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smog

“Delhi Is a Death Trap”: Frustration and Fear Boil Over as Pollution Chokes India’s Capital

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The police came before the protesters. In the days leading up to Sunday’s demonstration against Delhi’s toxic air, officers knocked on doors and flooded phones with warnings. Organizers were told to stay home or risk arrest.

Saurav Das, 26, was one of the many who refused to back down. Diagnosed with allergic bronchitis from the city’s filthy air, he told The Guardian that he had used social media to call for peaceful action at India Gate.

While nearly 400 citizens turned out in droves, including mothers with strollers, retirees in masks, and students clutching handmade signs, police had already cordoned off the memorial.

Within hours, nearly 100 protesters, including children and the elderly, were detained and held late into the night. By Monday morning, a criminal case had been filed against the organizers.

“We wanted to gather peacefully at India Gate to send a message, loud and clear, that people are fed [up] by failed policies and government apathy that have failed to combat air pollution. Instead, we were met with unnecessary brute force.”

Delhi’s government has changed, but the air hasn’t. Earlier this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took control of the Delhi state government after years of opposition rule. Many hoped the new alignment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national administration would finally bring unified action against the crisis. Instead, Delhiites say the air has only worsened.

Critics accuse the BJP of downplaying pollution data and weakening restrictions. During Diwali, officials allowed “green” fireworks — a decision that triggered one of the most polluted festival seasons in years.

Opponents claim authorities even halted air-quality reports and sprayed water on monitoring stations to artificially lower the numbers. The BJP denied tampering, calling the charges “politically motivated,” and blamed its predecessors for the smog.

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Its most expensive experiment, a multimillion-rupee attempt to seed clouds and make it rain, failed to yield results. Meanwhile, the government’s public message has remained largely unchanged: stay indoors, buy purifiers, and wait for the weather to improve.

“We have reached severe and hazardous levels of pollution, but the GRAP measures have not been implemented,” said Delhi-based environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari.

GRAP refers to the Graded Response Action Plan, which was partially put into place to address air pollution in Delhi and its suburbs. Currently, the second level of the action plan is in place, which reduces the use of diesel generators and the burning of coal and firewood.

Despite worsening air quality, the third stage of the action plan, GRAP III, has yet to be implemented. It would also prohibit all non-essential building activity and the use of diesel vehicles in Delhi.

“This is about our children…My children will live 10 years less than their cousins [in other cities] who breathe cleaner air. We still have hope, and that’s why we are here.”

Delhi’s annual suffocation has become a ritual. For over a decade, Delhi has carried the grim distinction of being the world’s most polluted city. Every autumn, as temperatures drop and the wind dies, a familiar haze rolls over the capital. The so-called pollution season can linger four months or more, turning the skyline into a ghostly blur.

The culprits are no mystery: car exhaust from tens of millions of vehicles, crop-burning by farmers in neighboring states, coal-fired power plants, and open fires used to burn trash or simply keep warm.

In November, air quality readings climbed to more than 100 times the safe limit set by global health agencies. Pollution now kills more people in Delhi than diabetes or obesity.

“Any other city breathing this air would have declared a health emergency by now,” said Gopesh Singh, 58.

“How many more millions of people have to die for the government to act?”

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Sunday’s protest was one of the few public demonstrations over Delhi’s air crisis in years and was meant to be symbolic. The India Gate location honors India’s fallen soldiers, but the irony wasn’t lost on participants who found themselves fighting a different kind of war.

By dusk, the famous monument had vanished behind an opaque brown curtain of smog. The Air Quality Index hit 500, ten times the threshold considered hazardous. “Delhi is not a liveable city anymore, it’s a death trap,” said Radhika Aggarwal, 33, an engineer.

“As I stand here, I’m breathing air that I know is killing me. But we see nothing but a failure by the government to do anything to stop this and clean up the pollution. No policies, no real action. So I’m here to fight for my city.”

Children stood beside their mothers, holding signs that read, “Breathing Is Killing Me.” Nearby, birds flew low through the haze — one of the few visible signs of life against the fading orange light.

Delhi’s 30 million residents have learned to adapt to the unthinkable. Those with money seal their homes with air purifiers or flee to cleaner states. Everyone else simply copes. Clean air has become a luxury commodity, as inaccessible to most as a beachfront vacation.

“I can’t breathe in this city anymore, I can’t take a walk without getting a terrible headache,” said Sofie, 33. “It feels like there aren’t enough masks in the world to make this air breathable.”

For many, the suffocation is both physical and psychological. Pollution has become so normalized that outrage often gives way to fatalism. This year, however, something cracked.

Delhi’s minister of environment, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, stated that the government was taking all possible steps to address the issue.

“We have installed anti-smog guns in all high-rise buildings, dust mitigation is being done across the city through water sprinklers, all construction sites are being monitored, and we have increased electric vehicles in Delhi’s fleet of public buses.”

Regardless, as the crowd at India Gate dispersed under police watch on Sunday night, the sense that Delhi is running out of time hung in the air thicker than the smog.

launch

Scientists Call For New Global Regime Regarding Air Pollution From Space Launches 

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Scientists are calling for a new global regime to address air pollution specifically caused by the space industry and space launches. 

In 2020, Professor Eloise Marais assembled a team at the University College London (UCL) that began tracking space activities in 2020. According to their most recent figures, there were 259 rocket launches in 2024 and 223 launches in 2023. Those launches burned more than 153,000 tons of fuel.

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“More pollutants are being released into the atmosphere from rockets and satellites than ever before,” Marais stated. 

“We’re in uncharted territory, as humans have never added this much pollution to the upper layers of the atmosphere. If left unregulated, it may have serious impacts on Earth’s atmosphere.”

More specifically, the team found that mega-constellation communication satellites such as Starlink, OneWeb, and Thousand Sails, have “led to a threefold increase in emissions of climate-altering soot and carbon dioxide,” the Guardian reported.

While the amount of CO2 and soot from spacecraft is less than other industries, researchers are warning that particles stay in the upper atmosphere much longer than Earth-bound sources. Researchers pointed out that the pollution from space launches result in a climate warning impact that is 500 times greater than the amount of soot from aviation and ground level sources. 

“The amount of propellant used to launch mega-constellations has surpassed the amount of propellant used to launch all other missions combined,” Marais said. 

“The mix of pollutants produced is likely going to change in the future with the advent of Amazon Kuiper mega-constellations. They plan to use the European Space Agency’s rocket that is propelled by solid rocket fuel and produces ozone-damaging chlorine compounds.” 

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Dr Connor Barker from UCL stated that “many more mega-constellations are planned for launch in the next few decades, which will have significant impacts for our climate, and undo progress made by the Montreal protocol to repair the ozone layer.”

The amount of objects launched into space has also increased drastically within the last few years as well. In the 1960s and 2016, 100 to 200 objects a year were launched into space, and now thousands are launched annually and they have limited lifetimes. 

“Current international law is very much related to the principles of the high seas,” said Prof Stuart Martin, the chair of trustees at the UK National Space Centre. 

“The country that launched an object, owns it, and only the laws of that country apply to the object in space. This is one of the reasons why things like cleaning up are so difficult.”

Many mega-constellation satellites are re-entering the atmosphere as well. When this occurs, they vaporize into tiny, and sometimes, chemically reactive metal particles. 

The team from UCL also tracked 2,539 objects burned up when the re-entered the atmosphere in 2024, and 2,016 objects in 2023. This led to 13,500 tons of material from satellites and discarded rocket parts vaporizing in our atmosphere.

google

Google Undercounts Its Carbon Emissions Despite ‘Net Zero’ Goal For 2030

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Back in 2021, Google set the goal of having net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, however, within the past four years they’ve been using more energy, especially with the company’s investment in artificial intelligence which requires a large amount of energy. 

In Google’s latest sustainability report, the company claimed its carbon emissions were increased by 51% between 2019 and 2024. However, in another report from non-profit advocacy group Kairos Fellowship, they claimed Google’s carbon emissions actually increased by 65% in that five year period. 

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Between 2010, when Google first made their greenhouse gas emissions public, and 2024, their total emissions increased by 1,515%, according to the report from Kairos. Between 2023 and 2024, Google saw its biggest increase within a one-year period with an increase of 26%. 

“Google’s own data makes it clear: the corporation is contributing to the acceleration of climate catastrophe, and the metrics that matter – how many emissions they emit, how much water they use, and how fast these trends are accelerating – are headed in the wrong direction for us and the planet,” said Nicole Sugerman, a campaign manager at Kairos Fellowship.

After the report from Kairos was published, Google released a statement questioning their findings. 

“The analysis by the Kairos Fellowship distorts the facts. Our carbon emissions are calculated according to the widely used Greenhouse Gas Protocol and assured by a third party. Our carbon reduction ambition has been validated by the leading industry body, the Science Based Targets initiative,” said a spokesperson, Maggie Shiels.

The authors of the Kairos report cited multiple factors as to why their report found different numbers than Google, including the use of a different metric for calculating the total emissions released. Google uses market-based emissions while Kairos uses location-based emissions. 

Location-based emissions are the average emissions the company produces from its use of local power grids. Market-based emissions include energy that the company has purchased in order to offset their total emissions, according to reports from the Guardian. 

“[Location-based emissions] represents a company’s ‘real’ grid emissions,” said Franz Ressel, the lead researcher and report co-author. 

“Market-based emissions are a corporate-friendly metric that obscures a polluter’s actual impact on the environment. It allows companies to pollute in one place, and try to ‘offset’ those emissions by purchasing energy contracts in another place.”

The energy that Google needed to power its data centers alone increased by 820% since 2010, which will likely increase further as the company releases and utilizes more AI products. 

“In absolute terms, the increase was 6.8 TWh, or the equivalent of Google adding the entire state of Alaska’s energy use in one year to their previous use,” said Sugerman.

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“It’s not sustainable to keep building at the rate [Google is] building because they need to scale their compute within planetary limits,” said Sugerman. 

“We do not have enough green energy to serve the needs of Google and certainly not the needs of Google and the rest of us.”

Google’s sustainability report stated that their water withdrawal increased 27% between 2023 and 2024 to 11 billion gallons of water. 

“[That is] enough to supply the potable water needs for the 2.5 million people and 5,500 industrial users in Boston and its suburbs for 55 days,” the Kairos report stated. 

Beyond just Google, all the major tech companies have been publicly pressured to utilize clean energy to grow their data centers. In fact, this week multiple organizations such as the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, League of Conservation Voters, Public Citizen and the Sierra Club, published an open letter in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Times to the CEOs of Google, Amazon and Microsoft to “commit to no new gas and zero delayed coal plant retirements to power your data centers.”

“In just the last two years alone, your companies have built data centers throughout the United States capable of consuming more electricity than four million American homes,” the letter stated. 

“Within five years, your data centers alone will use more electricity than 22 million households, rivaling the consumption of multiple mid-size states.”

The Kairos report has accused Google of relying “heavily on speculative technologies, particularly nuclear power,” as a means of achieving its goal of net zero emissions by 2030. 

“Google’s emphasis on nuclear energy as a clean energy ‘solution’ is particularly concerning, given the growing consensus among both scientists and business experts that their successful deployment on scale, if it is to ever occur, cannot be achieved in the near or mid-term future,” the report said.

The Kairos report concluded by alleging that Google presents its data in a misleading way. While they stated that they have improved their energy efficiency by citing only efficiency numbers rather than the absolute ones. 

“Since 2010, the company’s total energy consumption has increased 1,282%,” the report stated.

micro plastics

Scientists Find Alarming Surge in Microplastics Accumulating in Human Brains

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When comparing brain tissue samples taken eight years ago to those taken now, researchers have found an alarming increase in the presence of microplastics.

A study published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine examined the brains of 24 individuals who died recently, within a few months of January 2024. The brain tissue samples were compared to samples from 2016 of 28 individuals. The scientists determined that the levels of micro and nanoplastics increased by 50%.

Researchers also analyzed brain samples from 12 people who had suffered from dementia before their passing. Their brains had more than five times the average level of microplastics found in the 2024 tissue samples.

However, the paper notes that dementia patients may have more plastics in their samples due to impaired blood-brain barriers, so researchers believe it is premature to connect microplastics to illnesses like dementia. Nanoplastics are thinner than a strand of human hair, while microplastics are smaller than a pencil eraser.

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“Atrophy of brain tissue, impaired blood-brain barrier integrity and poor clearance mechanisms are hallmarks of dementia and would be anticipated to increase micro and nanoplastic concentration. Thus, no causality is assumed from these findings.”

Jason Richardson, a professor of physiology at the University of Georgia who was not involved in the research, told USA Today that the study “gives one pause.”

“They’re at a much larger concentration in the body than many of us would have expected.”

Most of the plastics found in brain tissue samples were nanoplastics from polyethylene. Polyethylene is the most widely used plastic in the world, often found in plastic bags and packaging for food and drinks.

Researchers also studied brain tissue samples taken between 1997 and 2013 to see if the accumulation level was a growing trend. The levels in 2016 were double that of that period, while the levels in 2024 were four times higher.

While talking about the study, Professor Matthew Campen, a lead author of the report from the University of New Mexico, told The Washington Post, “Every time we scratch the surface, it uncovers a whole host of, ‘Oh, is this worse than we thought?’”

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The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a report in 2022 and 2019 indicating that, according to studies available thus far, there is “no evidence to indicate a human health concern.”

“Humans have ingested microplastics and other particles in the environment for decades with no related indication of adverse health effects.”

However, numerous studies have consistently demonstrated rising concentrations of microplastics in the environment, like in our oceans and the human body. Tracey Woodruff, a University of California at San Francisco researcher, told The Associated Press, “Microplastics have been measured in pretty much all of the body tissues that have been evaluated.”

Last May, in a separate study, researchers reported the presence of microplastics in every human testicle they examined. These particles have also been detected in livers, blood, and placenta.

Despite ongoing observations, there remains a lack of clear evidence indicating a significant public health impact, particularly regarding mortality rates. Recent statistics indicate a decline in death rates associated with cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

battery

New Research Finds That Lithium Ion Batteries Contain ‘Forever Chemicals’ That Threaten The Environment 

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New research which was recently published in the journal Nature found that lithium ion batteries contain “forever chemicals,” also referred to as toxic PFAS. These chemicals have shown to be a dangerous source of chemical pollution that threatens the environment as well as human health, according to the study. 

The study itself focused on an unregulated subclass of PFAS known as bis-FASI that previously had very little research published about them. This subclass is used in lithium ion batteries which are often disposed of in landfills, creating a major source of pollution. 

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According to Jennifer Guelfo, one of the researchers who co-authored the study: “The nation faces two critical challenges – to minimize aquatic pollution and increase our use of clean and sustainable energy, and both are worthy causes. 

“But there’s a bit of tug-of-war between the two, and this study highlights that we have an opportunity now as we scale up this energy infrastructure to do a better job of incorporating environmental risk assessments.”

PFAS are often used for making products that are resistant to water, stains, and heat. They are referred to as “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down and were found to accumulate in humans. 

“The chemicals are linked to cancer, birth defects, liver disease, thyroid disease, plummeting sperm counts and a range of other serious health problems,” wrote Tom Perkins for the Guardian. 

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Public health advocates have been trying to find and advertise alternatives to the toxic chemicals for clean energy technology, like batteries and wind turbines. 

The research stated that there aren’t a lot of disposal standards or regulations available for PFAS battery waste. This lack of governance has led to a majority of PFAS battery waste to end up in landfills that easily leak into waterways, accumulate locally, or are transported long distances, according to the report. 

The study also stated that bis-FASI specifically can be reused and recycled, however, only about 5% of lithium batteries are properly disposed of to do so. By those margins, 8 million tons of battery waste by 2040, unless recycling standards are changed and enforced. 

“This says that we should be taking a closer look at this class of PFAS,” Guelfo said.

The researchers took samples of water, soil, and air surrounding a 3M plant in Minnesota. “The soil and water levels were concerning, and detection of the chemicals in snow suggests the chemicals easily move through the atmosphere,” Guelfo said.

air pollution

Study Finds Air Pollution Can Decrease Chances Of Live Birth After IVF

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According to a new study, exposure to air pollution can significantly decrease the likelihood of live birth after IVF treatment. The study’s research has been ongoing to observe the negative health impacts of toxic air on fertility. 

Exposure to pollutants in the air has been previously linked to increased miscarriage rates, preterm births, and the presence of microscopic soot particles in the bloodstream, ovaries, and the placenta, according to reports from The Guardian.

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“We observed that the odds of having a baby after a frozen embryo transfer were more than a third lower for women who were exposed to the highest levels of particulate matter air pollution prior to egg collection, compared with those exposed to the lowest levels,” said Dr Sebastian Leathersich, a fertility specialist and gynecologist from Perth. 

Dr. Leathersich is also set to present the study findings on Monday at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual meeting in Amsterdam.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that air pollution is currently one of the leading threats to human health in general, and has caused 6.7 million deaths in 2019. 

“Pollution is harmful to almost all aspects of human health and it’s no surprise to me that reproductive health is also affected,” Leathersich said. 

“I’m hopeful that these findings will help to highlight the urgency of the situation – that climate change poses a serious and immediate threat to human reproductive health, even at so-called safe levels.”

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“These findings [also] suggest that pollution negatively affects the quality of the eggs, not just the early stages of pregnancy, which is a distinction that has not been previously reported,” Leathersich said.

Professor Jonathan Grigg led a group at Queen Mary University of London which uncovered evidence that air pollution particles are found in the placenta.

“This study is biologically plausible since it has recently been discovered that inhaled fossil-fuel particles move out of the lung and lodge in organs around the body. Reproductive health can now be added to expanding list of the adverse effects of fossil fuel-derived particulate matter, and should prompt policymakers to continue to reduce traffic emissions.”

“In the face of a global fertility crisis, a clear picture of the link between environmental factors such as air pollution and fertility health or treatment outcomes could play an important part in tackling falling fertility rates,” said Professor Geeta Nargund, a senior NHS consultant and medical director of abc IVF and Create Fertility.

She also said that “further work would be crucial to better understand the full impact of air pollution, which disproportionately affects those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.”

Nations Around The World Trying To Reach Agreement To Reduce Plastic Waste 

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According to an official from the United Nations, 170 countries are currently negotiating a deal for a global treaty that would cut plastic waste, while environmentalists are weary of the plastic industry’s ability to change for the health of our planet.

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candle

How Fragrance And Scents In The Home Can Impact Your Overall Air Quality 

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We all can relate to the desire of making our space smell good. There’s a multitude of fragrance options currently on the market that can make any home smell good and fresh. However, it’s important to understand the potential dramatic impact on our home’s air quality that these scent options can have.

According to Svetlana Stevanovic’s recent research and reporting for The Conversation, people spend, on average, 85-90% of their time indoors, and inhale around 20,000 liters of air daily. Air pollutants that exist within our homes can arguably become much more harmful than the ones existing outdoors due to how much more time we spend in our houses. 

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These stagnant indoor air pollutants from seemingly harmless fragrance options can have a major impact on our health and wellbeing, and can lead to issues such as eye irritation, respiratory issues, headaches, and more. 

The US Environmental Protection Agency has also reported that levels of indoor air pollutants can get up to three times higher than outdoor pollutants. 

Home scents are made to fill a space with a particular smell that will make our air smell nice, but it also can mean that we’re intentionally releasing a mixture of chemicals in a closed indoor environment, which can lower the overall air quality in a given space. 

According to Stevanovic, air fresheners alon emit more than 100 different chemicals, some of the most harmful being classified as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 

“These VOCs will react with ozone and other indoor oxidants to generate a range of oxidation products, which are potentially toxic molecules. The level of exposure and concentration determines the potential toxicity,” Stevanovic wrote. 

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The type of product and its composition determines the type and amount of pollutants being emitted into the air in your home. All air fresheners produce a high level of VOCs, and legally speaking, air freshener companies don’t have to disclose the chemical composition of their products.

There can be tens or hundreds of chemicals in your air freshener that you wouldn’t even know about because they’re not listed on the product itself. 

“In a study across the United States, Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom, 32.2% of people were reported to have a sensitivity to fragrance. In those who are sensitive, fragrances are a risk factor for asthma and headaches.”

The best advice when it comes to avoiding an increased level of pollutants in the home is to use fragrances in moderation. When it comes to candles, using soy, beeswax, and any candle that’s labeled as “non-paraffin” and maintaining proper ventilation in the home throughout the day is generally considered to be safe. 

Removing chemical air fragrances, fresheners, and scented candles will have a lasting overall impact on the quality of air in your home. Overall, maintain a level of moderation when it comes to adding fragrance to your home, and consider using air purifiers in combination with ventilation to keep airflow consistent in your home. 

Climate

Climate Emergency Scientists Claim The Earth Is In Dire Need Of Our Help 

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The Covid-19 pandemic initially helped combat climate change in America due to the lack of human activity in major metropolitans, where things like pollution are common. Now, climate scientists are warning that the climate crisis has worsened exponentially within the past decade, and this year was no different. 

In November of 2019, an article co-signed by over 11,000 scientists was published in a journal that declared a global climate emergency. This Tuesday, the same journal released an update in which they claimed a few improvements have been made to our environment thanks to the pandemic, but ultimately much more systemic work needs to be done if we want to see a real change in our planet’s health. 

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“A major lesson from COVID-19 is that even colossally decreased transportation and consumption are not nearly enough and that, instead, transformational system changes are required, and they must rise above politics.” 

“Given the impacts we are seeing at roughly 1.25 degrees Celsius (°C) warming, combined with the many reinforcing feedback loops and potential tipping points, massive-scale climate action is urgently needed,” the article reads.

Ecology professor William Ripple and forest ecosystem researcher Christopher Wold were some of the lead authors on the article update, and they cited catastrophic flooding, wildfires, and record-breaking heat waves that have been impacting America. 

The data published shows a Covid-related dip in air travel led to a decrease in the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, however, record levels of methane and carbon dioxide were still recorded in the atmosphere, which has increased acidification in the Earth’s oceans, and led to the melting of major ice sheets. 

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“Global gross domestic product dropped by 3.6% in 2020 but is projected to rebound to an all-time high,” Ripple said in a statement. 

“Likely because of the pandemic, fossil fuel consumption has gone down since 2019, as have carbon dioxide emissions and airline travel levels. All of these are expected to significantly rise with the opening of the economy.

The article update sent a very similar message as its original, calling on the government for an elimination of fossil fuels, air pollutants, a switch to mostly plant-based diets, a more sustainable economy, and a means of stabilizing the human population. 

“As long as humanity’s pressure on the Earth system continues, attempted remedies will only redistribute the pressure. But by halting the unsustainable exploitation of natural habitats, we can reduce zoonotic disease transmission risks, protect carbon stocks and conserve biodiversity, all at the same time,”  Wolf said. 

“We need to quickly change how we’re doing things, and new climate policies should be part of COVID-19 recovery plans wherever possible. It’s time for us to join together as a global community with a shared sense of cooperation, urgency and equity.”

California Wildfires

Increase In Hospital Visits Resulting From West Coast Wildfires Has Doctors Concerned

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The Northern California health system has reported a major surge in cases involving toxic smoke and its alarming health effects.

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