Air Quality Worsens Globally – Share of Cities Meeting WHO Guidelines Declines

24/03/2026 Chetan Bhattacharji

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 ->

Governments Are Failing to Act on Deadly Combination of Super Pollutants and Heat

16/03/2026 Chetan Bhattacharji

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 ->

Policy ‘Magic’ vs Industrial Reality in the Fight for Asia’s Breathable Air

12/03/2026 Chetan Bhattacharji

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 ->

UN Rapporteur Signals Legal Shift to Hold Air Polluters Accountable

10/03/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen

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 ->

As ‘Gulf War 3’ Threatens Progress on Air Pollution, ‘Market Forces’ May Provide Impetus for Change

10/03/2026 Chetan Bhattacharji

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 ->

Drone Busts Delhi’s Spring Clean Air Myth

27/02/2026 Chetan Bhattacharji

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 ->

Toxic Chemicals Abundant in Cosmetics, Hair Products, with Little Regulation

23/02/2026 Sophia Samantaroy

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 ->

Air Pollution and Heatwaves Take Centre Stage at Mumbai Climate Week

19/02/2026 Disha Shetty

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 ->

Air Pollution Worsens Anxiety Disorders, Increases Rate of Schizophrenia Relapse

19/02/2026 Disha Shetty

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 ->

Healthy Minds, Longer Lives: Inside the Science and Promise of Blue Zones

16/02/2026 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

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 ->