Recent news reports have proclaimed a dramatic reduction in China’s air pollution along with the coronavirus lockdown, yet data shows Beijing has actually seen pollution levels rise during this period. The headlines are based on images from NASA, finding that air pollution dropped 10-30% compared to the same period in 2019. NO2 Pollution Levels […]
Category: Air Pollution
Why is Beijing polluted in February despite inactivity?
Beijing became a ghost town in late January, an expected phenomenon for Chinese New Year. In 2020, however, Chinese New Year coincided with the rapid spread of Covid-19. Beijingers out of town could not return, while those in town were advised to stay home. Cars were still off the road, and most places remain closed […]
Did India’s Air Improve in 2019
A Smart Air analysis of new air quality data found that pollution improved in 2019 in all major cities in india. Small PM2.5 particles in the air decreased from 2018 to 2019 by as much as 15.5%. Delhi Even though all cities saw pollution decrease, Delhi saw just a meagre 1% decrease. Among India’s five […]
Beijing PM2.5 Air Quality Report – 2019 Statistics
A Smart Air analysis of new air quality data Beijing’s PM2.5 pollution dropped 11% in 2019 from the year before. Combined with progress in earlier years, Beijing has cut its PM2.5 in half compared to 2014. Beijing’s improvement suggests that the 2013-2017 Clean Air Action Plan, with its tens of billions RMB, has […]
Shanghai Air Pollution Progress Stalls, Worsens Slightly
A Smart Air analysis of 2019 air pollution data found that Shanghai’s PM2.5 improvement has stalled out, actually increasing by 3% over 2018. A tally of “good” air dropped by 9.3% in 2019. In 2018, 32% of days in Shanghai qualified as “good”. In 2019, that dropped to 23%. Daily air quality is categorized based […]
Can Air Purifiers Filter Out The Coronavirus?
Following the outbreak of coronavirus, millions of people flocked to buy face masks to protect themselves from the virus. Data shows face masks can protect you from the coronavirus, but can air purifiers also capture coronavirus particles? What’s in Your Typical Air Purifier? Most air purifiers are made up of two things: a fan and […]
Can Japanese Pitta masks protect against Coronavirus?
With the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus, interest has surged in Japanese Pitta masks. Smart Air has received a flood of questions about how well they filter the coronavirus and other viruses. The Japanese Pitta masks are sleek and incredibly popular, but there’s little information available on how well they filter out tiny […]
Did China’s Air Quality Improve in 2019?
After a big improvement in 2018, new data shows China’s war on air pollution is slowing down. A Smart Air analysis of 2019 PM2.5 data for China’s 15 largest cities found that more than half saw worse air quality over 2018. Maps comparing average PM2.5 in December 2018 to December 2019 show a general increase in […]
The air purifier your office needs
Can a simple fan and filter really clean large spaces? Can it be utilized like other air purifiers in offices? Seven years ago, Smart Air started when PhD student Thomas strapped together a DIY air purifier to survive a polluted Beijing winter. Founder Thomas Talhelm‘s first DIY air purifier Thomas published test data on […]
How many trees need to be planted to solve Delhi’s air pollution?
When Delhi’s air pollution spikes, netizens in the nation’s capital often bring up the solution of planting trees. For instance, this user on the question-answer site Quora asks “how many trees does Delhi need to combat its air pollution problem?” However, environmental research suggests that planting trees are an incredibly inefficient way to reduce Delhi’s […]
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