US State Department Kills Global Air Monitoring Program Researchers Say Paid for Itself
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Summary
The US State Department is ending a project providing real-time air quality data from foreign embassies due to budget constraints.
The initiative, which began in 2008 in Beijing ahead of the city’s Olympic Games, measured pollution in around 80 cities globally, where US diplomatic missions are based.
It regularly published data which contradicted local government figures, with Chinese officials eventually adopting US techniques to clean up the air in the capital.
The project has been credited with helping clean up the air in numerous countries, and preventing hundreds of premature deaths, as well as saving significant costs in medical bills.
Ending the scheme will hinder the advances made and the understanding of air pollutants’ effect on human health, experts have said.
