{"id":14867,"date":"2021-03-03T03:23:51","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T19:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/?p=14867"},"modified":"2021-05-10T16:57:51","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T08:57:51","slug":"did-kolkatas-air-quality-improve-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/did-kolkatas-air-quality-improve-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Kolkata&#8217;s Air Quality Improve in 2020?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How was Kolkata&#8217;s air quality in 2020? Did Kolkata&#8217;s air quality improve in 2020 compared to recent years? Air pollution in 2019 averaged levels nearly 7 times the World Health Organization\u2019s (WHO) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health\">recommended limit<\/a> for PM2.5 levels. Smart Air dove into the data to see if there was any improvement in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-f85e7d54-7f18-45a7-9189-55e95843e97e\">WATCH: Fixing India&#8217;s Air Pollution Problem<\/h3>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube  lyte-align aligncenter\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper\" title=\"Fixing India&amp;#039;s Air Pollution Problem | Smart Air in India\" style=\"width:640px;max-width:100%;margin:5px auto;\"><div class=\"lyMe hidef\" id=\"WYL_ix9c5Oe4kAY\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><div><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Fix9c5Oe4kAY%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"embedURL\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ix9c5Oe4kAY\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT4M11S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2020-10-05T08:12:42Z\" \/><\/div><meta itemprop=\"accessibilityFeature\" content=\"captions\" \/><div id=\"lyte_ix9c5Oe4kAY\" data-src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Fix9c5Oe4kAY%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\" itemprop=\"name\">Fixing India&#039;s Air Pollution Problem | Smart Air in India<\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ix9c5Oe4kAY\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Fix9c5Oe4kAY%2F0.jpg\" alt=\"Fixing India&amp;#039;s Air Pollution Problem | Smart Air in India\" width=\"640\" height=\"340\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"Listen to Smart Air founder, Thomas Talheim share his experience with air pollution in Delhi and why he started Smart Air to protect people through simple, no-nonsense, affordable air purifiers and open data. Featured Article: \ud83d\udc49 https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/how-to-make-diy-air-purifier\/ Smart Air is a social enterprise dedicated to helping people protect themselves from the harms of air pollution through education and low-cost purifiers. \u2022 Subscribe: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/SmartAirFilters \u2022 LinkedIn: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/smart-air-filters\/ \u2022 Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/smartairfilters \u2022 Twitter: https:\/\/twitter.com\/SmartAirFilters \u2022 Instagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/smartairfilters\/ \u2022 Volunteer: https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/volunteer-at-smart-air\/ \u2022 Shop: https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/shop\/ For business enquiries, email us directly at info@smartairfilters.com.\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:640px;margin:5px auto;\"><br\/><span class=\"lyte_disclaimer\">Subscribe to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/smartairfilters?sub_confirmation=1\">Smart Air on YouTube<\/a> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/images\/smartair_youtube.ico\" alt=\"Smart Air Youtube\"\/><\/span><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-72dfa0a9 gb-headline-text\">Results: Did Kolkata&#8217;s Air Quality Improve in 2020?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After analyzing Kolkata&#8217;s air quality data from the US Embassy, Smart Air found that air pollution did not improve in 2020 compared to 2019. With an annual PM2.5 level of 67 micrograms, the citizens of Kolkata are still breathing an average of over 6 times the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health\">WHO annual limit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020-1-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020-1-600x338.png 600w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020-1-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020-1.png 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Kolkata started the year with January pollution levels above 2019. Air pollution was also worse from September through November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"902\" height=\"482\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Monthly-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Monthly-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020.png 902w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Monthly-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020-600x321.png 600w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Monthly-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020-300x160.png 300w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-Monthly-Air-Quality-2019-vs-2020-768x410.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 902px) 100vw, 902px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-b2003518 gb-headline-text\">The Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown On Kolkata&#8217;s Air Pollution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Kolkata saw a big improvement in air quality during the <a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/covid-19-slashes-pm2-5-in-indias-6-biggest-cities\/\">COVID-19 lockdown<\/a>. But thereafter, Kolkata&#8217;s pollution levels started <a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/why-air-quality-pm25-india-worse-winter\/\">peaking in the winter<\/a>. PM2.5 levels in India typically begin to <a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/india-winter-more-polluted-summer-pm25\/\">rise starting in October<\/a>, and remain high until March of the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"521\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata3-1024x521.png\" alt=\"Kolkata's seasonal pollution trend\" class=\"wp-image-14870\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata3-1024x521.png 1024w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata3-600x305.png 600w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata3-300x153.png 300w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata3-768x390.png 768w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata3.png 1072w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With this bump up, Kolkata air pollution is inching closer to Delhi\u2014currently the <a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/did-delhis-air-quality-improve-in-2020\/\">highest in air pollution among India\u2019s major cities<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"887\" height=\"544\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Indian-Cities-Air-Quality-2020.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Indian-Cities-Air-Quality-2020.png 887w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Indian-Cities-Air-Quality-2020-600x368.png 600w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Indian-Cities-Air-Quality-2020-300x184.png 300w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Indian-Cities-Air-Quality-2020-768x471.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 887px) 100vw, 887px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The analysis of Kolkata&#8217;s air quality is based on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quora.com\/What-is-the-difference-between-PM2-5-and-PM10-with-respect-to-the-atmospheric-pollutants\/answer\/Thomas-Talhelm\">PM2.5 air pollution<\/a>, particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter. These particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream. Studies have found that PM2.5 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SmartAirFilters\/status\/1065696348144455680\">raises blood pressure<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/35-college-students-purifier-health-effects\/\">inflammation<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/smogdoesntkilllikeyouthinkitdoes\/\">rates of heart attacks and strokes.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1379\" height=\"963\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/1.-hair.jpg\" alt=\"PM2.5 size\" class=\"wp-image-8023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/1.-hair.jpg 1379w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/1.-hair-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/1.-hair-768x536.jpg 768w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/1.-hair-1024x715.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1379px) 100vw, 1379px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The US Embassy data is open for researchers, although it is limited. It comes from only one pollution sensor in the city, and pollution can vary between neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"939\" height=\"575\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata5.png\" alt=\"Kolkata air pollution\" class=\"wp-image-14871\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata5.png 939w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata5-600x367.png 600w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata5-300x184.png 300w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/kolkata5-768x470.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 939px) 100vw, 939px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-babca953 gb-headline-text\"><strong>Open Data<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As always, Smart Air is publishing the test data for all fellow data nerds (<a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Kolkata-1.xlsx\">Kolkata 2020 Pollution Data<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How I Protect Myself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the harms of PM2.5, studies have found that <a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/masks-for-coronavirus-may-be-lowering-blood-pressure-for-millions\/\">wearing masks prevents physiological harm<\/a> to the body. Also using air purifiers in your home have been shown to have <a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/35-college-students-purifier-health-effects\/\">positive effects on blood pressure, inflammation, and immune response<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smart Air is a certified B Corp committed to combating the myths big companies use to inflate the price of clean air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smart Air provides&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/data\">empirically backed<\/a>, no-nonsense purifiers and masks, that remove the same particles as the big companies for a fraction of the cost. Only corporations benefit when clean air is a luxury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/product\/sqair-air-purifier\/\">Check out the Sqair!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/product\/sqair-air-purifier\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"299\" src=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-29-at-6.09.45-PM-600x299.png\" alt=\"Sqair Air Purifier\" class=\"wp-image-12465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-29-at-6.09.45-PM-600x299.png 600w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-29-at-6.09.45-PM-1024x509.png 1024w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-29-at-6.09.45-PM-300x149.png 300w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-29-at-6.09.45-PM-768x382.png 768w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-29-at-6.09.45-PM-1536x764.png 1536w, https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-29-at-6.09.45-PM.png 2038w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How was Kolkata&#8217;s air quality in 2020? Did Kolkata&#8217;s air quality improve in 2020 compared to recent years? Air pollution in 2019 averaged levels nearly 7 times the World Health Organization\u2019s (WHO) recommended limit for PM2.5 levels. Smart Air dove into the data to see if there was any improvement &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Did Kolkata&#8217;s Air Quality Improve in 2020?\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/did-kolkatas-air-quality-improve-in-2020\/#more-14867\" aria-label=\"Read more about Did Kolkata&#8217;s Air Quality Improve in 2020?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2882,"featured_media":14874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,452,386,257],"tags":[269,274],"class_list":["post-14867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air-pollution","category-air-quality","category-india","category-pm2-5","tag-india","tag-kolkata","resize-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2882"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14867"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16634,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14867\/revisions\/16634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}