Did you know that nearly 1 in 4 deaths of children under 5 in East Asia and the Pacific was linked to air pollution in 2021? Children in all countries in East Asia and the Pacific are exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution that poses a critical threat to their health and well-being. This advocacy brief sheds light on the alarming impact of poor air quality on the region's youngest population...

Solar energy, with its declining costs and enhanced efficiency, is a viable alternative to traditional fossil fuels. However, its effectiveness is compromised by atmospheric and meteorological conditions, particularly air pollution, which reduces solar radiation and panel efficiency. This study estimates the impact of air pollution on solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation in South Korea, a rapi...

This study delves the trends of sunshine reaching the earth surface, both temporally and spatially, across nine geographically diverse regions including 20 stations in India, spanning the years 1988 to 2018. The monthly sunshine hours (SSH) analysis concluded significant increment from October to May followed by significant drops from June to July in six regions, except northern inland and Himalay...

In the context of degradation of soil health, environmental pollution, and yield stagnation in the rice–wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia, an experiment was established in split plot design to assess the long-term effect of crop residue management on productivity and phosphorus requirement of wheat in rice–wheat system. The experiment comprised of six crop residue management p...

Crop residue burning, a common agricultural practice in wheat cultivation, has significant implications for soil health, nutrient cycling, and microbial communities. This study evaluates the effects of residue burning on soil physicochemical properties, microbial populations, and CO2 emissions in wheat fields across Wazha village and Sitak, Sulaymaniyah Province, Kurdistan, Iraq. Post-burning anal...

For such a common and accepted practice, the benefits of residue burning are relatively few.  The majority of producers who observe a crop rotation such as rice followed by soybeans typically gain minor cost savings but perhaps gain a great deal of time savings as fields can be burned much faster than they can be mechanically managed.  Where residue can be burned and more land can be pre...

Acute exposure to emissions from fires presents a significant and immediate threat to human health. Inhalation of wildfire smoke and other pollutants can lead to various health issues, including respiratory and cardiovascular problems. This study uses the SILAM chemical transport model, integrated with the IS4FIRES fire information system, to assess population exposure to fire-related PM2.5, along...

Background: Landscape fire-sourced (LFS) air pollution is an increasing public health concern in the context of climate change. However, little is known about the attributable global, regional, and national mortality burden related to LFS air pollution.Methods: Authors calculated country-specific population-weighted average daily and annual LFS fine particulate matter (PM2·5) and surface ozone (O3...

This paper reviews the literature on crop residue burning - a widespread practice in many regions in South Asia. Specifically, authors examine evidence from studies highlighting the scale of the practice in South Asia, the environmental implications, the drivers of the practice and the remedies to the problem. The studies provide evidence that the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) is a hot-spot for atmosp...

Short-lived climate forcing agents (SLCFAs) such as black carbon and ozone offer important policy opportunities to reduce radiative forcing in the short term (this decade), while also reducing air pollution impacts. Because of the combination of high absorption, a regional distribution roughly aligned with solar irradiance, and the capacity to form widespread atmospheric brown clouds in a mixture ...