Aerosols and clouds in polluted regions grow faster

Researchers have found a possible explanation for the slower rate of global warming in Asia and Africa.

Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS)

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Based on satellite measurements from space, the Indian subcontinent is regarded as a ‘hole in global warming’, as India is warming at only about half the rate of the global average. A possible explanation for this phenomenon is now provided by a new study on regional differences in the hygroscopic growth of particles. It highlights the importance of in-situ measurements, such as those carried out during the “BIOCAT-IIOE-2” measurement campaign on the FS SONNE 2024’s SO305 expedition in the Bay of Bengal.

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Credit: Shravan Deshmukh, TROPOS

Leipzig. Aerosols and clouds play a key role in the Earth’s climate budget. However, the extent to which they reflect solar energy depends heavily on how much water the particles can absorb. This so-called hygroscopicity has so far been represented in a simplified manner in climate models. An international research team led by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) has now demonstrated through a global study that the models are not precise enough, particularly in urban regions. In chemically complex and polluted regions such as Delhi or Cairo, there is likely to be greater hygroscopic growth and higher water uptake, which could partly explain the observed regional cooling trends or the slower warming on the Asian and African continents, the researchers write in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, published by the Nature Publishing Group.

 

 

Particles in the atmosphere have a significant impact on the Earth’s radiation balance: on the one hand, these aerosols directly reflect sunlight and thermal radiation. On the other hand, they also act as cloud condensation nuclei. The amount of water vapour that adheres to the particles has a major effect on cloud formation. The hygroscopicity of aerosols (κ) is one of the key parameters in calculations of radiative forcing and influences the uncertainties in climate projections. Although cloud condensation nuclei have been studied for a long time, the hygroscopic growth of aerosols at sub-saturated conditions remain poorly characterised, particularly in remote and pristine regions.

 

To address these gaps in knowledge, the researchers developed a method using explainable machine learning (ML) to estimate the size-dependent κ in various atmospheric environments, incorporating observations from ten sites and across several particle sizes ranging from 50 to 300 nanometres. By integrating chemical composition, particle number size distribution and meteorology, the complexity of aerosol mixing states could be captured whilst simultaneously enabling the imputation of data gaps. “Unlike previous regional ML studies, our approach was extended and evaluated using geographically diverse and regionally resolved datasets, thereby improving predictive accuracy and interpretability,” explains Shravan Deshmukh from TROPOS. Machine learning allowed more data to be analysed than usual, and a wide range was covered through a diverse array of measurements. Hygroscopicity measurements using Hygroscopicity Tandem Differential Mobility Analysers (HTDMA) at ground stations span several continents and over a decade: Beijing (China, 2016/17), Cairo (Egypt, 2019/20), Delhi (India, 2020), Goldlauter (Germany, 2010), Henties Bay (Namibia, 2017), Houston (USA, 2021/22), Mahabaleshwar (India, 2020), Melpitz (Germany, 2015), Paris (France, 2022) and the Atlantic (R/V Polarstern, 2011/12).

 

A significant influence of externally mixed particles on κ was observed, particularly in urban and populated areas where new emissions interact with aged aerosols. “In heavily polluted regions such as megacities in Egypt or India, the particles are likely to grow faster and absorb more water. This could explain why these regions warm up less quickly. Increased hygroscopic growth in such regions also has potential implications for public health due to smog, as we were able to demonstrate through drone measurements in Delhi,” explains Dr Ajit Ahlawat, Assistant Professor at TU Delft. In such areas, conventional models exhibit the greatest errors, as they assume ideal internal mixing and disregard size and source variabilities. This underscores the importance of the chemical composition of the particles. As early as 2023, the team was able to show that, on a global average, hygroscopicity is essentially determined by the proportion of organic and inorganic substances in the aerosol composition.

 

Building on previous work, our regional estimates provide an improved, data-driven representation of aerosol hygroscopicity. This approach leads to more accurate estimates of negative radiative forcing and offers an alternative to conventional uniform parameterisations,” emphasises Prof. Mira Pöhlker of TROPOS and the University of Leipzig. “Our results highlight the importance of region-specific aerosol parameterisations as a crucial step towards reducing uncertainties in the estimation of direct radiative forcing in next-generation climate models. The use of estimates such as ours can typically alter regional direct radiative forcing by up to ±0.1 watts per square metre, which would be significant on a global scale.” The researchers, therefore, now hope that their new algorithm will be integrated into global models, which could potentially alter both the magnitude and the sign of aerosol-radiation interactions. This could make future climate models more accurate. Tilo Arnhold

Smog over Kathmandu, Nepal. The metropolis of millions, situated in a valley basin in the Himalayas, is considered one of the cities with the highest levels of air pollution worldwide

Credit

Ajit Ahlawat, TU Delft

 

The burning of fields is one of the causes of the severe air pollution over India.

Credit

PC Garima Shukla, TROPOS

 

Artistic representation of regional influences at a global scale. The figure shows a machine learning framework for estimating the hygroscopicity of aerosols using data from multiple locations, taking into account region-specific influences on radiative forcing worldwide.

Credit

Shravan Deshmukh, TROPOS (using Adobe Express and AI)

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Regional aerosol hygroscopicity influences radiative forcing globally.

Article Publication Date

17-May-2026

Trump Blasted for ‘Unconscionable’ Auto Industry Giveaway That Will Worsen Pollution

“The EPA has one job, to protect the health and welfare of the American people,” said one critic. “But, yet again, the Trump EPA is choosing polluters over people.”


Critics say the Trump administration’s delay of Biden-era emissions rules will increaase pollution from light vehicles like those seen in this photo of a traffic jam on Interstate 95 in Miami.
(Photo by Wikimedia Commons)

Brett Wilkins
May 15, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

The US Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed postponing enforcement of vehicle emissions standards enacted during the Biden administration, a move that critics warned will worsen air pollution, one of the leading risk factors for premature death in the United States and around the world.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin proposed delaying Biden-era emission standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles for two years until model year 2029, claiming that implementation of the policy meant to ensure that a majority of new light vehicles sold in 2032 were electric is “unattainable,” and that Americans “overwhelmingly rejected” electric vehicles.

“Freedom is the foundation of this nation, and this includes the freedom to choose the car you drive. The American people have been very clear; they do not want EVs forced upon them,” said Zeldin, who took more than $400,000 in Big Oil campaign donations during his tenure in the New York state Legislature and US Congress, and who questions the scientific consensus on climate change.

Zeldin claimed the proposal “is projected to save over $1.7 billion” for US automakers, “providing hundreds of dollars saved per vehicle for American families,” and “aims to return EPA regulations to reality, restoring consumer choice, protecting good paying American jobs, and strengthening the nation’s global competitiveness.”

It will also kill people. More than 100,000 people die prematurely in the United States each year due to breathing polluted air. According to a 2024 Environmental Protection Network analysis, President Donald Trump’s rollbacks of pollution rules could cause the deaths of nearly 200,000 people in the United States by 2050.

“In its latest unconscionable act, Trump’s EPA looked at a rule intended to protect public health from toxic tailpipe pollutants while saving tens of thousands of lives, and decided it could wait,” Public Citizen Climate Program deputy director Deanna Noël said Friday.

“The decision will not just cost lives; it will cost working-class people more money in medical bills, more missed days of work, and more years chained to volatile gas prices,” Noël continued.

“Working families are already stretched thin. Everything from groceries to home insurance to gas is getting more expensive, with no end in sight,” she added. “Delaying commonsense emissions standards will only make communities sicker and send costs higher. The EPA’s entire reason for existing is to protect public health and the environment. Yet under this administration, it has been weaponized to serve corporate interests over the American public, no matter the cost.”

According to the advocacy group Climate Power, fossil fuel industry interests spent more than $445 million during the 2024 election cycle on campaign donations, lobbying, and other efforts to bolster Trump and other Republican candidates and causes.

Responding to Zeldin’s announcement, Natural Resources Defense Council clean vehicles director Kathy Harris said in a statement that “the EPA has one job, to protect the health and welfare of the American people. But, yet again, the Trump EPA is choosing polluters over people.”

“Delaying these standards is going to mean more toxic pollutants spewing from tailpipes, and more soot and smog in our cities,” she continued. “That means more asthma, more heart attacks, and more lung disease.”

“EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin claims to want to provide clean air and clean water, but time after time he is acting to increase pollution,” Harris added. “The Trump administration’s war on our health continues unabated.”



Zeldin’s proposal is part of a wider Trump administration push to roll back Biden’s efforts to promote electric vehicles, and serves Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” energy policy. Last year, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ordered the cancellation of Biden-era fuel efficiency and emissions standards for cars and light trucks

During Trump’s second term, the EPA has moved to repeal or replace stronger carbon emission limits on fossil-fueled power plants, revoked California’s ability to enact stricter vehicle emissions rules, and signaled plans to overturn the agency’s finding that greenhouse gases are a public health hazard.

The EPA has also revoked the long-standing “endangerment finding” that allowed it to pass climate regulation, stopped counting the monetary value of reducing pollution, weakened water and wetland protections, rolled back regulations limiting so-called “forever chemicals” in drinking water, dramatically cut or eliminated environmental justice programs, reduced enforcement of environmental violations, dismantled advisory and scientific panels, removed all mentions of human-caused climate change from its website, and more.

Trump Promised ‘Cleanest Air.’ Report Shows Half of All US Children Live Amid Dangerous Pollution

The head of the American Lung Association said President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency has “rolled back rules that would have protected kids from power plant and vehicle pollution.”


Smog hangs low around downtown Los Angeles, California on March 16, 2026.
(Photo by Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Apr 22, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

Close to half of the children in the United States—more than 33 million kids—live in counties with dangerously high levels of toxic air pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s annual air quality report out Wednesday.

The 27th iteration of the ALA’s report examines “two of the most widespread and dangerous air pollutants”—fine particles and ground-level ozone, commonly known as smog—and assigns grades to counties and cities based on pollution levels, both daily and annually. In what the report describes as a “grim indication of the deterioration of air quality nationwide,” just one city—Bangor, Maine—was “ranked on all three cleanest-cities lists by earning an ‘A’ for ozone and short-term particle pollution and being listed among the 25 cities with the lowest year-round particle levels.”



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“Last year, there were two (the other metro area being San Juan-Bayamón, Puerto Rico),” the report notes. “Past reports have been graced by as many as half a dozen metro areas meeting these criteria.”

The report, which uses air quality data collected between 2022 and 2024, estimated that 46% of all children in the US live in counties that received a failing grade on at least one measure of air pollution analyzed by the ALA. More than 7 million children—10% of all kids in the country—live in an area with failing grades for all three of the ALA’s measures.

Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the ALA, said at a time when the federal government should be strengthening air quality standards, President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “is doing the opposite,” despite Trump’s campaign promise to deliver “the cleanest air.”

“In the last year, EPA has weakened enforcement and rolled back rules that would have protected kids from power plant and vehicle pollution,” said Wimmer. “Children need clean air to grow and play, and communities need clean air to thrive. Leaders at every level must act to improve and protect America’s air quality.”

For the seventh consecutive year, Bakersfield, California ranked as the US metropolitan area with the worse year-round particle pollution. Fairbanks, Alaska ranked as the city with the worse short-term particle pollution, while Los Angeles topped the list of cities with the worst ozone pollution.

The Trump administration has gleefully taken an ax to climate regulations—including air pollution standards—and the legal finding underpinning environmental rules while aggressively promoting the oil, gas, and coal industries, threatening decades of progress toward cleaner air and water.

The Guardian noted Wednesday that “since returning to office last year, the Trump administration has initiated at least 70 actions to roll back environmental and climate protections. Among them is the loosening of regulations on power plants that limit mercury and other hazardous air toxins.”

“Other rollbacks include overturning limits on major air pollution sources, disbanding EPA advisory committees on air quality, and ending the practice of estimating the monetary value of lives saved by limiting fine particulate matter and ozone while still calculating costs to companies,” the outlet added.

Why Earth Day Matters More Than Ever

The environmental movement has already shown what collective action can achieve. The question now is whether we are prepared to use that power again.


Participants hold placards as they march on a street ahead of Earth Day on April 22, the annual environmental awareness day, in Jakarta on April 21, 2024.
(Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP via Getty Images)

Kathleen Rogers
Apr 22, 2026

Common Dreams

Fifty-seven years ago, Earth Day changed American politics. On April 22, 1970, 20 million American, about 10% of the entire US population, took to the streets, campuses, and town squares in a single day to demand action after 150 years of uncontrolled industrial pollution. The demonstrations were so large and bipartisan that Washington responded almost immediately, probably out of fear but also respect for the intensity and size of the demonstrations. Within just a few years, President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency and Congress passed 20 landmark laws including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. Americans and their environment enjoyed that nonpartisan honeymoon for over a decade.

Again in the early 1990s, cooperation between Democrats and Republicans produced significant environmental progress, including the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, which addressed acid rain, smog, and toxics, and the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, which stopped pollutants at their source. Were they costly? Initially to the polluters yes, but the health and safety results, estimated to be close to $2 trillion in health-cost savings, have been stunning. And eventually industry investment in clean technologies led to efficiency, profits, and innovation. These laws and others demonstrated that bipartisan cooperation could deliver both environmental and economic results.

What is often forgotten today is how broad that political coalition once was. Environmental protection was not a partisan cause. Republicans and Democrats almost competed to be seen as environmental champions. Conservative lawmakers voted for pollution limits, and no wonder: 75% of Americans supported increased government spending to reduce air and water pollution, and large majorities said they were willing to pay higher costs for clean air and water.

For a time, that public pressure worked.

When citizens demonstrate that protecting the planet matters—to their communities, their votes, and their future—leaders respond.

But the momentum that first Earth Day created has slowed and increasingly reversed. Why? One major turning point came in 2010, when the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allowed corporations and outside groups to spend unlimited money in elections. In the years since, political spending by all groups has surged but particularly by polluting industries, which outspent health and environmental groups 20 to 1. According to Climate Power, the fossil fuel industry spent $450 million during the 2024 election cycle.

In the past year, 425 environmental and health and safety laws and regulations have been rolled back or crippled, many of which, including all climate change related policies and laws, were promised during the election. The quid pro quo for donations was pretty straightforward—denial that climate change exists or is harmful.

Citizens United opened the spigot for anti-environmental spending, and what is coming out of those spigots is hurting our children, our health, and American innovation and economic leadership.

The influence of that spending has helped transform environmental policy from a bipartisan priority into one of the most polarized issues in Washington. In the years before the ruling, bipartisan climate legislation was still possible. In the years after Citizens United, cooperation largely collapsed. The result has been legislative gridlock at precisely the moment scientists and many economists say immediate action will both reduce or even solve the climate crisis and keep America from losing its place in the impossible to stop green economy.

Ironically, this reversal of environmental policy has occurred even as public concern has remained high. Surveys consistently show that large majorities of Americans believe climate change is real and more than 70% of Americans support stronger measures to address climate change. This disconnect between public concern and political action is the defining challenge of this Earth Day and the environmental movement itself.

That is why the theme of this year’s Earth Day, Our Power, Our Planet, is more than a slogan. It is a reminder of a fundamental truth that shaped the first Earth Day: Political power ultimately flows from citizens—real people—to Congress and the White House.

The environmental breakthroughs of the 1970s and 1990s did not happen because leaders suddenly discovered science. They happened because millions of people made environmental protection politically unavoidable. Citizens marched, organized, voted, and demanded action. They made it clear that protecting the planet was not optional. Today, that same civic power and engagement is needed again.

If governments believe environmental protection is a low priority for voters, progress will stall. If they believe the public is divided or disengaged, short-term political pressure and massive corporate dollars will always win. But when citizens demonstrate that protecting the planet matters—to their communities, their votes, and their future—leaders respond.

That is the real meaning of Our Power, Our Planet. The environmental movement has already shown what collective action can achieve. The question now is whether we are prepared to use that power again. Because the progress of the past half-century was never guaranteed; without sustained public engagement, it could easily erode.

Earth Day was never meant to be a celebration. It was designed as a demonstration of public will. Fifty-seven years later, the challenge is the same: to show governments, once again, that the power to protect our planet ultimately belongs to the people.

This piece was distributed by American Forum.

Thai farmers pin hopes on microbes to end annual burning crisis


By AFP
April 16, 2026


So far, around 2,000 have made the switch to microbial solutions -- a fraction of the province's 100,000 rice farmers, but a start - Copyright AFP

 Lillian SUWANRUMPHA
Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, 

Sally JENSEN

Rice farmers Siriporn and Amnat Taidee used to burn their paddy fields between plantings — a common method of clearing crop residue partly blamed for toxic smog that blankets much of Thailand every spring.

A quick and affordable way to prepare for a new growing cycle, the practice has long been seen as the only feasible option for millions of Thai rice farmers.

But for the couple from Chiang Rai, abandoning what Amnat called “the old way of doing things” for new microbial solutions has been a boon.

Thanks to the hungry bacteria that chew up post-harvest leftovers — their soil is softer, their yields are up and their fertiliser bills are down.

“My life has changed,” said Siriporn, 63, as she sloshed through a verdant paddy field in Chiang Rai. “I’m so happy… we don’t have to burn anymore.”

Every year between January and April, smoke from crop residue, forest fires and industrial emissions — compounded by smog drifting over from neighbouring countries — pushes Thailand’s air quality to dangerous levels.

Bangkok has restricted burning for years, but a recent crackdown has put government environmental goals on a collision course with traditional agricultural practices.

The threat of heavy fines and even prison has frightened farmers — but many feel they still have no alternative.

“It simply pushes the burden onto farmers,” Witsanu Attavanich, an environmental economist at Kasetsart University, said of the ban on open burning.



– The price of change –



The Taidees were early converts, using a product called Soil Digest developed by a Thai scientist using five strains of Bacillus bacteria — one of which is derived from traditional fermented soybeans.

Siriporn said the solution decomposed the “terrible” stubble on the fields in a matter of days and helped restore the soil.

“The rice is coming in great and the soil is healthy,” she says. “This microbial stuff is a game-changer.”

Last year, authorities in Chiang Rai — one of Thailand’s main rice-growing provinces — began encouraging local farmers to try microbial solutions.

So far, around 2,000 have made the switch — a fraction of the province’s 100,000 rice farmers, but a start.

“If we are to stop the burning, we must provide them with multiple alternatives,” said Orracha Wongsaroj, a provincial agricultural official.

Microbial products have long been used in Thai agriculture, but demand for newer formulations targeting straw decomposition has grown sharply since the burning crackdown intensified a few years ago.

The Thai government promotes free access to microbial products for farmers — but officials told AFP that stocks had run out and they were struggling to scale up supply.

For those who cannot access government supplies, private market alternatives can be pricey.

In Pathum Thani, a rice-growing province in central Thailand, farmer Samart Atthong spent 1,200 baht ($37) hiring an agricultural drone to spray Soil Digest over his fields.

“People may only see the extra cost of the microbes, but they should look in the long run,” Samart said.

“Once the soil heals, we won’t need nearly as much fertiliser,” he said. “Where I live, burning has dropped to nearly zero.”



– Making microbes work –



Striding through air thick with dust from yeast, retired professor Wichien Yongmanitchai watches the whirring machines producing his microbial concoction.

He started by isolating local bacterial strains, convinced that native ones would work best in Thailand’s tropical environment.

He hopes his invention — sold as Soil Digest — will fix Thailand’s annual air crisis for good.

Without microbial treatment, rice straw takes around 30 days to soften enough to till — his solution works in five to seven days.

Early trials show yield increases of up to 20 percent.

Wichien also said the bacteria can reduce methane emissions from paddy fields by at least 20 percent, helping Thailand meet its climate commitments.

“This is one of the biggest benefits to make (for achieving) carbon neutrality in the rice field.”

But Wichien knows his small operation cannot reach Thailand’s 20 million farmers alone. And without government and corporate backing, the gap may prove too wide.

Independent experts agree the technology shows promise — but warn the system around it must change.

“The government wants to reduce straw burning — but there is no one-size-fits-all solution,” said Nipon Poapongsakorn, an agricultural policy expert at the Thailand Development Research Institute.

To start with he suggests conditional subsidies tied to a no-burn commitment, combined with machinery access and farmer education.

Wichien is already thinking beyond Thailand to paddy fields across Southeast Asia and ultimately Africa.

“I don’t want anything else. I just want to make it work.”

What’s In Your Gasoline? Understanding U.S. Motor Gasoline Formulations – Analysis

April 16, 2026 

By EIA

Motor gasoline in the United States is a blend of hydrocarbons and chemicals, with specific formulas varying by region and season. To meet federal air quality standards, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state regulators require different formulations, depending on air quality and location, which affect performance, cost, and emissions. In addition, warmer summer months require a different gasoline formulation than cooler winter months. Key differences between formulations include octane rating, volatility—commonly measured as Reid vapor pressure (RVP)—and emissions. This year, the EPA will relax federal enforcement of summer RVP standards to help reduce gasoline prices.


What are the main types of gasoline formulations in the United States?

There are two main types of gasoline: Conventional gasoline is the standard gasoline blend used in areas of the United States that meet federal air-quality standards. Conventional blend gasoline meets basic federal limits on emissions and volatility. Most of the United States uses this formulation.
Reformulated gasoline (RFG) is required by the Clean Air Act in areas with high smog. RFG burns cleaner than conventional gasoline but is typically more expensive to produce. Approximately 25% of U.S. gasoline sales are RFG, according to the EPA.

Both types of gasoline are available in different octane ratings (regular, midgrade, premium) and are usually blended with ethanol. In addition to conventional and reformulated gasoline, refiners adjust gasoline blends for summer and winter.

Why do gasoline formulations change seasonally?

The EPA uses RVP to regulate gasoline volatility: the lower the RVP, the less volatile the gasoline and the less evaporative the emissions. To reduce smog-forming emissions, the EPA mandates that summer grade gasoline has a lower RVP (less volatility) to control evaporation, which would normally increase in warm weather. In cold weather, higher volatility helps engines start more easily.

How do RVP limits change across regions?

During the summer season, EPA limits gasoline in the continental United States to an RVP of no more than 9.0 pounds per square inch (psi). However, regulators apply stricter limits in areas with air quality issues, including:Gasoline with a RVP no higher than 7.8 psi in areas requiring federally mandated gasoline

RFG program gasoline with RVP no higher than 7.4 psi in federally designated areas
Gasoline made to specification for State Implementation Plans (SIP) that are more stringent than federal requirements

How does the RVP limit change through the year?

The summer season for retailers and wholesale purchasers runs from June 1 to September 15. For refiners and bulk terminals, it starts earlier, running from May 1 to September 15, to allow time for supplies of summer-grade gasoline to get from producers to retailers. Some areas require longer periods for summer-grade gasoline use to further control emissions. Although not mandated, switching back to winter-grade gasoline in the fall is common because of its lower production cost.

Why is gasoline with lower RVP more expensive?

Gasoline with lower RVP is more expensive to produce because it requires pricier components for blending. For example, butane, a low-cost octane booster, has high RVP that limits its use in summer or RFG blends. Instead, lower RVP gasoline uses more expensive components such as alkylate to maintain octane while reducing RVP, contributing to higher retail prices.

Do all states follow the same rules?

Not exactly. The EPA sets federal standards but allows states or regions to set stricter gasoline specifications. Arizona, for example, requires the use of Cleaner Burning Gasoline (CBG) in parts of the state. California has stricter requirements than the federal government.

Data source: California Air Resources Board

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) requires gasoline RVP has no more than 7.0 psi during the summer season. In addition, CARB requires longer periods for summer-grade gasoline. These requirements contribute to consistently higher gasoline prices in California.

Principal contributor: Alex de Keyserling

Source: This article was published by the EIA

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.

Activists ring alarm bells about halt in Poland's air pollution progress

CLAUDIA CIOBANU
Wed, April 8, 2026



FILE - Smoke rises from chimneys of the coal-fired power plant in Bogatynia, Poland. The picture was taken from a hill near the town of Frydlant, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is one of Europe’s most polluted countries, and a flagship national program to clean the air and curb household heating demand is losing momentum — threatening both public health and the country’s energy security as global conflicts, including the Iran war, destabilize fuel supplies.

European Union air quality standards were routinely breached in parts of Poland until the government launched a sweeping anti‑smog initiative in 2018. The program, known as “Clean Air,” offers grants to households and businesses to replace coal‑fired boilers, improve thermal insulation and cut domestic energy consumption. Coal‑based home heating is the largest source of air pollution in the country and the aim is to replace it with systems based on gas, wood pellets or electricity.

Environmentalists are now raising alarm bells that the program is puttering out, which not only slows down progress with smog but also keeps the country more dependent on volatile energy imports at a time of growing geopolitical risk.

About a million households in the country of nearly 38 million people have used the “Clean Air” program since 2018, according to Krzysztof Bolesta, Secretary of State at the Polish Ministry of Climate and Environment. Two and a half million coal-based heaters are still to be modernized.

Andrzej Guła, from NGO Polish Smog Alert, said Krakow went from 150 days of heavy smog per year to 30, exemplifying the impact of the program. “It’s still 30 days too much, but there is progress,” Gula said.

In 2024, at the peak of the scheme, more than a quarter million requests for financing were filed, but applications have rapidly decreased since.

At the end of that year, the government initiated a reform of the program to prevent misuse of funds and temporarily paused approving applications. Activists argue that the sudden interruption of the program caused a loss of trust among citizens.

During a press conference in Warsaw on March 31, environmentalists from Polish Smog Alert showed data which indicated the number of applications was five times lower in 2025 compared with the peak of the program. The slump was continuing into 2026.

The environmentalists said they worried progress on air pollution and reducing domestic energy consumption in Poland had reached a plateau.

Bolesta, representing the government, said the reform was needed to ensure only worthy projects receive financing and avoid wasting public funds.

“Poland has a unique situation in the European Union, as only Poland has such a high share of coal in individual heating,” Bolesta explains, stressing the government’s commitment to improving air quality. “However, I have no illusions: this will be very difficult and we will continue to lag behind other countries in the EU.”

But Piotr Siergiej, another environmentalist from the Polish Smog Alert, said the energy crisis caused by the Iran war should serve as a wake-up call to the Polish government about the urgency of fixing this program.

Lowering energy consumption builds energy security in Poland, Siergiej argued, because it reduces dependency on imported gas, coal and pellets (a more eco-friendly solid fuel produced from compressed wood waste).

PANNIER: Uzbekistan’s air pollution officials search for lasting solutions

Most of eastern Central Asia suffers horrendous difficulties with air pollution. / Janusz Walczak via PixabayFacebook

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By Bruce Pannier April 7, 2026

Uzbekistan’s air pollution problem has noticeably worsened over the last several years, but at the end of March authorities strengthened efforts to combat the dilemma.

The government introduced a series of measures aimed at lowering the choking pollution and effects caused by increasingly frequent dust storms.

Previous steps have not been sufficiently effective, but the government has unveiled a five-year plan specifically to deal with air quality issues.

Toxic to breathe

It is not only Uzbekistan but most of the eastern part of Central Asia, where most of the region’s population lives, that suffers heightened levels of air pollution.

Decades of using coal as a primary source of generating electricity and heating homes has contributed to the pollution problems now being seen.

More recently, winds blowing over the desiccated Aral Sea bed in western Central Asia have brought ever greater amounts of dust eastward, darkening the skies as far away as Tajikistan in the region’s southeastern corner.

On January 3, 2024, the website IQAir, which monitors air quality globally, rated the air quality in the Uzbek capital Tashkent as “very unhealthy,” and second only to New Delhi in terms of pollutants.

On February 21-22, 2024, IQAir ranked Tashkent as having the worst air quality in the world. Also on February 22, Kazakhstan’s capital Astana and Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek ranked 9th and 19th, respectively.

 

World's most polluted countries & regions
(Ranking based on annual average PM2.5 concentrations (μg/m³). PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matter air pollution that is 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter, in other words, small enough to enter deep into the lungs and bloodstream).

Graphic credit: IQAir.

Tashkent does not even have the worst air pollution in Uzbekistan. Yearly averages show Uzbekistan’s eastern city of Ferghana, home to one of the country’s oil refineries, has the worst air quality problem.

Then there are the dust storms. Not long ago, dust storms were rare in Central Asia, but in recent years they have become common events.

In 2025, Tajikistan was hit by 63 dust storms, up from 35 in 2024.

A huge dust storm blew into Tashkent on May 17, 2025, cutting visibility on main streets to a few hundred metres.

Dust blown from the dried-out Aral Sea area often carries alkaline soil left as the water evaporated from the seabed. This alkaline soil causes respiratory ailments in people and destroys crops.

Time to get serious

In January 2024, as air pollution was growing worse, activists staged a flashmob under the hashtag #TozaHavoKerak (clean air needed), calling on authorities to find a lasting solution to the problem.

Protests of any kind are extremely rare in Uzbekistan, so the event itself was an indication of public desperation at the air quality situation.

After the horrible air pollution in the first two months of 2024, Uzbek authorities started to broadcast warnings to alert the public about rising levels or air pollution or to when dust storms were coming. It didn’t ease the problem. It only reminded the population that it was hazardous to breathe.

On February 21, 2024, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed an order for a “Day without Automobiles” in Tashkent. One day per month, people in the Uzbek capital were to leave their vehicles at home and use public transportation to get to work.

State employees were told to set a “personal example” by taking public transportation to and from work.

It was billed as part of the “Uzbekistan-2030” strategy, but it never caught on and air pollution in Tashkent and other parts of Uzbekistan continued to plague residents.

So, two weeks ago, Mirziyoyev signed a decree on “Measures to Implement the National Project ‘Clean Air’ Aimed at Improving Air Quality.”

The project establishes targets for cleaning up the air, such as a 10.5 % reduction in the release of toxic substances and reducing the number of days when pollution hits dangerous levels.

The strategy is being rolled out gradually, starting in Uzbekistan’s section of the Fergana Valley, where the highest concentration of people lives, and then moving west, and finishing in Karakalpakstan and Khorezm in December this year.

The strategy also specifies that starting in May, the 10th and 25th of every month will be the “Day without Automobiles,” though the decree also mentions a “Week with Automobiles.” This time, “civil servants are strictly prohibited from using official vehicles.”

New bicycle lanes will appear across Tashkent and starting from August 1, people can trade in their older vehicles and receive financial credit on the purchase of new cars.

Tashkent will introduce a system that alerts residents via SMS, the media, and using digital platforms to an expected drastic worsening of air quality. And naturally, fines for violating air protection rules are substantially increased and fines for repeat offenders will be fined more than doubled.

Companies that fail to report full and accurate data on emissions also face stiff fines.

On April 1, the Green Nation programme was launched. The goal is to increase Uzbekistan’s “green coverage” area from the current 14.2% to 30% by 2030.

There are also plans to  plant “green belts” in 33 districts to mitigate the effects of dust storms.

The same day the programme was unveiled, work started on planting “green walls” in the Surhandarya and Syrdarya provinces to screen out dust.

The race Is on

Uzbekistan has been working on developing the country’s renewable energy output, particularly solar and wind.

Of some 86.7-billion-kilowatt hours (kWh) of domestically produced electricity in 2025, some 16.8 billion kWh came from renewable energy sources, a 29% increase from 2024. Uzbekistan’s Energy Ministry noted that the boost in renewable energy use prevented some 4.7 tonnes of pollutants from being released into the air.

But Uzbekistan is aiming at a rapidly moving target. A big push in industrialisation combined with a population that since 2015 has been increasing at an average of 700,000 people annually creates an expanding demand for energy.

Uzbekistan was once a natural gas exporter, but for the last four years the country has been boosting gas imports, mainly from Russia and delivered via a pipeline that not long ago carried Uzbek gas to Russia.

It seems that every autumn, officials say the country can meet its energy needs through winter, but shortly after the New Year reports appear about sales of coal and wood soaring.

The new “clean air” programme Mirziyoyev signed runs from 2026 to 2030. Previous attempts at combatting air pollution did not include a long-term strategy, so this latest attempt is, if nothing else, more structured and enduring with specific goals.

The question now is whether these new regulations and targets, coupled with developing renewable energy sources can meet the demands of a growing number of factories and plants and an increasing population and still alleviate a pollution problem that has accumulated over the course of decades.

New research reveals that cutting emissions is not the only way to save lives from air pollution

Stockholm Environment Institute

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• 52% of the global decrease in air pollution mortality rates was driven by reductions in vulnerability, such as improved access to quality healthcare and poverty reduction, rather than just cleaner air (between 1990 and 2019)  

• Without these unintended “shields”, 1.7 million more people would have died globally from air pollution in 2019 

A major new global modelling study led by researchers at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) at the University of York challenges the international focus on air pollution. Published in The Lancet Planetary Health, the study finds that reducing population vulnerability is as important as cutting emissions for saving lives. 

The research reveals that while reducing exposure to pollutants is critical, measures such as universal access to quality healthcare and poverty reduction played a crucial, and often overlooked, role in saving lives over the last 30 years. 

A population’s risk of harm from air pollution is shaped by a complex set of socioeconomic and health factors, including pre-existing medical conditions, smoking and the quality and accessibility of medical care. In some regions where air quality has not improved, air pollution mortality rates have still dropped exclusively because of reductions in these vulnerability factors. 

“While cleaning our air remains a critical goal, our findings demonstrate that reducing emissions is only part of the solution,” said Chris Malley, lead author of the study from SEI at the University of York. “To improve public health, we must also focus on the factors that make people susceptible to harm. Integrating healthcare improvements and poverty reduction into air quality strategies is an essential tool for protecting the world's most vulnerable populations from the deadly effects of air pollution.” 

Key findings: 

• Between 1990 and 2019, global air pollution mortality rates decreased by 45%. Approximately 52% of the decrease in global air pollution mortality rates was due to reductions in vulnerability, rather than just lower pollution levels. 

• Without the global actions that reduced people's vulnerability to air pollution, an estimated 1.7 million more people would have died from air pollution-related causes in 2019 alone. 

• Global poverty plummeted from 45% in 1990 to 21% in 2019, acting as a massive, unintended shield against the health burdens of smog. 

• Public health efforts such as reducing obesity, cutting smoking rates, and treating hypertension are rarely included in air pollution strategies, despite their significant impact on reducing mortality. 

The study also highlights the benefits of combining reductions in air pollution exposure with efforts to strengthen resilience. Both Europe and North America saw similar declines in air pollution exposure between 1990 and 2019. However, reductions in air pollution-related mortality were almost twice as large in Europe, reflecting greater progress in reducing vulnerability through health and social improvements. 

The study concludes that air quality strategies must evolve to include interventions that reduce non-air-pollution health determinants to complement traditional exposure reduction efforts. 

Notes to editors  

About the study  

“Estimating the vulnerability contribution to 1990–2019 changes in the health burden of ambient air pollution: a global modelling study” was published in The Lancet Planetary Health. It can be read here. 

About Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)  

Stockholm Environment Institute is an international non-profit research institute that tackles climate, environment and sustainable development challenges. We empower partners to meet these challenges through cutting-edge research, knowledge, tools and capacity building. Through SEI’s HQ and seven centres around the world, we engage with policy, practice and development action for a sustainable, prosperous future for all. 

About the University of York  

A member of the prestigious Russell Group, the University of York is a dynamic, research-intensive university committed to institutional excellence and social purpose. 

Media contact 

Toto Reissland Lichman, Engagement and Research Communications Manager, Stockholm Environment Institute York, toto.reissland@sei.org, +44 (0)7976 098139 

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Journal

The Lancet Planetary Health

DOI

10.1016/j.lanplh.2026.101442 

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Estimating the vulnerability contribution to 1990–2019 changes in the health burden of ambient air pollution: a global modelling study