Seminar Series: Josh Apte

Think Globally, Breathe Locally: Understanding Urban Air Pollution at Multiple Spatial Scales

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Air pollution is one of the leading risk factors for premature death, associated with more than 7% of all human deaths worldwide. Here, I present three interlinked analyses that help frame the urban air pollution problem at the global and local scales. First, using an unusually detailed satellite remote sensing dataset, I show how fine particle (PM2.5) air pollution levels have evolved over the past two decades in every city in the world. Second, I present the case study of New Delhi, India — the world’s most polluted megacity — where we are using chemical fingerprinting techniques to understand the drivers of the city’s extremely poor air quality. Third, using Google Street View cars and other specially equipped mobile air pollution laboratories, we show how air pollution varies at fine spatial scales within individual neighborhoods in the Bay Area and Bangalore, India, revealing unexpected pollution sources and exposure disparities. In combination, these analyses highlight how a portfolio of solutions will be required to address the major health challenges of air pollution at scale.