The researchers drew on data from 115,954 UK Biobank (UKBB) study participants aged 40-69 with no eye problems at the start of this study in 2006.
Tag: Air Pollution
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Air pollution linked to irreversible sight loss: Study
Now researchers have drawn a link between AMD and air pollution, which is already known to carry a host of health risks including heart and lung disease.
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Air pollution 2020 report: Big cities fare better, small towns toxic
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: While several bigger cities like Delhi and Varanasi saw reduction in annual PM 2.5 levels, smaller towns and cities like Fatehabad or Moradabad have seen an increase, shows a new analysis.An analysis of winter air pollution (till January 11) by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in the cities of Indo-Gangetic Plains shows how clean air gains of the lockdown and monsoon periods have been lost with the reopening of the economy and the hostile winter weather.
Annual average level of PM2.5 is not lower in many cities despite the lockdown.
The 2020 average PM2.5 level in many cities in the upper Gangetic plains has climbed up to breach the average concentration recorded in 2019.
Fatehabad in northern Haryana is the worst with a 35 per cent increase from 2019 level.
Higher PM2.5 levels is a winter trend when continuous emissions from local sources including vehicles, industry, construction, and pollution from biomass burning get trapped due to meteorological changes.
“Even though the average level of PM2.5 for the summer and monsoon months in 2020 is considerably lower than the previous year’s due to the lockdown, the PM2.5 levels this winter have risen beyond the 2019 levels in almost all monitored cities in Punjab and Haryana,” said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme.
The number of days with PM2.5 concentration meeting the standard was considerably lower this winter — more ‘poor’ or ‘worse’ days.
There have been 33 days of standard air days this winter compared to 41 recorded last year in Amritsar.
Similarly, standard days have been lesser by 11 days in Ambala and four in Lucknow and Patna each.
In Lucknow, not a single day met the standard since the beginning of October this winter; there were 19 days of ‘severe’ or ‘worse’ air quality — up from five last winter.
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Air pollution: Supreme Court asks Centre to come out with concrete steps to deal with stubble burning
By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday asked the Centre to file an affidavit detailing ‘concrete steps’ to deal in future with the situation of stubble burning, which is a major cause of air pollution in the Delhi-national capital region (NCR) during the winters.The order by a bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, came after it was submitted that the pollution caused due to stubble burning will again come to the fore in the future.
“Mr Tushar Mehta (Solicitor General), you come back with some concrete steps on stubble burning,” the bench said.
The top court was hearing a petition which has raised the issue of pollution caused due to stubble burning in neighboring states of Delhi.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the petitioner, told the bench, “The issue will arise again. For this year, the issue of stubble burning is over and it will start again next time. The Centre has said nothing on this.”
The bench asked the solicitor general to file an affidavit on the issue.
The apex court had last month said it was not satisfied with the work done by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas, which has been constituted by the Centre to tackle air pollution.
“We don’t know what your commission is doing. People in Delhi are not satisfied with your work. We are also not satisfied,” the bench had said.
Mehta had earlier told the bench that the commission is working on ‘war footing’ and several steps have been taken to deal with pollution.
On November 6, the apex court had asked the Centre to ensure there is no smog in Delhi as it was informed that the Commission has started functioning from that day.
It had said that pollution problem has to be dealt with by the executive as it has the power, money and resources for this.
The Centre, which has appointed former Chief Secretary of Delhi M M Kutty as the chairperson of the Commission, had apprised the court that there were experts from the field besides members from NGOs in the newly created Commission.
On October 29, the top court was informed by the Centre that it has come out with an ordinance on curbing pollution and it has been promulgated already.
The top court is also hearing a separate plea on air pollution and had last year even taken a suo motu note of alarming rise in air pollution in Delhi-NCR where several directions have been passed with regard to stubble burning.
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Air pollution: NGT slaps 25 crore fine on Delhi govt
The National Green Tribunal Monday asked the Delhi government to deposit Rs 25 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for their failure to curb the problem of pollution in the city.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also asked the AAP government to furnish a performance guarantee of Rs 25 crore with the apex pollution monitoring body to ensure that there is no further lapse in this regard.
It said despite its clear directions, there is hardly any action for compliance of orders of the tribunal and pollution continues unabated in blatant violation of law and under the nose of the authorities “who have hardly done anything concrete except furnishing excuses and helplessness”.
The green panel said that even after more than four-and-a-half years, the complaint of the aggrieved parties is that the pollution caused by the unregulated handling of plastic continues to remain unabated.
The tribunal was hearing pleas filed by Mundka village resident Satish Kumar and Tikri-Kalan native Mahavir Singh alleging pollution caused by burning of plastic, leather, rubber, motor engine oil and other waste materials and continuous operation of illegal industrial units dealing with such articles on agricultural lands in Mundka and Neelwal villages.
The tribunal had earlier directed the Delhi chief secretary to co-ordinate with the concerned municipal authorities, police authorities and other officers responsible for compliance of orders of this tribunal already passed referred to ensure compliance at the ground-level forthwith.
It had asked the chief secretary to hold a joint meeting with the persons considered responsible for compliance and till the orders remain un-complied, continue to hold such meetings at least once a month.
“It will be open to the chief secretary to seek feedback from concerned inhabitants about the ground situation,” the NGT had said.