Pakistan had the most polluted air in the world overall in 2025, and Delhi was the most polluted capital for the seventh time in the last eight years of reporting by the Swiss-based IQAir. A town bordering India’s capital is the world’s most polluted place. Despite covering nearly 9,500 cities, pollution data gaps leave millions […] Continue reading ->
BANGKOK – The combination of heat and “super pollutants” is emerging as a critical threat to human health, according to experts at the Better Air Quality (BAQ) conference which ended last Friday in Bangkok. Short-lived super pollutants – methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), nitrous oxide and ground-level ozone – contribute to half of global warming […] Continue reading ->
The 12th Better Air Quality conference opened with a call to treat clean air as vital economic infrastructure, highlighting the large benefit-cost return – but financing clean-tech is a challenge in developing nations. BANGKOK – Short-term impacts of bad air quality don’t just cause high economic costs but also lead to children scoring poorly in […] Continue reading ->
While air pollution claims more than eight million lives annually, the burden of proving exactly which air polluters or tailpipes caused a specific lung cancer or child’s asthma attack has rested firmly on the shoulders of the sick. That is about to change, according to a landmark United Nations (UN) report by Astrid Puentes Riaño, […] Continue reading ->
The 12th Better Air Quality conference in Bangkok, which opens on Wednesday, is the first large climate and air quality gathering since the US and Israel attacked Iran, triggering an oil and gas-energy crisis. BANGKOK – The ‘Gulf War 3’ threatens to slow down climate action and the move to cleaner air. However, in the […] Continue reading ->
NEW DELHI – For years, residents of the Indian capital have looked to the skies in March with a sense of relief, believing that the notorious winter pollution had finally retreated. However, a drone armed with an air quality monitor has shattered this perception, revealing a massive blanket of toxic air hovering just above the […] Continue reading ->
Everyday beauty and hair products on drugstore and supermarket shelves can contain chemicals known to be harmful to human health. Ingredients like PTFE, phthalates, parabens, and parfum hide in make up, shampoo, and other products – and have been linked to cancers, reproductive harm, and endocrine disruption. Yet cosmetics and hair products in the US […] Continue reading ->
MUMBAI, India – Air pollution and heat are much worse together for human health than each of them alone, said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist at the World Health Organization, speaking at this week’s Mumbai Climate Week (MCW). Heat and air pollution were among the key regional priorities during the three-day event that brought […] Continue reading ->
Breathing in air with high levels of pollution worsens a range of serious mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety disorders, according to emerging research. A 2026 study, published in the journal Environmental Research, reviewed 25 existing studies on air pollution’s impact on anxiety disorders and found that while long-term exposure is the […] Continue reading ->
It’s a cold winter morning in Davos, but the pictures on the screen are aglow with warmth – a 100-year-old man cuddling an infant; ancient women with faces wrinkled in laughter; aged men sharing a flask of local red wine; and an extended family gathered around a Mediterranean meal of chickpeas, cheeses, salads and seafood. […] Continue reading ->