …read more
Let’s Recycle: A need to maintain environmental ambition
As lockdown restrictions continue to ease and the UK plots a path towards a ‘new kind of normal’, Amie Stringer, Alternative Fuels Commercial Manager at leading international waste management solutions provider, Totus Environmental, says it’s vital that the UK maintains…
The Ecologist: Unequal access to air quality information
Half of world’s people lack access to air quality data, hampering efforts to tackle one of biggest public health threats There is a huge global inequality in access to information about air quality, a new report released today by OpenAQ, an international…
Autonews: China considers in-car air quality regulations, report says
China is considering implementing mandatory in-car air quality regulators in order to protect the health of drivers. Regulators will test the level of contaminants of formaldehyde and benzene. Is this a headache or a step in the right direction? BEIJING…
Imperial College: London air pollution cancels positive health effects of exercise in over-60s
Exposure to air pollution on city streets is enough to counter the beneficial health effects of exercise in older adults, according to new research. The findings, published in The Lancet, show that short term exposure to air pollution in built…