International Air Quality Capacity Building

• By: AWMA
• On: 07/06/2022 10:12:43
• In: EM Articles
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by Prakash Doraiswamy and Golam Sarwar
 
Air quality continues to be a global challenge. The 2019 Global Burden of Disease study ranked air pollution as the fourth largest risk factor for early mortality and noted that one of the largest increases in risk exposures was for ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution. Exposures were found to increase globally by 1.46% per year over the past decade, with large annual increases (nearly 3.8–4%) in low- and middle-income countries. While the COVID pandemic-related lockdowns resulted in a temporary decline in air pollution in many parts of the world, it provided a natural evidence of the potential improvements in air quality that might be possible. Nevertheless, many developing countries lack resources and/or technical expertise needed to monitor and manage air quality.

This issue of EM focuses on the air quality status in different countries across the world and emphasizes the international partnerships that have helped build capacity in air quality monitoring and management in these countries. We present four studies that are part of different Air Quality Fellowship Initiatives formulated by the U.S. Department of State that enable partnerships between U.S. scientists and in-country stakeholders. These studies highlight collaborations in Asia, Africa, and South America where Air Quality Fellows worked closely with stakeholders on various aspects of air quality monitoring and assessment, including implementing and expanding air quality monitoring capacity, gaining more expertise in sensor and satellite data interpretation and analysis, technical understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns, and formulation of regulations and training on air quality management framework.

Continue reading the full July 2022 issue of EM.