Air Pollution
Human Health & the Environment
Class Meetings
Dates: 2026-10-22T16:00:00
Optional Material (Dive Deeper)
Podcasts
A call for redesigning American streets
Duration: 00:21:09
Released: 2018
Series: Better Off
In this week’s podcast we’ll explore how America’s streets can be redesigned to benefit bicyclists and pedestrians—and we’ll explain why doing so may even help mitigate the effects of climate change. A new study from Anne Lusk, research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, analyzed how bicyclists and pedestrians responded to various placements of trees along cycle tracks—barrier-protected bicycle-exclusive paths between the road and the sidewalk. The research shows that the placement of these trees can play an important role in how people walking and biking perceive traffic, pollution, heat, and even safety. But the benefits extend beyond just those using the street—and could even be a factor in mitigating the effects of climate change. These trees may make it more likely that people will bike—helping to reduce pollution. And increased greenery can also help cool cities, which often suffer from a heat island effect, which means they’re significantly warmer than more rural areas. Lusk says all of this highlights the need to re-think how we’re designing streets to encourage more people to walk and bike instead of drive.
Allergy Reason
Duration: 00:53:33
Released: 2026
Series: Big Picture Science
Runny nose. Itchy, watery eyes. Sneezing. If you don’t have allergies, you probably know someone who does. The number of people with allergies, including food allergies and eczema, is increasing. What is going on? A medical anthropologist describes how our hygiene habits, our diets, and our polluted environment are irritating our bodies. Also, the case for skipping your shower. Is skin healthier when we stop lathering? Guests: James Hamblin – Preventive medicine physician and a lecturer in public health at Yale and author of Clean: the New Science of Skin Theresa MacPhail – medical anthropologist, professor of science and technology studies at Stevens Institute of Technology and author of Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World. Descripción en español originally aired July 3, 2023 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Are extreme wildfires the new normal?
Duration: 00:13:21
Released: 2026
Series: Short Wave
With parts of the U.S, Canada, Spain and France all ablaze with wildfires, you might be wondering: Are wildfires on the rise? If so, know that you mind-melded with the entire Short Wave staff. We had the exact same thought – and then went down some reporting rabbit holes and turned it into a whole episode. And let us just say: The answer is surprisingly complicated! But don’t you worry. We get into all the nuances this episode.Interested in more science behind the headlines? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. It includes perks like bonus episodes, early access, archive access, curated playlists and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
REGINA BARBER: Hey, Short Wavers. It’s Gina here with a request– follow us on whichever app you’re listening from. We love sharing cool and important science stories with you. And following us means you’ll always know when our next episode is ready, just for you. And guess what. The next episode is ready.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
EMILY KWONG: You’re listening to Short Wave from NPR.
BARBER: Hello, Short Wavers, Regina Barber here with my co host, NPR science correspondent Nate Rott. Hey, Nate.
NATHAN ROTT: Hello, Gina.
BARBER: So, Nate, over the years, you’ve reported a ton on wildfires and fought some in a previous life, I heard.
ROTT: Yes, a previous, younger, more lithe life. Yes, that is correct.
BARBER: Yeah. We’re all getting old, Nate.
ROTT: Yeah.
BARBER: And Nate, it seems like a lot of the world is experiencing them right now. Like, fires are happening in France and Spain. Canada and even Oregon is fighting dozens of fires right now. So, with all of your expertise, riddle me this.
ROTT: OK.
BARBER: Is it my imagination, or are wildfires increasing globally?
ROTT: Gina, are you sitting down?
BARBER: I am, actually. You can see me.
ROTT: OK, yeah, I can. And you are sitting. I just wanted to confirm for anybody who can’t see you. I say, are you sitting, because overall, there are fewer wildfires globally and less land burning on average than in the past. But–
BARBER: Huh.
ROTT: –within those two sentences, Gina, there is so much nuance, and so, we’ll get into that.
ZEKE HAUSFATHER: There’s a lot of different regional trends that are underneath that.
ROTT: Yeah, so that’s Zeke Hausfather. He’s a climate scientist in California. And he says that, for example, in North American forests, like where we are, the trend is definitely more burning.
HAUSFATHER: The typical fire burns about three times more area than it did 30 years ago or 40 years ago, which is largely driven by changes in conditions. The vegetation is drier, and so when a spark catches, it’s more likely to burn a larger area.
ROTT: And Gina, globally, extreme wildfire activity has more than doubled in the last two decades.
BARBER: That’s so much.
ROTT: Yeah, it’s a lot, which means that in certain areas, there are more fires burning bigger and hotter, which, in some cases, means more smoke from those fires can travel a very long way and make a beautiful sunset, but muddy up a perfectly normal vacation.
BARBER: Yeah, which is why we’ve been seeing smoke here on the East Coast, right?
ROTT: Yeah.
BARBER: And one thing I’ve been wondering when it gets hazy, especially having a kid, is, like, how much time can I spend outside? And should I even be outside at all? Like, I know that there’s, like, an air quality index, but the guidelines seem vague.
ROTT: [CHUCKLES] Vague is a very diplomatic way of putting it, Gina. And–
BARBER: Yeah.
ROTT: –there’s a reason for that. You know, scientists just don’t have a lot of long-term data on wildfire smoke exposure to give people definitive guidelines, which leaves a lot of people like you and me wondering how to go about their days when there’s a lot of smoke in the air.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
BARBER: So today on the show, what to do when the world’s on fire.
ROTT: We talk about the changing wildfire landscape, what’s driving the trends, and what you can do about it.
BARBER: You’re listening to Short Wave, the science podcast from NPR.
BARBER: OK, Nate, so you said earlier that wildfires are actually decreasing globally. This is just wild to me. Like, how is that possible?
ROTT: Yeah, I mean, OK, so when we say wildfires, that includes lots of different types of environments and vegetation– forests, yes, but also, you know, grasslands and shrublands and savanna. And as anyone who messed around with fireworks as a kid or had a little pyro streak maybe like me, you will know that fire burns a lot faster and quicker in lighter vegetation, like grasses, than it does in, like, a forest, right?
BARBER: Yeah.
ROTT: So most of the area–
BARBER: Yeah, definitely.
ROTT: –that burns every year are grasslands, shrublands, and savannas, not forests.
BARBER: OK.
ROTT: And so, the reason that, globally, there’s less land burned is largely because there’s less grasslands and shrublands and savannas burning mostly in Africa, which, you know, is a really big continent. So that brings down the global scale.
BARBER: I love this. This is, like, fascinating, these nuances. OK, so, now, there’s these two pretty bad forest fires in France and Spain. And–
ROTT: Yeah.
BARBER: –outside of these fires, is Europe another place where there are fewer fires recently?
ROTT: Well, honestly, Gina, this is, like, a really active area of research, like what are the trends in wildfire are in Europe. But when our producer–
BARBER: Yeah.
ROTT: –Berly McCoy spoke to Zeke Monday about the current fires, he said the area burned was higher than average for the European Union, so–
BARBER: OK.
ROTT: –not record-setting yet. Of course, that could change. But he said these fires are understandably getting a lot of media attention because there are two big fires burning at the same time near a lot of–
BARBER: Yeah.
ROTT: –people. So it might seem like a trend, but it might not necessarily be.
BARBER: So, I mean, could this be just, like, a normal fire year for Europe? I remember, like, four years ago, a big fire in Spain. Like, is this–
ROTT: Yeah.
BARBER: –just normal?
ROTT: Yeah, I mean, look, it could be. But, you know, Zeke pointed out that there is a trend that is related to many wildfires today in Europe and North America everywhere. The fires that are burning in Spain and France both coincided with an extreme heat wave.
BARBER: OK, I see where this is going.
ROTT: Yeah, climate change– don’t know if you’ve heard of it, small thing–
BARBER: Yeah.
ROTT: –happening globally.
BARBER: Yeah, the climate crisis, it’s like this cartoon villain, right? It’s very predictable.
ROTT: Yeah, well, unlike a generic cartoon villain, you know, it’s not easily vanquished by Captain Planet and his gang of trusted friends.
BARBER: Yes.
ROTT: Zeke says that rising temperatures nurture fires that might otherwise just die out. So, like, take Canada, for example.
HAUSFATHER: So, every one degree centigrade, or roughly two degrees Fahrenheit, of warming during the fire season in Canada– so May to September– is associated with an 80% increase in the amount of area burned that year.
BARBER: 80%– that’s a huge jump for just, like, a couple of degrees Fahrenheit.
ROTT: Yeah, it’s massive. And he says, since the 1960s, the fire season has warmed up about four degrees Fahrenheit on average. So–
BARBER: Wow.
ROTT: –that translates to a huge amount of burned area in Canada because when it’s warmer, things just dry out quicker, so there’s literally more fuel for the fire.
BARBER: So doesn’t this also have to do with humans not doing, like, prescribed burns to clear the underbrush?
ROTT: In the United States, yes, that’s definitely true. So, in many parts of the country, not just the Western US, forests are adapted to fire. In many cases, they need it ecologically. And, you know, Native communities used fires for centuries to forests, but since at least the 1930s, we’ve been suppressing forest fires, putting them out as quickly as we can.
BARBER: I mean, Nate, only you can prevent forest fires.
ROTT: Yes, God bless Smokey Bear. It’s not Smokey the Bear, Gina. It’s Smokey Bear. Don’t let the Forest Service come after you.
BARBER: I had no idea, honestly.
ROTT: Yeah. And look, like, Smokey’s slogan was great to protect people and homes and, you know, maybe some timber, but it’s not so great to keep fuel levels down in those forests.
HAUSFATHER: When fires do occur in those forests, there’s so much undergrowth that’s accumulated that the fires are much more catastrophic. They reach up into the canopy of the trees. They become what we call crown fires that actually kill the trees–
BARBER: Geez.
HAUSFATHER: –rather than what historically has happened in Western forests, where you have these low-level fires that kill the undergrowth, but don’t reach up and actually kill the trees. The boreal forest is a different beast.
ROTT: Yeah, and the boreal forests in Canada, the ones that are smoking up parts of the US right now, those have never needed prescribed burning in the same way.
HAUSFATHER: The boreal forest–
BARBER: Wow.
HAUSFATHER: –in Canada is 4 and 1/2 times the size of Texas. And so, historically–
BARBER: What?
HAUSFATHER: –when fires burn in those forests, they’re just allowed to burn themselves out. You know, they haven’t had the same history of fire suppression that we have in the US that has built up fuel.
ROTT: So what he’s kind of saying is, it is normal for these big fires to happen in Canada, but what’s not normal is how often these huge fires are happening.
BARBER: So, historically, how often is normal for them to burn?
ROTT: So, typically, in Canada’s western boreal forest, Zeke says big fires would happen, you know, once every 50 to 200 years.
BARBER: That is not happening right now.
ROTT: No, it is much more frequent. And–
BARBER: Yeah.
ROTT: –when we’re talking about boreal forests, you know, for you non-ecology nerds out there, you know, we’re talking about these dense forests that stretch across the Northern Hemisphere, and temperatures are rising at higher latitudes faster than they are closer to the equator.
HAUSFATHER: What we’re seeing now is considerably more frequent fires, because these areas that used to be much wetter– you know, much of the the northern boreal resembles a swamp– are now much drier because of higher temperatures.
ROTT: And it’s not necessarily that more fires are starting, you know, which, in both the US and Canada, is often caused by lightning, sometimes caused by people. It’s that a warmer climate is creating the conditions for fires to get going and burn a lot more vegetation when they do.
BARBER: OK, so I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and there weren’t a lot of wildfires. And then I had my own kid, and then wildfires and smoke were just part of the summers. And honestly, I thought I was going to just, like, avoid all that and move to the East Coast.
ROTT: Yeah.
BARBER: And once I’m here, I’m not going to have any of that smoke.
ROTT: Yeah.
BARBER: But for listeners in the same boat as me– like, now, I’m inhaling this smoke– like, what are the recommendations for staying healthy?
ROTT: Well, so the biggest piece of advice I could give you, Gina, is to monitor the air quality to figure out your exposure to risk. So, in the US–
BARBER: OK.
ROTT: –there’s an air quality index for how polluted–
BARBER: Yeah.
ROTT: –the air is in a certain area. You know, it’s based on how many pollutants are in the air, and that includes particulate matter, these tiny little particles that are so small, they can get into your bloodstream.
BARBER: Oh, my gosh.
ROTT: You know, there’s been a lot of research that shows that it’s particularly risky for pregnant people. So I’d highly recommend people use AQI as kind of a quick pulse check to figure out how good the air quality is. It goes from green, where the air pollution isn’t a risk to people, all the way up to maroon, which means it’s a risk for everybody. And there is limited guidance for, you know, when you should limit outdoor activity, for example. But Lisa Patel, a pediatrician and environmental scientist at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, says it may not be a good enough tool for wildfires.
LISA PATEL: These air quality guidelines were built off the burning of fossil fuels. There was a study that was done on children between zero to five that found that wildfire smoke is about 10 times as toxic. 10 times as many children showed up to the emergency room with respiratory complaints.
ROTT: And it’s not just kids, right? Like, inhaling that smoke can lead to inflammation, which is linked to cancer, to heart and lung disease, and to dementia.
BARBER: Oof. So, what else can we do to limit our exposure to wildfire smoke?
ROTT: Yeah, so spending more time inside, you know, though, I should say, you know, staying inside won’t totally keep you from being exposed, especially in older homes with a lot of drafts. But, you know, staying inside is one piece of advice– wearing a mask when you go outside, recirculating the air in your car, you know, so you’re not sucking air directly from outside into the car. And using an air filter indoors goes a long way. Lisa says you can make one with a HEPA filter duct taped to a box fan. I’ve actually been to places where they’re doing this in Missoula, where I grew up. They are creating them for people that can’t afford air filters in their house. And when it comes to this bigger, you know, staying inside part that we’re talking about, Lisa knows that advice might be tough to hear.
PATEL: I’m a parent myself. My kids were 2 and 5 when– and we were in the middle of a pandemic. What we are in is a situation where– and it is sad for me to say. I grieve about it when I have to say it, but we’re increasingly having periods of time where it’s not safe for our kids to be outdoors.
ROTT: But she also says this is part of our new normal, which is what I also heard from Zeke.
HAUSFATHER: Like, we’re not going to be able to put the fire genie back in the bottle and return to the climate we had in the 1980s, at least not anytime in the next few centuries. So, it’s not a good news story.
BARBER: Geez.
HAUSFATHER: But I also don’t want to let people off the hook, you know. We need to adapt–
BARBER: Wow.
HAUSFATHER: –to this world of more and more extreme fires.
ROTT: You know, but both Zeke and Lisa emphasize the thing that people can do is reduce their emissions, right, which is going to stop the problem from getting even worse. You know, so that means things like switching to renewable energy, regenerative farming practices, and, you know, making more urban green space to cool down cities. You know, but sadly, we all should settle into this new normal, too.
BARBER: And more inside time, I guess.
ROTT: Yeah.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
BARBER: Nate, thank you so much for bringing us this reporting.
ROTT: Yeah, happy to do it.
BARBER: This episode was produced and co-reported by Berly McCoy. It was edited by our showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez, and fact-checked by Tyler Jones.
ROTT: The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez. Special thanks to science correspondent, Alejandra Borunda, for her guidance. I’m Nate Rott.
BARBER: And I’m Regina Barber. Thank you so much for listening to Short Wave from NPR.
Carlos Gould on wildfire smoke and our health
Duration: 00:27:41
Released: 2023
Series: Agents of Change in Environmental Justice
Dr. Carlos Gould joins the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice podcast to discuss the latest research on wildfire smoke’s impact on our health, and how we can protect ourselves.
Could air pollution make your memory worse?
Duration: 00:10:21
Released: 2026
Series: Short Wave
Summer is here, your windows are open and the smell of…car exhaust and the latest wildfire are wafting in. This air pollution is harmful to almost every organ, including the brain. Today on Short Wave, we talk about one way air pollution may cloud your memory.Interested in more episodes about how where we live affects us? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org and we may turn it into an episode!Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
Environmental Toxicology (POISONS + TRAIN DERAILMENT) with Kimberly K Garrett
Environmental Toxicology (POISONS + TRAIN DERAILMENT) with Kimberly K. Garrett
Duration: 01:19:15
Released: 2023
Series: Ologies with Alie Ward
Chemical spills, historical disasters, water quality, airborne toxic events, clear gasses, White Noise, dead fish, dark clouds, chemistry tests, trench coats, PFAS, phthalates, and the Ohio train derailment that plumed vinyl chloride into the skies of a small Ohio town. The lovely and informative Environmental Toxicologist Dr. Kimberly K. Garrett works at the intersection of chemical safety, public health and environmental justice — and she has cool science tattoos. Also: should I burn incense all the time? Visit Dr. Kimberly K. Garrett’s website and follow her on TwitterA donation went to Group Against Smog & Pollution (GASP)Follow GASP on TwitterMore episode sources and linksOther episodes you may enjoy: Conservation Technology (EARTH SAVING), Forensic Ecology (NATURE DETECTIVE), Oceanology (OCEANS), Meteorology (WEATHER & CLIMATE), Melaninology (SKIN/HAIR PIGMENT), Environmental Microbiology (TESTING WASTEWATER), Secrets, Advice + AMA (LANTERNS, ETC.)Sponsors of OlogiesTranscripts and bleeped episodesSmologies (short, classroom-safe) episodesBecome a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a monthOlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, masks, totes!Follow @Ologies on Twitter and InstagramFollow @AlieWard on Twitter and InstagramEditing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam MediaTranscripts by Emily White of The WordaryWebsite by Kelly R. DwyerTheme song by Nick Thorburn Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Gas Stoves Are Worsening Breathing Issues, According to Canceled Study
Duration: 00:15:49
Released: 2026
Series: Public Health On Call
About this episode: Accumulating research has linked nitrogen dioxide emissions from gas stoves to exacerbated respiratory issues. A recent study from Case Western Reserve University set out to conduct a large analysis of whether switching to electric stoves could improve breathing conditions, but funding was halted just as early results came in showing significantly improved asthma symptoms. In this episode: what this truncated study can tell us about air quality inside our homes and what’s lost when public health research is canceled. Guest: Ana Rule, PhD, MHS, is an associate professor of Environmental Health and Engineering. Host: Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. Show links and related content: Asthma Control Before and After Changing Gas Stoves to Electric Stoves—The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology The EPA halted a study on gas stoves and asthma. But even partial results were striking.—Washington Post Gas stoves might pose risks to both our planet and health—The Hub How States Can Better Regulate Indoor Air Quality—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @PublicHealthPod on Instagram @JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here’s our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.
How Congestion Pricing Can Impact Human Health
Duration: 00:17:50
Released: 2024
Series: Science Friday
In early June, New York Governor Kathy Hochul blocked a congestion pricing plan from going into effect in New York City. This plan would have charged a fee for cars to enter the central business district of Manhattan, and it would have been the first congestion pricing plan to be fully implemented in the United States.While congestion pricing can be costly for commuters, the fact that it keeps some cars off the road means it can have health benefits for surrounding communities. Successfully implemented congestion pricing plans in cities such as London, Singapore, and Stockholm have led to better air quality and health.SciFri’s John Dankosky sits down with Dr. Janet Currie, co-director of Princeton’s Center for Health and Wellbeing, and Dr. Andrea Titus, assistant professor of the Department of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, to talk about the health impacts that congestion pricing has had around the world as well as the potential effects it could have in New York City and in other cities in the United States.Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
How Wildfire Smoke Affects Metabolism
Duration: 00:38:57
Released: 2026
Series: Fat Science
Is wildfire smoke affecting more than just your lungs?Poor air quality affects not only respiratory health but also metabolic functions. Wildfire smoke can trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and hormone release, leading to metabolic disturbances.KEY TAKEAWAYSWildfire smoke can impact metabolism, leading to insulin resistance.Stress hormones released during smoke exposure can raise blood sugar levels.Air pollution is linked to increased risk of metabolic syndrome components. NOTABLE QUOTE”When there were wildfire events, within days, the admissions for diabetes increased.” — Dr. Emily Cooper Links & ResourcesPodcast Home: fatsciencepodcast.comCooper Center for Metabolism: coopermetabolic.comResources from Dr. Cooper: coopermetabolic.com/resourcesJoin Our Community: patreon.com/cw/FatSciencePodcastSubmit Your Question: questions@fatsciencepodcast.com or dr.c@fatsciencepodcast.comFat Science is supported by the Diabesity Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to effective, science-based metabolic care.This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult with a qualified healthcare provider for personalized recommendations.
Is setting your trash on fire a good idea?
Duration: 00:14:01
Released: 2026
Series: Short Wave
The U.S. generates 292 million tons of trash each year – and that trash has to go somewhere. Sometimes, that’s to an incinerator, where it’s burned and turned into electricity. Proponents of incineration applaud the ability to generate energy from waste and divert garbage from landfills. Opponents worry about the potential health risks, especially to minoritized communities. Today on the show, we explore the good and the bad of waste-to-energy facilities – and even get to see one up close.Interested in more deep dives into the often invisible science powering our lives? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. It includes perks like bonus episodes, early access, archive access, curated playlists and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
Smog Cloud Silver Lining
Duration: 00:34:28
Released: 2023
Series: Radiolab
Summer 2023 was a pretty scary one for the planet. Global temperatures in June and July reached record highs. And over in the North Atlantic Sea, the water temperature spiked to off-the-chart levels. Some people figured that meant we were about to go over the edge, doomsday. In the face of this, Hank Green (a long time environmentalist and science educator behind SciShow, Crash Course, and more), took to social media to put things in context, to keep people focused on what we can do about climate change. In the process, he came across a couple studies that suggested a reduction in sulfurous smog from cargo ships may have accidentally warmed the waters. And while Hank saw a silver lining around those smog clouds, the story he told—about smog clouds and cooling waters and the problem of geoengineering—took us on a rollercoaster ride of hope and terror. Ultimately, we had to wrestle with the question of what we should be doing about climate change, or what we should even talk about.Special thanks to Dr. Colin Carson and Avishay Artsy. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Lulu Millerwith help from - Alyssa Jeong PerryProduction help from - Alyssa Jeong PerryOriginal music and sound design contributed by - Jeremy Bloomwith mixing help from - Jeremy BloomFact-checking by - Natalie Middletonand Edited by - N/A CITATIONS: Videos: Sci Show (https://www.youtube.com/@SciShow) Crash Course (https://www.youtube.com/crashcourse) Articles: The article Hank came across (https://zpr.io/zKYxWht3Nmy7) Books: Under a White Sky (https://zpr.io/zKYxWht3Nmy7): The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
The Great Smog of London - “Thick, drab, yellow, disgusting”
Duration: 01:14:17
Released: 2025
Series: This Podcast Will Kill You
Some things just go together: peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, milk and cereal, London and smog. Or at least, that’s the way things used to be until the Great Smog of 1952. (Don’t worry, the first three pairings are safe). If you’ve watched The Crown, you may remember an early episode in which a thick, noxious smog surrounded the entire city of London for days on end. People coughing, hacking, collapsing. Traffic ground to a standstill. Authorities in denial. What was actually going on in December 1952 to lead to such conditions? What was in the smog to make it so toxic? And how did this severe pollution event lead to massive changes in air quality regulations around the world? Tune in to find out all this and more (including what The Crown got wrong). Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3WwtIAuSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This Is Canada’s Worst Fire Season In Modern History - It’s Not New
This Is Canada’s Worst Fire Season In Modern History. It’s Not New
Duration: 00:13:26
Released: 2023
Series: Short Wave
Canada is having its worst fire season in modern history. The fires have burnt more than 20 million acres, casting hazardous smoke over parts of the U.S. and stretching Canadian firefighting resources thin. Public officials and many news headlines have declared the fires as “unprecedented,” and in the modern-sense they are. But NPR climate correspondent Nate Rott has been talking to researchers who focus on the history of wildfire in Canada’s boreal forests and they say the situation is not without precedent.Want more stories on the environment? Drop us a line at shortwave@npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
Up in Smoke
Duration: 00:29:57
Released: 2024
Series: Radiolab
Two scenes. In the first, a doctor gets a call — the hospital she works at is having an outbreak of unknown origin, in the middle of the worst wildfire season on record. In the second, an ecologist stands in a forest, watching it burn. Through very different circumstances, they both find themselves asking the same question: is there something in the smoke? This question will bring them together, and reveal – to all of us – a world we never saw before. This is the first episode in an ongoing series hosted by Molly Webster, in conversation with scientists and science-y people, doing work at the furthest edges of what we know. More to come! Special thanks to Leda Kobziar, at the University of Idaho, and Naomi Hauser, at the University of California, Davis. Plus, James and Shelby Kaemmerer, and Paula and John Troche.We have some exciting news! In the “Zoozve” episode, Radiolab named its first-ever quasi-moon, and now it’s your turn! Radiolab has teamed up with The International Astronomical Union to launch a global naming contest for one of Earth’s quasi-moons. This is your chance to make your mark on the heavens. Submit your name ideas now through September, or vote on your favorites starting in November: https://radiolab.org/moonEPISODE CREDITS: Hosted and Reported by - Molly WebsterProduced by - Sindhu GnanasambandanFact-checking by - Diane A. Kellyand Edited by - Pat WaltersEPISODE CITATIONS:Articles - And lastly, wanna learn more about bacteria in snow-making machines – check out this New York Times article (https://zpr.io/t6HKi7HMuHMZ), or this science-explainer (https://zpr.io/VygRVBb5vspq)! Scientific Papers - Read Leda’s paper on microbes in smoke (https://zpr.io/d3JVm7gEf2dc)!For more details on the outbreak at Naomi’s hospital, you can check out this abstract of her findings (https://zpr.io/DGgS9UCFicpJ). Leda was inspired to stick petri dishes into smoke after reading a science research paper written by a father-daughter team, as part of a high school science project in Texas. Go read it (https://zpr.io/D3LVMy2raLr9)! Audio - For further fungal listening, Radiolab and Molly have covered fungus and hospital outbreaks (https://radiolab.org/podcast/fungus-amungus) before (plus: dinosuars!), in our episode Fungus Amungus.You can also listen to Super Cool (https://radiolab.org/podcast/super-cool-2017), a Radiolab episode about wild horses, microbes, and things freezing instantaneously. (It’s seriously one of Molly’s favorite Radiolab episodes and it has a moment of such SPONTANEOUS joy, she re-plays it at least once a year to smile.)Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Video Clips
A NASA study explains how to purify air with house plants
Quartz, 12 01, 2017
Video (3:13)
Description
How do houseplants clean the air? A 1989 NASA study explains exactly how plants remove toxins from air by trapping them in their leaves, soil, and roots, and which houseplants clean air the best.
The study was designed to test air purification systems for the space station.
SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/kdDpXu
If you’re interested in learning more about the NASA study or the plants involved, check out the original papers on the subject:
http://www.wolvertonenvironmental.com/MsAcad-93.pdf
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930073077.pdf
And if you want to buy the last plant? It’s scientific name is Sansevieria laurentii, but common names are both snake plant and mother in law’s tongue.
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Transcript
The 1989 NASA study
0:00 · You’ve probably heard plants can improve your air quality.
0:02 · Just about every paper on the subject, [and I mean literally all of them,] are based on a 1989 NASA study and a follow up by the lead scientist.
NASA plant experiment
0:19 · The scientists collected plants and put them in chambers, then pumped in harmful chemicals like these: After 24 hours, they tested the air quality in each chamber.
0:33 · Some plants were able to remove up to 90% of the harmful chemicals.
0:37 · So which plants were the most effective?
0:40 · NASA scientists tested familiar ones.
0:42 · “All the plants they have in their list are just very common house plants.
0:46 · This is Dr Dennis Stevenson, Vice President for science at the New York Botanical Garden.
0:53 · “I think they picked them because they were looking at things that people would have in their environments.
0:58 · As opposed to some exotic, weird tropical plant that nobody knows anything about.”
1:04 · All of these plants are excellent at getting rid of harmful indoor carcinogens.
How plants filter air
1:15 · Here’s how it works: Plants take in the harmful gasses out of the atmosphere and sequester them in their roots and cells.
1:23 · Some of these chemicals are broken down by fungi in the soil and others are stored in the plant.
1:28 · So what about things like…smoke, that might be in your apartment via cigarettes.
1:33 · Or you know…other types of smoke.
1:37 · “Well I would say, they take up stuff in the atmosphere so theoretically they should take up any kind of smoke that’s in your apartment in a certain sense, right.
1:50 · I don’t really know, but I think if one did those tests that probably one would find a positive correlation with that.”
Best plants for cleaner air
2:01 · Of all of the plants NASA mentioned in its study these three have the best surface area to chemical removal ratio.
2:13 · But keep in mind that a gerbera daisy will never get as big as a lady palm, and the more plant you have, the more harmful chemicals that you can remove.
2:22 · “ A big leaf plant is probably, potentially able to exchange more things with the air you know than something with little needle leaves.”
2:32 · And for those lacking a green thumb?
2:35 · “I’ll tell you, the one in there that’s probably the hardest to kill is the sansevieria, the mother in law’s tongue.”
2:43 · It scores high on removing chemicals and only needs low light.
2:50 · Hello everyone, if you’d like to learn more about the plants or the experiments done by NASA, check out the description below.
2:57 · You’ll find a more detailed account of which plants are mentioned at the beginning of the video.
3:02 · If you’re looking to buy some of these plants or want to learn how to take care of them, don’t forget to check out your local nursery.
Can Houseplants Improve Air Quality
SciShow, 03 26, 2019
Video (2:50)
Description
We all have that coworker who insists that the houseplants on their desks are improving the office air quality, but is there any truth to that?
Hosted by: Olivia Gordon
SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It’s called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at https://www.scishowtangents.org
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Sources:
https://www.lung.org/about-us/blog/2017/02/do-houseplants-really-improve-air-quality.html
http://time.com/5105027/indoor-plants-air-quality/
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19930072988
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930073077.pdf
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/000002IB.TXT?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1991+Thru+1994&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5Czyfiles%5CIndex%20Data%5C91thru94%5CTxt%5C00000002%5C000002IB.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=1&SeekPage=x&ZyPURL
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/volatile-organic-compounds-impact-indoor-air-quality
https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/44/5/article-p1377.xml
https://news.uga.edu/some-plants-remove-indoor-pollutants/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25056742
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11356-014-3240-x
Transcript
0:00 · intro It seems like every workplace has that one person who swears that the potted spider plant sitting on their desk has an almost magical ability to purify the air in the office.
0:14 · Are they actually onto something?
0:15 · There is evidence to show that plants can remove pollutants from indoor air.
0:19 · But a single potted plant probably won’t go the distance.
0:22 · If you’ve heard that bringing plants into your home or office will improve your indoor air quality, you probably have a study conducted back in 1989 by NASA to thank for that meme.
0:31 · The goal was to test whether a variety of types of indoor plants could be used for air purification, both on Earth and in space.
0:38 · The plants were put into sealed containers, and the air pumped full of chemicals including benzene and formaldehyde.
0:44 · Those chemicals fall under the broader umbrella of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.
0:50 · Some VOCs are known to cause health issues like headaches or liver and kidney damage.
0:53 · And they’re noteworthy as indoor pollutants because household products and building materials can give them off.
0:59 · The plants were kept under controlled conditions, with plenty of light and water and the air quality was measured over a 24 hour period.
1:06 · The study found the majority of the plants included in the experiment removed much of the benzene and formaldehyde from the containers.
1:11 · Plants are thought to remove pollutants from the surrounding air by absorbing the gases through their leaves and roots with some possible help from the microorganisms in the soil.
1:19 · So that’s it, right?
1:20 · Houseplants help clean the air?
1:21 · Well, not quite.
1:22 · Later studies doing similar experiments have yielded mixed results.
1:26 · A 2009 study tested 28 varieties of indoor plants and found four that were best at capturing every VOC the researchers threw at them.
1:33 · So plants definitely can remove some pollutants in a laboratory test chamber.
1:38 · But these idealized lab conditions don’t exactly represent the air in your office – stuff like the amounts of light, water, and air circulation are all going to be different.
1:47 · On top of that, the lab plants were purifying the air in a small area.
1:52 · Some of the chambers in the NASA study were less than a cubic meter in volume.
1:55 · That means for the same amount of purification to happen in your house, you would need an indoor rainforest.
2:01 · One critic of the NASA study suggested that to get the same effect in a typical home you’d need about 680 separate plants.
2:08 · There have been a handful of other studies investigating the effects of plants on indoor air quality, but at least one review, published in 2014, has attempted to take stock of the existing research.
2:18 · And it concluded that, while lab-based studies generally show some effect, not many have been performed in living spaces, and the ones that have been done haven’t yielded a consensus.
2:26 · So don’t count on your poor desk fern to fix all of your indoor air problems.
2:31 · Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow, and thanks to Emma Hulton for asking.
2:35 · To find out how to maybe get your questions answered, head over to patreon.com/scishow.
2:39 · [ outro ]
How Are Wildfires Making Us Sick
PBS Vitals, 09 05, 2023
Video (12:41)
Description
Check out our collaboration with PBS Weathered (Terra) about the new disease risks that climate change is bringing with it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wofEVzObZdU
Right here, on the heels of the Lahaina disaster and a summer full of Canadian wildfire smoke, we’ve been wondering: when the air fills with smoke, what are you really breathing? How best to protect yourself? And how bad is it going to get?
Along with Alok, Maiya May from Weathered brings some long-term perspective on fires, climate change and the shifting patterns of where we live.
Please SUBSCRIBE! ►► https://bit.ly/pbsvitals
Let’s Connect:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/pbsvitals/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pbsvitals
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pbsvitals
More great Weathered episodes here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnNZYWyBGJ1GLPmb55WQAln2Q7rZn5AFX
Find our experts and hosts:
:: Alok Patel, MD ::
Website: http://alokpatelmd.com/
Twitter: @AlokPatelMD
IG: @alokpatelmd
:: Sheena William, RN ::
Twitter: @Keepingitkinky1
IG: @keepingitkinky
:: Maiya May ::
IG: @maiyamay_
Overall health effects of wildfire smoke:
https://www.epa.gov/wildfire-smoke-course/health-effects-attributed-wildfire-smoke
https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/features/wildfires/index.html
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/how-wildfire-smoke-can-threaten-human-health-even-when-the-fire-is-hundreds-of-miles-away#:~:text=Researchers%20have%20found%20that%20there,leads%20to%20greater%20health%20effects
Particulate Matter
https://www3.epa.gov/region1/airquality/pm-human-health.html#:~:text=The%20size%20of%20particles%20is,a%20person%27s%20lungs%20and%20heart
Possible Link to Dementia:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2808088
Understanding the Air Quality Index:
https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/#:~:text=How%20does%20the%20AQI%20work,300%20represents%20hazardous%20air%20quality.
Health Impacts of 2023 Canadian Wildfires:
https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-asthma-canada-er-visits-75739be25401f4fe023aa5a3cd3433d7
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7234a6.htm?s_cid=mm7234a6_w
https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/rccm.202306-1073LE
Personal Protection:
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/air-cleaners-and-air-filters-home#:~:text=In%20addition%2C%20research%20shows%20that,to%20improve%20indoor%20air%20quality.
00:00 Intro
01:20 lung and cardiac impact of smoke
02:19 Maiya May talks about long-term trends
04:23 What is in wildfire smoke?
06:04 Effects of repeated exposure
06:30 Studies on firefighters
07:38 Surprising but less-studied health impacts
08:12 impact on pregant women and babies
09:11 Breaking down the Air Quality Index (AQI)
10:24 Personal protection
Transcript
Intro
0:00 · out here in Northern California.
0:01 · We are way too familiar, painfully familiar with the terrifying effects of wildfires.
0:09 · The damage, the health concerns, it’s almost impossible to ignore.
0:13 · And not just here, but in many parts of the country and world.
0:17 · Just take a look at what recently happened in Maui.
0:19 · That was one of the worst, most devastating fire disasters ever.
0:24 · And while fires are not new to Maui and are sadly familiar here in California and much of the West, this summer put fire on the radar of people who never had to really think about it.
0:35 · Smoke from wildfires in Canada caused air quality alerts in cities more than a thousand miles away.
0:42 · This affected more than 70 million people at the time.
0:45 · And as fires get bigger and more damaging, we’re only starting to get a handle on the long term health issues Here in California, fires burn basically every year, but in 2020, they’ve got completely out of hand.
1:02 · That summer saw the largest fire in California’s history, the August complex fire, which burned more than a million acres.
1:09 · And it caused air quality issues in San Francisco, which is hundreds of miles away.
1:13 · The sky here looked like hell, literally.
1:17 · from a health perspective.
1:18 · That smoke is what really does the damage like burning eyes, a sore throat, a cough.
lung and cardiac impact of smoke
1:25 · But there are certain vulnerable populations that may have much more health impacts.
1:31 · For example, someone who does have asthma, you know, is more at risk to have an asthma exacerbation when they breathe a smoke or someone with COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is that increased for a flare up when they inhaled the smoke?
1:48 · there can be increases in heart attacks, arrhythmias.
1:52 · There can be increases in stroke.
1:54 · when the air quality gets bad, which can happen rapidly.
1:57 · In the case of a fire, we see and feel the effects almost immediately.
2:02 · there’s there was a study showing that when it was a community in Canada, when they were exposed to the smoke within 2 hours there was increased in ambulance calls for respiratory distress and cardiac distress.
2:17 · It seems that fire season is getting longer and the fires are getting worse.
Maiya May talks about long-term trends
2:22 · But I worry, will this trend continue forever?
2:25 · Is it inevitable?
2:26 · We asked Maiya May and our friends at Weathered to explain.
2:30 · Is this part of a runaway train that we might call climate change?
2:35 · Well, first off, climate change doesn’t directly cause fires, but it does make the underlying conditions more prone to fire.
2:41 · Extreme wildfires basically need three things low humidity, high wind and an ignition source.
2:48 · Climate change doesn’t affect wind or ignition much, but it does make dry periods drier.
2:53 · So it’s more likely for a wind event and an ignition like a downed power line or lightning to align with a very low humidity.
3:01 · Dry day In northern Canada, there were very hot days that dried out the tundra and forests.
3:06 · Then you add lightning, and when on a low humidity day over and over early in the season and you get record numbers of acres burned.
3:14 · Similarly, in Lahaina, we saw drought conditions combined with low humidity and extreme wind, which likely downed power lines that ignited the fire.
3:24 · Interestingly, we saw even larger areas burned in the early 1930s during the hot, dry era known as the Dust Bowl.
3:31 · But then we entered a cool wet period and firefighting became a lot more effective in acres burned, plummeted.
3:38 · And then that’s when we really expanded communities and infrastructure into wildlands that tended to see more fires.
3:46 · So as we moved away from the cool wet period coupled with growing population and risky areas and the effects of climate change, wildfires had become more devastating.
3:57 · So is anywhere safe from the risk of wildfires today?
4:01 · well, the Midwest and Northeast stand out as less vulnerable since both are getting wetter on average with climate change.
4:08 · So while they may face an increased flood risk, wildfire is lower on the list of extreme weather hazards there.
4:14 · but as we saw with the smoke from the Canadian wildfires this year, I’m not sure any of us can escape the impacts entirely.
4:22 · So what exactly is in smoke that makes it so harmful?
What is in wildfire smoke?
4:25 · Well, obviously, it depends on what’s burning, but combustion always produces pollutants.
4:31 · One particularly harmful product is called particle pollution or particulate matter or PPM.
4:38 · Scientists measure particle pollution by size.
4:41 · For example.
4:42 · PM10 particles are ten micrometers across PM 2.5 particles are 2.5 micrometers wide.
4:50 · That’s 40 times smaller than the smallest thing you can see with the naked eye.
4:55 · By comparison, a human hair is 50 to 70 micrometers wide.
4:59 · In the world of health and medicine.
5:01 · You hear a lot about PM 2.5.
5:05 · These very tiny particles are extra harmful because they’re small enough to be absorbed into lung tissue and then passed through into the bloodstream.
5:14 · the particles are so small they can be inhaled and go all the way down to the base of our lungs and then actually cross over into the bloodstream.
5:23 · And once it’s in our body, the particulate matter, which, you know, has other tagalong toxins on it, such as, you know, heavy metals and other things can circulate throughout our body, causing all kinds of problems.
5:36 · A wildfire can also produce other dangerous pollutants, especially if it’s burning up buildings, homes and everything in between.
5:43 · And this produces all kinds of chemicals which then go up into the air.
5:47 · On top of that wildfire, smoke, like any smoke, is full of carbon monoxide in high concentrations.
5:54 · Carbon monoxide blocks your body from absorbing oxygen.
5:57 · And this can lead to headaches, nausea, dizziness and even death.
6:01 · one big concern is the effect of repeated exposures year after year.
Effects of repeated exposure
6:06 · Or breathing in smoke for days and days on end.
6:09 · There’s a lot of increased research right now, but there’s a lot of things we don’t know.
6:13 · especially for the general population who’s healthy, you know, and is now maybe experiencing a big burst of smoke for a few days once a year.
6:24 · in fact, we don’t really know just how bad this is.
6:27 · The studies haven’t been done, but we can learn something by looking at the people who are exposed to smoke routinely as part of their job.
Studies on firefighters
6:35 · I’m talking about firefighters.
6:37 · One study found that Wilderness firefighters are at an increased risk of dying from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease.
6:45 · Another study with a broader sampling of firefighters found a reduction in lung function.
6:51 · There really aren’t other groups that have that type of exposure.
6:55 · We know that they’re more at risk from certain types of cancers.
7:00 · And so in studying them and especially looking at their immune system and seeing where it goes awry.
7:07 · So hopefully we can start to, you know, figure out mechanistically, why is it leading to cancer and then hopefully be able to do something to prevent it.
7:19 · Now, it’s hard to draw a direct comparison because firefighters have much more exposure to smoke than the general public does.
7:25 · But studies of firefighters do offer us a hint of what we might expect as big fires become more common.
7:32 · It’s easy to believe that breathing in smoke year after year might not be good for you.
7:37 · some of the connections are surprising.
Surprising but less-studied health impacts
7:39 · For example, some studies have found that smoke exposure increases risk of developing dementia.
7:45 · Other studies have found a link between wildfire smoke and depression and anxiety.
7:50 · But it’s also true that some people are at a higher risk.
7:54 · As with many things, this includes children and older adults.
7:58 · Children tend to have smaller airways that clog more easily.
8:01 · They also breathe in more air per body weight, which makes them more susceptible to pollution.
8:06 · A especially those little babies.
8:08 · wildfires can cause personal and environmental devastation.
impact on pregant women and babies
8:12 · And few places know this as well as Northern California.
8:16 · Dr. Christine Wu is public health director in Napa County.
8:19 · what we have seen based on our birth certificate data that shows a decline in average birth weight and a corresponding increase in preterm births in the quarter following wildfire smoke exposure for 2017 and 2018.
8:33 · The peak in 2017 was the first time we saw preterm births over 10% of all births in many years.
8:39 · And I thought that was really interesting and telling.
8:41 · pregnant women.
8:42 · That’s a big category.
8:44 · The mom and the baby are at risk because we know when a mom inhales wildfire smoke, depending on how much they inhale and for what duration and for where they’re at in their pregnancy.
8:55 · That baby could be born early or be born at a low birth weight from that smoke exposure.
9:01 · But here’s the good news.
9:03 · You can protect yourself to a point by being prepared.
9:07 · So what does that mean?
9:08 · Number one, get familiar.
9:10 · Very familiar with the air quality index.
Breaking down the Air Quality Index (AQI)
9:13 · This tool that was developed by the U.S.
9:15 · Environmental Protection Agency gives us an overall picture of air pollution at any given time in any given location.
9:22 · It factors in five kinds of pollutants, including particle pollution, like we talked about earlier.
9:28 · And it mashes hourly measurements into a numerical rating system.
9:31 · 1 to 500.
9:33 · Anything under 100 is considered pretty clean air.
9:36 · But the higher the number, the worse it is outside over 101.
9:41 · And so this will issue an air quality alert.
9:43 · And AQI of 101 250 may trigger symptoms in anyone, especially those who are sensitive and 151 or 200 is bad for just about all of us above 200 things get really dangerous.
9:55 · You may need to limit the time you spend outside when the Canadian fires and smoke down the East coast This summer, the AQI in New York City went all the way up to 400.
10:05 · Anyone can feel those effects immediately.
10:08 · And in fact, on the worst smoke day.
10:10 · Emergency room visits for asthma in the city were up more than 50%.
10:15 · So it’s a good idea to check the AQI, the air quality index every day.
10:20 · Like you would check the weather.
10:21 · You go online, you put in your zip code, and there you go.
Personal protection
10:24 · So, for example, the AQI is high.
10:26 · Consider moving activity indoors.
10:29 · If you go outdoors, consider decreasing your minute ventilation, such as going for a walk instead of a jog, and consider the total duration outdoors.
10:38 · You can also wear one of these things that we got so familiar with during COVID.
10:42 · An N95 mask or a K and 95, essentially the same thing, but it has to be a 95 or Kane 95 surgical masks, cloth masks, bandanas.
10:52 · None of those will block the tiny particles from wildfire smoke Also, let’s not forget about our four legged friends.
10:57 · Pets need to breathe too, so don’t make them suck up pollution on a long walk while you wear a mask.
11:02 · That’s not fair.
11:03 · Also, keep in mind that air pollution can get inside your house.
11:07 · Also, if you own your home or have a good landlord, consider upgrading the air filter in your central ventilation or HVAC system.
11:15 · ensure that the filter that we have in there is actually at the highest efficiency compatible with our system.
11:21 · And each of these filters have what’s called a MERV rating.
11:25 · That’s the minimum efficiency report reporting value.
11:29 · And if we can get that rating to be a true high filter rating of 13 to 16, it can remove as much as 95% of the particles that pass through it and can be especially important during smoky periods.
11:44 · You can also use a portable air cleaner that’s designed to treat just a single room.
11:48 · you might want to consider kind of creating a clean air room within the home, which it would be a place everybody could go where the air purifier could be working, and the room is kind of better sealed so that if you are exposed to the smoke, you can at least, you know, be out of it for a significant part of the time.
12:07 · and we’ve listed more info in the show description.
12:10 · So check that out That does it this week for vitals.
12:13 · But this topic of wildfires and smog, unfortunately, isn’t going anywhere.
12:16 · So big things to Maia and a team at Weathered.
12:19 · Make sure to check out their episode on how climate change is ushering in a new era of disease risk.
12:24 · It’s another collab between our two shows.
12:27 · In the meantime, hit us up on socials at PBS vitals.
12:30 · Tell us your thoughts.
12:31 · Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button.
12:33 · Also, please check your air quality index every day, please, and thank you.
12:36 · We’ll see you next time.
How Indoor Air Quality Impacts Your Lungs
American Lung Association, 07 26, 2022
Video (3:01)
Description
This three-minute video describes how indoor air quality impacts your lungs, as well as providing practical tips for improving the indoor air quality in your home.
Transcript
Intro
0:05 · the air we breathe is filled with lots of things including gases and particles most things in the air are too small to see with the naked eye everything we breathe in affects our health in different ways health effects from poor indoor air quality might include short-term symptoms like headaches eye nose and throat irritation coughing and painful breathing bronchitis and skin irritation
Health Effects
0:28 · extreme side effects can target the central nervous system cause respiratory diseases like asthma or emphysema and cause cancer and cardiovascular disease poor indoor air can also impact the blood spleen liver and reproductive system young children older adults and
How Our Lungs Work
0:45 · people with existing lung disease are most at risk of negative health effects from poor indoor air quality before we can understand how indoor air quality impacts our lungs we first need to understand how our lungs work when you breathe in through your nose or mouth air travels down your airways or trachea dividing into your right or left lung via the bronchi the bronchi then separate into small tubes called bronchioles like tree branches bronchioles divide into thousands of even smaller passages
How Your Lungs Work
1:15 · at the end of each bronchiole is a cluster of little air sacs called alveoli alveoli are wrapped in tiny blood vessels called capillaries the air you breathe in fills these air sacs with oxygen-rich air here is where oxygen is transported throughout the body not all the air you breathe in is clean
1:34 · indoor air contaminants can include small particles that are suspended in the air when those particles from the air travel deep into your body it can have a negative impact on your health these particles can include things like dust tobacco smoke diesel emissions pollen pet dander mold spores chemicals
Indoor Air Contamination
1:52 · gases and more particulate matter often written as pm are so small they go into the lungs all the way to the alveoli once there they can irritate and corrode the alveoli wall damaging the lungs and causing lung disease these pollutants at
2:09 · high levels have also been linked to an increased risk of stroke and heart attack the good news is that we can improve our indoor air quality simple things you can do to improve your indoor air quality include avoiding items that create particulate matter in the air like wood burning stoves air fresheners sprays and harsh
What You Can Do
2:27 · chemicals use an exhaust fan or open a kitchen window when cooking use a portable air cleaner with a hepa filter in rooms where you spend the most time reduce dust by vacuuming regularly and using a microfiber or damp cloth for dusting reduce humidity to avoid mold and mildew buildup and change appliance filters regularly and make sure to test your home for dangerous gases like radon doing so can help keep the air in your home safe learn more at long.org
How systemic racism shaped the ecosystems of U.S. cities
Science Magazine, 10 09, 2020
Video (4:08)
Description
Historically Black and immigrant communities are more vulnerable to environmental stressors
Read the research: https://scim.ag/3nzjnQE
Credits
producer
Meagan Cantwell
supervising producer
Joel Goldberd
research
Schell et al., Science 2020
DOI: 10.1126/science.aay4497
special thanks
Elizabeth Pennisi
Pratheek Rebala
Sacha Vigneri
video footage
Meagan Cantwell
Pond5
Videoblocks
Videvo
archival footage
Dynamic Films
Encyclopedia Britannica Films
FDR Presidential Library
Prelinger Archives
photos
Library of Congress
Ted Etyan/Flickr
Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program
Enoch Pratt Free Library/Maryland’s State Library Resource Center
illustrations
British Library/Flickr
maps/data
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism/CNS/NPR
Johns Hopkins University
Library of Congress
Meagan Cantwell
Portland State/SUPR Lab
Robert K. Nelson et al., 2020 “Mapping Inequality”
music
“Vultures” by Chris Burns
Transcript
0:01 · The urban environment is a feat of human decision-making— from where to develop street grids lined with large glass office buildings, to which green spaces to preserve for outdoor recreation.
0:13 · How humans make these choices, and the natural environment’s response, can create extremely different ecosystems in neighborhoods just a few blocks away from each other.
0:23 · Researchers delved into dozens of studies to understand what drives these variations.
0:29 · One well documented phenomenon in cities is the relationship between wealth and biodiversity.
0:35 · More affluent areas generally have greater canopy cover, with larger, mature trees, as well as a higher diversity of birds.
0:45 · This is known as the “luxury effect.”
0:48 · Low-income areas typically have more man-made surfaces— including major heat-absorbers like asphalt and concrete, compared to higher-income areas.
0:59 · The lack of shade from trees and vegetation, combined with more asphalt and concrete, makes it hotter in these neighborhoods— a phenomenon known as an “urban heat island.”
1:10 · These communities are also more likely to be near sources of air pollutants, like expansive interstates pumping car exhaust.
1:19 · Although wealth can sometimes predict the outcomes of an urban ecosystem, there isn’t always a clear relationship.
1:26 · In some cases, the racial make-up of a neighborhood is better than income when forecasting canopy cover.
1:33 · Researchers explored studies that highlight how systemic racism shaped our build environment.
1:39 · One glaring example in the United States is residential segregation.
1:44 · From 1933-1968, the federal government limited access to homeownership among Black Americans through a practice known as redlining.
1:55 · Neighborhoods were graded based on the riskiness of providing a mortgage in the area.
2:00 · The grades ranged from A, the most desirable areas, full of wealthy businessmen, to D, neighborhoods considered high-risk investments due to a combination of factors: from their environmental quality and distance from large industrial factories to the main determinant, the presence of foreign-born and Black people.
2:22 · The inability for Black people to buy homes in these neighborhoods meant many types of capital investments left— landlords abandoned their properties, and public services, such as transportation and park maintenance, weren’t prioritized.
2:36 · Today, many U.S. cities still exhibit long-lasting environmental impacts from this discrimination.
2:42 · Neighborhoods which had a “D” grade in the 60s have about half the canopy cover of historically white communities.
2:50 · Some studies evaluate how the current environment relates to historically redlined communities, but researchers did not find any research that traces how ecosystems changed over time because of this segregation.
3:03 · They propose that because habitable regions are more spread out in these areas, animal populations struggle to breed since they are cut off from each other.
3:14 · The reduced breeding options for animals could have decreased gene diversity, an important way for animals to adapt to changing environments.
3:23 · And decreased gene flow of native species could promote the abundance of pest species, like mosquitos and brown rats, which carry diseases that can infect humans.
3:34 · The combination of all these outcomes— from urban heat islands to increased pests— make low-income, marginalized communities far more vulnerable to risks like climate change.
3:47 · Scientists say such evidence shows that conservation and social justice cross paths— especially along neighborhood streets.
How To Improve Indoor Air Quality
Scientific American, 08 29, 2022
Video (5:48)
Description
Why do we pay attention to the quality of our drinking water, but not to our indoor air? Scientific American’s Senior Health Editor, Tanya Lewis, explains how and why this matters.
Transcript
Importance of air quality
0:00 · did you know that we spent about 90 percent of our time indoors so why aren’t we talking about indoor air quality especially when coveted is still spreading and people are being encouraged to return to offices let me explain we know that sars kobe 2 the virus that causes covet is transmitted by airborne droplets called aerosols that hang in the air and can travel over short and long distances and besides
0:21 · reducing covered transmission rates we know that fresh air is really important for health in general florence nightingale for example once highlighted the importance of bedroom ventilation for tuberculosis patients and nordic parents often let their babies nap outside in the freezing cold
0:36 · sars kobe 2 isn’t the only virus that spreads through the air indoors influenza and other respiratory viruses also spread this way studies have shown that poor ventilation leads to cognitive impairment and sick building syndrome so why aren’t we prioritizing clean indoor air the same way we prioritize say clean drinking water is there actually anyone regulating our indoor air quality it turns out there is
Air quality regulations
1:00 · that would be ashrae a u.s industry body that sets standards for what it calls acceptable indoor air quality ashrae standards aim to limit exposure to harmful substances with known exposure limits such as formaldehyde but not to pathogens and here’s the problem according to experts those air quality
1:16 · standards are far below what is needed to stop the spread of covid that’s because minimum ventilation rates don’t totally stop the spread of airborne pathogens and many buildings don’t even meet those standards changing these standards takes time but we’re going to break down the components of improving indoor air quality and exactly what you need to do number one source control in 1858 chemist max von pedenkopper one
Source control measures
1:39 · of the pioneers of the indoor air quality movement said that if space contains a pile of manure one should not try to remove the odor by ventilation but rather remove the manure for example one could remove cooking gas fumes by using an electric stove instead of a gas one so if you want to limit the amount of sars cov2 particles in the air you could theoretically mandate that people wear high quality masks and ensure that anyone who feels sick stays home instead of coming into the office of course such
2:06 · measures alone cannot prevent all pathogens or other pollutants from entering the air which is why other steps are needed number two ventilation a building’s ventilation level refers to how much fresh outdoor air is being brought in this fresh air dilutes the concentration of virus-lightened particles in the air imagine asar’s cov2 particle endures as a drop of food coloring in a cup of water outdoors it’s more like a drop of dye in the ocean it rapidly becomes so diluted that it’s largely undetectable ventilation makes
Ventilation strategies
2:35 · the indoor cup a lot more like the outdoor ocean the simplest and cheapest option is to open a window but that’s not always viable especially if the air outside is more polluted than that inside experts say this can become a major equity issue people of color for example
2:50 · are more likely to live and work in areas where they’re exposed to harmful pollution aside from windows another source of indoor ventilation is an hvac system most of these systems allow a building manager to vary the amount of fresh air intake it should generally be set to maximum experts say provided the outdoor air quality is safe yet before
3:08 · the pandemic many buildings have their hvac systems set to recirculate old stale air a good rule of thumb is to aim for having at least six air exchanges per hour through ventilation or the equivalent amount of fresh air through filtration one way we can indirectly measure the amount of ventilation in the space is by using a carbon dioxide monitor humans exhale carbon dioxide when we breathe so levels of this gas provide a good proxy for how diluted the air is
3:34 · values below about 800 parts per million are potentially well ventilated number three filtration filtration basically just means removing particles and other pollutants from the air a standard called mirv offers a way of comparing different filters the gold standard filter hepa can remove 99.97
Filtration solutions
3:51 · percent of airborne particles that are 0.3 micron in size and an even greater percentage of larger or smaller particles hepa is equivalent to a rating of mirv 17 or higher a best practice is to upgrade filters to at least merv 13 for most indoor settings many hvac systems can be upgraded to this standard but some older ones may have trouble with high efficiency filters and may cause air to leak around the filters
4:15 · you can also buy a freestanding device called a portable air cleaner but these devices aren’t cheap fortunately researchers have come up with a more affordable solution called a corsey rosenbaum box basically it’s a diy air cleaner made up of a box fan and four or five mirv filters duct taped together you can even find the instructions online it’s also pretty effective a corsey rosenthal box in a 200 square foot dorm room achieved the equivalent of about 24 air exchanges per hour on par with a typical u.s hospital and better than many similarly
4:46 · sized portable air cleaners number four air disinfection finally there’s a method called air disinfection which is basically inactivating viruses using ultraviolet light some systems work by shining a uv light across the top of a room which neutralizes airborne pathogens as they circulate through that space some wavelengths of uv light are harmful to humans although there is a wavelength called far uvc which appears to be safer for people this method is best for places such as hospitals or school cafeterias rather than homes or small offices number five investing in better air the
Air disinfection methods
Investing in better air
5:18 · biden administration recently called on building managers in schools universities and other settings to improve indoor air quality upgrading it can be expensive but there are federal funds to support such efforts indoor air quality is important not just for reducing the rate of covert transmission but for our health in general [Music]
5:48 · you
Poor home air quality can increase risk of heart disease and cancer Study
ABC News, 01 13, 2023
Video (3:32)
Description
ABC News business reporter Alexis Christoforous provides tips to keep your indoor air clean as you bump up the heat this winter.
Transcript
0:00 · welcome back winter is in full swing across the country and chilly temperatures outside mean more cozy days inside but poor air quality at home can impact your health sometimes even increasing your risk of heart disease cancer and more ABC News business reporter Alexis christopherus has some steps you can take to keep your indoor air clean this winter the weather outside is frightful but the fire inside could be problematic too according to the American Lung Association exposure to burning wood can
0:29 · cause respiratory problems and increase your cancer risk and that’s not the only air pollutant in your home that can adversely affect your health as you spend more days inside this winter consider taking steps to improve the air quality in your home you can start with your fireplace try not to use it too much if you’re going to use a fireplace make sure that you have the flu cleaned
0:52 · that there is a screen across your fireplace if you can afford it consider getting an EPA certified insert for your fireplace right now there is a federal tax break of 30 percent on the purchase and installation of the units gas stoves can also release pollutants such as nitrogen oxides so use your vent use an
1:12 · exhaust fan or just open a window and block that kitchen or living room smoke from entering your bedroom where you can spend hours every night by keeping bedroom doors closed if you can deal with it you can keep your pets out and so whatever is on their fur won’t get on your bedding and won’t be in the air in addition to dusting and vacuuming once a week to combat allergens and dust use an air purifier look for vacuums and air purifiers that have an effective HEPA filter Consumer Reports has ratings on
1:43 · air purifiers and what studies have found is that the effective ones can take out as much as half of all the bad particulates in the air which can affect people’s health and to prevent mold growth that can cause Asthma and Allergy flare-ups clean bathrooms kitchens and basements regularly
2:04 · and Alexis christopherus joins me now for more on this Alexis what about mold because that can be a big issue when it comes to home air quality so how do you combat that yeah there are a few ways and and definitely if you see mold don’t ignore it because it’s only going to grow so what you want to do is keep the humidity levels in your home as low as you can so you can use a dehumidifier to do that in places that usually collect moisture naturally like your basement make sure that you fix any leaks in the house a roof that’s leaking uh Plumbing walls where there are leaks and then you
2:37 · can use your own solution if you see mold on the wall and it’s a small enough space you can use a solution of five percent bleach and water you don’t want to combine bleach with other chemicals that can get dangerous but if you have a larger area say more than 10 square feet of mold in your home you should probably bring in a professional do want to make a note though on humidifiers because
2:58 · this time of year A lot of people are using those yes I was going to ask about that because it’s dry outside right but humidifiers themselves can cause mold problems if you don’t clean them correctly you really have to be on top of your humidifier they can be great but try to clean them thoroughly at least once a week all right Alexis Christopher’s thank you you bet hi
3:17 · everyone George stephanopolis here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you’d like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our Channel and don’t forget to download the ABC News app for breaking news alerts thanks for watching
Superblocks How Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars
Vox, 09 27, 2016
Video (5:30)
Description
Modern cities are designed for cars. But the city of Barcelona is testing out an urban design trick that can give cities back to pedestrians.
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Transcript
0:01 · If you imagine a typical American city street, and you take away the space that’s dedicated to cars, you aren’t left with very much.
0:09 · There are some narrow walkways on the side, and some bridges in between them, but not much else.
0:13 · Cars dominate cities.
0:16 · Spend some time walking around most cities and you’ll find yourself pushed to narrow sidewalks, waiting for crosswalk lights.
0:20 · You’ll find cyclists navigating really narrow strips of space.
0:23 · Americans are used to cars the way that fish are used to water.
0:28 · That’s so ubiquitous in the U.S. that I think for most people, it just never occurred to them that it could be otherwise.
0:35 · But what if there were a way to change that?
0:36 · To give space back to pedestrians and bicyclists, and to make cities more friendly to life outside of a car?
0:43 · It turns out Barcelona might have a solution.
0:48 · In 2014, the city was faced with serious air pollution problems.
0:51 · Barcelona and its 35 surrounding municipalities consistently failed to meet the EU’s air quality targets.
0:57 · Studies were showing that air pollution in the region causes 3,500 premature deaths every year.
1:03 · Traffic in the city also causes severe noise pollution.
1:05 · So the city developed an extensive Urban Mobility Plan with the hope of reducing traffic by 21 percent.
1:11 · The coolest part of the plan were these things: They call them “superilles”.
1:17 · Superilles?
1:18 · “Si, superilles.”
1:19 · That translates to “superblocks”.
1:21 · It’s this urban design concept intended to minimize the presence of cars in city centers.
1:26 · The word “superblock” has been used before to describe huge city blocks without any passageways for cars.
1:31 · But that’s not what’s happening here.
1:33 · So here’s how Barcelona’s plan works.
1:35 · You take nine square city blocks and close off the inside to through traffic.
1:39 · So buses, big freight trucks — or any vehicles that are trying to get from one part of town to the next — have to drive around the perimeter.
1:47 · Inside the superblock, the speed limit is kept to 10 kilometers per hour — that translates to just over 6 miles per hour — and curbside parking is replaced by underground parking.
1:55 · That means you wind up with street space for markets, outdoor games, and events.
2:00 · Within this nine square block perimeter you’re gonna have kind of a pleasant streetscape where people can walk around and mingle and do things without this kind of constant fear of cars around.
2:13 · The concept is going to be tested out in five neighborhoods, but the city has identified 120 possible intersections throughout the region where it could be implemented.
2:22 · So how do we know what the results of this kind of plan would look like?
2:24 · Well, northwest of Barcelona is a city called Vitoria-Gasteiz, which has implemented superblock designs since 2008.
2:30 · In the main superblock at the city center, pedestrian space increased from 45 percent of the total surface area to 74 percent.
2:37 · With so much less traffic, noise levels dropped from 66.5 dBA to 61 dBA.
2:43 · Most impressive of all, there was a 42% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions and a 38% reduction in particle pollution in the area.
2:51 · On top of that, business is up.
2:52 · What you consistently see when people change their streetscapes to prioritize human beings over cars is you don’t see any decline in economic activity, you see the opposite.
3:03 · You get more people walking and cycling around more slowly, stopping more often patronizing businesses more, and that … center of social activity will tend to build on itself.
3:15 · So here’s the question: could something like this work in an American city?
3:20 · Barcelona has some unique advantages getting started on this plan, in that a lot of it was built before cars, and a lot of it was built on a simple grid.
3:32 · The district of Eixample — where the superblock plan is based — was designed in 1859 in this repetitive grid structure by this guy, Ildefons Cerdá.
3:41 · He basically invented the word for (and the study of) “urbanization” when he laid out this grid plan for Barcelona that evenly distributed resources like schools and hospitals.
3:51 · But superblock designers insist that cities don’t need a simple grid structure to implement this kind of plan.
3:56 · It can work anywhere.
3:58 · Now, cities in the US have have attempted some car-minimizing projects like this.
4:01 · The problem is, they’re usually done in wealthier areas with lots of existing businesses.
4:07 · Zoning policies often require separation of residential and commercial areas — but an ideal walkable area would be a mix of the two.
4:14 · On top of that, zoning minimums on parking availability encourage the presence of cars and parking lots, and minimums on street width make for wide, unwalkable streets.
4:24 · Because of that, walkable districts are basically isolated luxury items in the US.
4:29 · What makes the Barcelona plan different is that they aren’t setting aside one fancy neighborhood or town square to make pedestrian-friendly — instead, by proposing superblocks throughout the entire city, they’ve declared car-free spaces a right for everybody, no matter what part of town they’re in.
4:44 · Maybe — this might be overly optimistic — but I think it has sunk in in the U. S. that the model whereby every city resident comes with a car — and drives a car everywhere – is just inherently limited.
4:57 · It limits the growth of your city, it limits the health of your city and the growth of your city.
5:01 · So one way or another we have to find ways of having a lot of people live close to one another without all of them having cars.
5:11 · You know, being able to get around and work and play in live and have enjoyable lives without cars.
The health risks of wildfire smoke across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
PBS NewsHour, 07 16, 2026
Video (5:15)
Description
More than 115 million people may be exposed to dangerous smoke and unhealthy air quality levels. That’s because wildfire smoke is spreading and triggering health advisories in at least 17 states from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic. It’s led to flight delays, the closure of pools and beaches, and the cancellation of many other outdoor activities. Stephanie Sy reports.
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Transcript
0:00 · Between now and Saturday, more than 115 million people may be exposed to dangerous smoke and unhealthy air quality levels. That’s because wildfire smoke is spreading and triggering health advisories in at least 17 states from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic. Thousands have evacuated northern Minnesota and other states, it’s led to flight delays, the closure of pools and beaches and the cancellation of many other outdoor activities. Stephanie Tsai has our report.
0:29 · People in Duluth, Minnesota woke up to some of the world’s worst air quality this morning. Same for the residents of Detroit and Chicago.
0:39 · I felt pretty sick in Minneapolis, Caitlin Smith was struggling just to breathe. This is just crazy. I’ve never experienced something like this in my life before. I was just exposed to the smoke last night for like 5 minutes on my bike ride home from work and I felt really sick. It’s becoming an all too fa mi li ar summer sight in North America. Orange tinted, smoke-filled skies like the one over Toronto’s famous CN Tower.
1:05 · As soon as I woke up in the morning and went outside on my terrace and you could definitely smell the smoke in the air and it’s very hazy out. It’s the result of hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada and the northern US A train crew near Armstrong, Ontario, capturing the intensity of the flames. Oh yeah, I look over there. Mike Flanagan is a professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia.
1:34 · Most of the fires were started by lightning. There were some human caused fires, but the majority are lightning caused. In northern Minnesota, the fires and smoke have forced the evacuation of the Boundary Waters canoe area, adding to the fire danger is the oppressive heat enveloping a large section of the country has been hot, dry, and windy in Minnesota and Northwestern Ontario Temperatures exceed 100 °F in Ontario and Minnesota.
2:05 · It was windy. You get lightning strike, fire starts, it grows rapidly.
2:11 · Those temperatures are record breaking, if not record smashing for many parts of Ontario and Minnesota, and it’s part of that heat dome that affected much of western and Central United States in the last few days. A weather system in Canada is steering smoke into the US Across the Great Lakes and into the northeast and mid-Atlantic region.
2:33 · The cluster of darker dots show where fine smoke particles in the air were measured at dangerous levels today. What typically happening with a high pressure system, these heat domes are high pressure systems is the smoke gets injected high into the atmosphere. It kept the winds carry it, but this ridge air sinks, warms, and dry, and as it sinks, it takes the smoke with us. Pretty Armageddon-like out here.
3:00 · It’s that it is that I think I’m more affected by the way it looks than the way it smells. That smoke is more than unsightly. It’s unhealthy. From a health standpoint, there is no such thing as good smoke. Luke Montrose is an environmental toxicologist at Colorado State University. We know it gets into the systemic circulation and likely has impacts on other organs, and we’re starting to see some instances where researchers are seeing effects on brain health, mental health, and even the re p ro duct ive system.
3:33 · Anne Montrose says when the air is as bad as it is in the upper Midwest, there’s no sure way to escape it. This is catastrophic smoke. There are very few spaces that you can go to get away from that kind of smoke. It is going to infiltrate those spaces, even people who have great immune systems and are really healthy will start to have uh respiratory effects from these levels of smoke, particularly if it last s an entire day Experts say children, the elderly, and people with chronic illnesses are the most vulnerable.
4:10 · Symptoms may include sore throats, excessive phlegm, coughing, headaches, and brain fog. Staying indoors, turning on air conditioners and air filters, and wearing N95 masks can help mitigate the risks.
4:25 · Forecasters are predicting that the smoke conditions will likely ease by Saturday. But with fire weather getting more intense, this won’t be the last of such events. United States, we’re getting warmer because of human caused climate change and the increases in area burn, fire severity, are largely not solely due to human caused climate change. I can’t be any clearer than that.
4:51 · As for the fires currently burning, experts say they may continue through autumn and maybe even until the first snowfall for the PBS NewsHour. I’m Stephanie Tsi.
There’s Something Living in Wildfire Smoke
NOVA PBS Official, 01 13, 2025
Video (1:58)
Description
Wildfire smoke can carry thousands of living microorganisms, like bacteria and fungi, across long distances. Some of them could potentially infect humans. With wildfires on the rise, experts are studying the risk this poses to our health.
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Transcript
0:01 · [Narrator] Wildfire smoke is loaded with harmful particles like charred plant matter, incinerated materials, and noxious gases. But it’s also carrying stuff that’s alive, thousands of teeny-tiny microorganisms like bacteria and fungi.
0:15 · But why doesn’t the heat from a wildfire kill all these microorganisms?
0:19 · Well, not all parts of a wildfire are hot.
0:23 · When we look at fire on the scale of a microorganism, there are likely pockets of cold air, areas that are not being burned at all.
0:32 · [Narrator] In those tiny pockets of cooler air, microorganisms can catch rides on bits of carbon, or water vapor, rise high into the atmosphere and travel long distances. And some could potentially infect humans. Some health experts are already noticing a concerning relationship between wildfire smoke exposure and rates of infection. One study in California found an uptick in fungal infections after wildfires within a 200-mile radius of hospitals. And climate change is making wildfires more intense and more impactful.
1:08 · Compared to the yearly average in the 1970s, the average wildfire season in the US is now 105 days longer, burns six times the number of acres and has three times as many large fires.
1:21 · Fires are affected by dry conditions and warmer conditions. Climate change is causing more of those extremes. More extreme conditions, more extreme wildfires. They go together, hand by hand.
1:34 · [Narrator] Though there are still many unknowns, risk is growing for more people.
1:40 · We would expect that we’re all just gonna become exposed on a regular basis. We’d have to look out for that in places that we wouldn’t normally be on the lookout. (gentle music)
WHO Preventing disease through healthy environments
World Health Organization (WHO), 04 20, 2016
Video (2:00)
Description
An estimated 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012 – nearly 1 in 4 of total global deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Environmental risk factors, such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change, and ultraviolet radiation, contribute to more than 100 diseases and injuries. However, we can take actions to reverse the upward trend of environment-related diseases and improve our environments where we live and work.
For more information visit: http://who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/preventing-disease/en/
Transcript
Environmental health impacts
0:03 · wherever you live your health is impacted by the environment around the world more than 50 million people die every year from disease and nearly one quarter of those deaths are directly caused by environmental factors can you imagine that’s 1,400 deaths every hour
0:23 · of every day from an unhealthy environment the hardest hit are those in low and middle income countries especially in Africa Southeast Asia and the western Pacific and the young and old are most severely affected more than half the world live in urban areas and can face heavy traffic air pollution who are housing and limited access to clean water and sanitation many work in the informal
0:51 · sector under dangerous dirty and demeaning conditions we all face the impact of chemicals and poisons radiation and poor farming practices and climate change means our very uncertain future so now we are at a crossroads
The critical crossroads
1:09 · things can continue getting worse or we can work together to improve our world simple measures can be taken immediately to protect our health and the environment we can reduce our consumption and clean our air by using sustainable fuels and walking or cycling more we can safely store toxic substances in
Call to action for health
1:32 · our homes and workplaces we can protect our water resources by disposing of waste appropriately and introduce clean energy technologies we can bring multiple government sectors together to ensure all policies actively support health let us all work together to improve our health and well-being
Why cities should plant more trees
Vox, 12 22, 2016
Video (3:10)
Description
Over 3 million people die annually from air pollution. Planting trees can help lower that number.
Read more: http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2016/11/4/13510352/planting-trees-pollution-heat-waves
Check out The Nature Conservancy report, “Planting Healthy Air”: https://global.nature.org/content/healthyair
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Trees help improve public health by cleaning and cooling the air around them. As the threat of climate change steadily increases, planting trees is a fairly simple way city leaders can help stem the negative consequences of rising temperatures and increasing population density.
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Transcript
Intro
0:00 · Search Google Earth for China and you’ll see this.
0:03 · But an unedited satellite photo might look more like this.
0:08 · That gray smudge is air pollution and it’s coming from Chinese cars, factories, and power plants.
0:13 · But it’s not only here.
0:14 · In cities around the world, air pollution is a big problem.
0:18 · A majority of humans now live in cities and that number is only going to rise, which means more cars, more factories, and more power plants.
0:25 · As officials explore options for fighting air pollution, there is one tool that is often overlooked: trees.
Air pollution
0:35 · Cities are centers of industry, but the resulting pollution is filling our lungs and making us sick.
0:41 · One major culprit is particulate matter: airborne particles of dust, soot and smoke that are released when we burn fossil fuels or kicked up during construction and farming.
0:49 · When we inhale them, they can cause asthma and they can also enter our bloodstream to cause strokes and even death.
0:54 · Experts estimate that outdoor air pollution kills over three million people a year and as cities grow, leaders are funding creative—and often expensive—solutions for the problem.
1:04 · In London, the mayor spent over a million pounds spraying city streets with an adhesive that was supposed to glue pollutants to the road.
1:10 · and in the Netherlands, designers have created a giant air purifier they call “The Smog Free Tower”, which is cool, but there is another, simpler solution… A new report from The Nature Conservancy shows that planting trees can be a cost-effective way to improve public health, which they do in two ways: First, a tree removes particulate matter when polluted air blows through its branches.
Planting trees
1:31 · The particulate matter settles on the leaves and when it rains the dust is washed down the gutter so we don’t inhale it.
1:37 · Second, trees cool temperatures by providing shade and releasing water through photosynthesis, which cools summer temperatures by about two to four degrees fahrenheit.
1:46 · But there is a catch!
1:47 · Trees can only clean and cool the air within a close radius: about one hundred feet, so city officials need to be careful where they plant.
1:54 · Officials can maximize pollution reduction by planting trees where population density and air pollution overlap.
1:59 · The Nature Conservancy report uses data from Washington D.C. to create a map showing where planting trees will have the highest return on investment.
2:06 · And some trees work better than others: trees with larger, stickier leaves, like maples and elms are more effective, but they also need to be considered within the larger ecosystem.
2:15 · Compared to DC, many cities around the world have even more to gain from planting trees: this map shows where return on investment is highest for reducing particulate matter.
2:23 · With proper targeting, planting trees can be just as cost-effective as other strategies like converting public transportation to use less diesel fuel.
2:30 · But there is one major limiting factor: water access.
2:34 · What might work in Boston, will be less feasible in a city like Doha, Qatar, where water is a scarce resource.
2:39 · And on top of that, many mayors don’t yet think of trees as a public health resource.
2:44 · Trees might not look like giant air filters, but that’s exactly what they are, and the sooner we start thinking of them that way, the sooner the air we breathe might be cooler and cleaner in cities around the world.
Why don’t we just burn our trash
DW Planet A, 08 13, 2021
Video (10:45)
Description
Waste to energy plants are seen as green innovations for countries where landfills dominate, as they reduce methane and generate renewable energy. But will these incinerators really make our trash problems go up in flames?
We’re destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we’ll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
Read More (Links):
Open burning: https://theconversation.com/health-crisis-up-to-a-billion-tonnes-of-waste-potentially-burned-in-the-open-every-year-152778
Waste around the world: https://datatopics.worldbank.org/what-a-waste/trends_in_solid_waste_management.html
Waste to energy as a solution (IEA): https://www.iea.org/articles/will-energy-from-waste-become-the-key-form-of-bioenergy-in-asia
Waste to energy as a solution (Project Drawdown): https://drawdown.org/solutions/waste-to-energy/technical-summary
Waste management in India (Pritpal Randhawa): https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2020.00014/full
Environmental impacts of waste to energy: https://www.eunomia.co.uk/reports-tools/greenhouse-gas-and-air-quality-impacts-of-incineration-and-landfill/
Waste to energy in Europe: https://e360.yale.edu/features/in-europe-a-backlash-is-growing-over-incinerating-garbage
0:00 Intro
0:39 Why we need better waste management
2:00 Waste to energy
6:04 The Waste Hierarchy
6:51 A waste solution for the Global South?
6:47 Decentralization & Diversification
9:34 When incineration makes sense
Reporter: Amanda Coulson-Drasner
Video editor: Amanda Coulson-Drasner, Cem Springer
Supervising editor: Kiyo Dörrer
Transcript
Intro
0:01 · These skiers are all here because of trash.
0:05 · That’s because underneath this slope is a huge garbage incineration plant.
0:10 · It processes 400,000 metric tons of waste a year and turns it into energy and heat for Copenhagen.
0:18 · It also recycles 90% of the city’s metal waste.
0:22 · Some say such incineration plants could be key for solving our global trash problem.
0:28 · But is that true?
0:30 · Or are we going to end up just getting burned?
Why we need better waste management
0:39 · Globally, we produce over two billion tons of household waste annually, with high income countries generating an outsized amount compared to their populations.
0:50 · 37% of global waste ends up in landfills, polluting groundwater and producing methane.
0:57 · Less than 20% of the world’s trash is recycled or composted.
1:02 · In the Global South many people have no access to trash collection, and it often ends up in rivers — a primary source of ocean plastic.
1:12 · To get rid of as much trash as possible, as fast as possible, around one billion tons of waste are openly burned every year.
1:22 · “Open burning generates high levels of black carbon, which is soot, which has a really strong global warming effect.”
1:31 · Zoë Lenkiewicz is one of the founding members of Wasteaid, and has been a waste manager for over 20 years.
1:38 · “It also generates dioxins and furans, which are known to cause cancer.
1:41 · All of this is going into the local air, wherever people are burning waste.”
1:48 · Women are more directly impacted, as they are often responsible for disposing of household waste.
1:53 · Burning trash this way is a serious problem. But done differently, there are advantages to it.
Waste to energy
2:01 · Here’s where controlled burning, aka incineration, comes in.
2:04 · Incinerators first appeared where it was hard to landfill, in London in 1874, then in New York City, in 1885.
2:12 · “The incineration process itself, it reduces the volume of the waste [by] 90 percent.”
2:19 · Ella Stengler is the managing director of the umbrella organization for European waste to energy operators.
2:25 · “And it fulfills the kind of sanitary task because it destroys the pollutants which are embedded in the waste.”
2:32 · The generated heat can also be turned into energy. It’s called, unsurprisingly, waste to energy.
2:38 · In the US, where there’s a lot of space and cheap energy in the form of oil, waste to energy wasn’t so competitive, and many plants were closed.
2:46 · But more and more plants were built in the EU.
2:50 · Today they provide power to 18 million Europeans, and heat to 15 million.
2:56 · They’re a common waste management option for countries like Denmark and the Netherlands, which have almost completely eliminated landfilling.
3:05 · Environmental organizations see potential in waste to energy as a transition step toward a more circular economy, especially in countries without much space, that need more energy.
3:18 · Here’s how the plants work: The garbage is dumped into a big pit — from there it’s fed into the furnaces.
3:25 · They burn extremely hot, and the waste is reduced in a matter of minutes.
3:30 · The heat from the fires generates steam, which turns turbines to create electricity.
3:35 · The steam can also be used for heating.
3:38 · The 10% that doesn’t burn is called bottom ash, and metals can be recovered from it.
3:44 · The rest can then be used as construction material.
3:50 · So the process reduces the volume of waste, creates energy, and part of the residue can even be recycled.
3:58 · What’s not to love?
4:01 · Well, there are a few reasons why the world isn’t full of waste to energy plants with ski slopes on top.
4:07 · One of those reasons is fly ash, which is everything caught by the filters.
4:11 · It needs to be disposed of in a hazardous waste facility.
4:15 · Another reason is cost.
4:16 · “If there would be a waste to energy plant built, it should be equipped with a state-of-the-art technology, which is expensive.
4:27 · And you need to train the staff to properly operate it and also authorities to monitor it.”
4:33 · Even without ski slopes, waste to energy plants can cost over one billion US dollars to build.
4:39 · Without the latest technology and monitoring, pollution can reach unsafe levels, and impact people living nearby.
4:47 · And they also emit a lot of CO2: in the EU, around 52 million tonnes per year.
4:56 · That’s like 430,000 cars each driving a million kilometers.
5:02 · “Policymakers and industries put incineration in the same type of energy group as renewables, like wind or solar or even nuclear.”
5:15 · This is Tatiana Lujan.
5:16 · She leads the plastics team for ClientEarth, and is also working to implement the EU’s circular economy directive.
5:24 · “But when you look at the greenhouse gas emissions of incineration, they’re actually pretty close to coal and gas, and way far from wind, solar, nuclear.
5:36 · A study commissioned by ClientEarth found that controlled incineration generates between 59 and 73% of the emissions that coal would.
5:44 · Classifying this energy as renewable can divert funding from more sustainable waste management technologies like recycling.
5:51 · So, where it can be correctly built and managed, controlled incineration is better than a landfill – but it’s by far not the cleanest option to handle waste, no matter how much energy is won.
The Waste Hierarchy
6:04 · Have a look at this “waste hierarchy pyramid” – bear with me, it’s less complicated than it looks.
6:09 · At the very bottom of the pyramid is open burning or dumping, the worst possible way to get rid of trash.
6:15 · Disposal without energy recovery is next, so landfilling or incineration without energy generation.
6:22 · Then here’s where waste to energy, which is an umbrella term for a few different methods, comes in.
6:29 · Then comes recycling.
6:31 · Even better is to re-use things, often called upcycling, and at the top is prevention and reduction.
6:38 · Yeah, the whole world is pretty far from the top.
6:42 · That is why waste to energy is seen by some as a quick “solution” for countries struggling with their waste.
A waste solution for the Global South?
6:51 · Not surprisingly, plants are opening up around the world, like in China, Indonesia and India.
7:02 · Africa’s first waste to energy plant just opened, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
7:08 · But it has proven to be more complicated than just opening up plants and burning the problem away.
7:14 · One reason is that the composition of waste varies widely throughout the world.
7:22 · “You can’t take one model that works in a wealthy country like a cookie cutter and expect it to work in a low-income country because it’s a completely different market.”
7:34 · In India, household waste is around 50 percent organic matter, like food scraps, which are too wet to burn.
7:41 · And because of the lack of centralized waste collection, trash there is often mixed together.
7:48 · “I don’t think segregation is happening at all in majority of the Indian cities.
7:55 · So that’s a major, major problem.”
7:57 · Pritpal Randhawa has been conducting long-term studies on waste management in India for the past 10 years.
8:02 · “The waste has to be segregated and the undesirable material should be separated from that waste, and only the waste with high calorific value should be burned.
8:14 · But that is not something which is happening actually.”
8:18 · Calorific value is a measure of a substance’s heating power — in other words, how easily it burns.
8:24 · Crude oil and mixed plastics come in at around 40 megajoules per kilogram.
8:29 · Food is about 16.
8:31 · Without waste separation, lots of food scraps find their way to the furnaces, forcing the plants to add additional fuel.
8:39 · This makes the whole facility extremely inefficient.
8:42 · Countries also need to have a place to store the hazardous waste.
8:46 · So if incineration isn’t a silver bullet for the Global South, what are other options?
8:52 · “It’s not very complicated at all – the ideal situation would be management of waste at the decentralized level.”
9:01 · And not only decentral, but diversified: specifically suited to the environment and economy of an area.
9:10 · In many cities in India, for example, waste pickers collect recyclables, which are processed informally.
9:15 · Biogas generated from organic waste can be a source of fuel from Benin to Mumbai.
9:20 · And plastic can be made into building material.
9:25 · “With waste management, absolutely one size does not fit all.
9:28 · And you really need to look at what’s most appropriate for that local area.”
When incineration makes sense
9:34 · Waste to energy plants can work, but a trash collection system and a strong environmental regulator are both necessary.
9:41 · These can be really hard to come by.
9:44 · Even with them, countries need to do some careful reflection before building new plants.
9:48 · “When you create incineration, you’re making huge investments and locking yourself in a system that you’re going to have to continue feeding and feeding and feeding.
10:00 · And that creates a disincentive for transitioning to a real circular economy.”
10:08 · So before more trash burning facilities join the global system, policymakers should look at funding more sustainable methods of waste disposal – like recycling, reusing and most importantly, reducing our waste in the first place.
10:22 · So what do you think?
10:24 · To burn, or not to burn?
10:28 · If this video made you think at all…
10:30 · If this video make you think at all, come back every Friday for new ones.
10:33 · And don’t forget to subscribe.
Why free public transport doesn’t fix traffic (and what does)
DW Planet A, 11 08, 2024
Video (11:19)
Description
If cars are bad for the climate, and public transport good, what makes people switch? From Jakarta to Tallinn, cities are trying to motivate people by eliminating fares. Let’s check if that works.
We’re destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we’ll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
Follow Planet A on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dw_planeta?lang=en
Credits:
Reporter: Jonas Mayer
Video Editor: Neven Hillebrands
Supervising Editors: Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann, Joanna Gottschalk, Michael Trobridge
Factcheck: Kirsten Funck
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon
Read more:
C40 guide for attractive public transport: https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/How-to-make-public-transport-an-attractive-option-in-your-city?language=en_US
The case of public transport for the climate: https://www.wri.org/insights/current-state-of-public-transport-climate-goals
EU case study on whether free public transport works: https://urban-mobility-observatory.transport.ec.europa.eu/resources/case-studies/free-passenger-transport-exploring-benefits-and-disadvantages_en
More on car traffic reduction strategies: https://itdp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ITDP_TamingTraffic_2021.pdf
How ‘induced traffic’ works: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191261510000226
More on Transit-Oriented Development (TOD): https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/transport/publication/transforming-the-urban-space-through-transit-oriented-development-the-3v-approach
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:01 Why we like driving car
04:29 Taking the bus in Jakarta
07:17 Making car use harder
09:34 What now?
Transcript
Intro
0:00 · In 2012, something remarkable happened in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.
0:06 · Cars were congesting the city’s streets - so the local government asked residents: “Do you want free public transport?”
0:13 · They said: “Jah”(Yes).
0:15 · So Tallinn made it free.
0:16 · Since 2013, every resident can just hop on and off trams and buses - without having to buy a ticket.
0:23 · Did this unclog the city?
0:25 · Well…
0:25 · buses were fuller than before.
0:27 · But at the same time, the share of public transit compared to other means of transport dropped.
0:34 · “Ridership has fallen dramatically, from 42% to now like 30%.
0:41 · And in the same time, car use has risen about 5%.”
0:47 · Despite free public transport, people used their cars more.
0:51 · If not money, what does it take to convince people to switch from cars to public transportation?
Why we like driving car
1:01 · “Try to imagine what this country would be like without automobiles.”
1:06 · This General Electric film is from 1948, but our sentiment towards cars hasn’t changed much since.
1:13 · “…there is nothing like a car.”
1:16 · “When people look at the psychological aspects of car ownership, they typically look at areas of status and of pride.”
1:23 · Pete Dyson is a behavioral scientist.
1:26 · He researches why people travel the way they do.
1:29 · “The nature of the tool that it plays in our life provides some freedom to go places and to do things that have some unique aspects.”
1:40 · Cars are about way more than just getting from A to B.
1:43 · They fulfill a lot of what we desire.
1:46 · Take a look at this “pyramid of needs”.
1:49 · It’s a concept from the world of psychology that ranks what we need from basic things like food and safety, to belonging and self-esteem up to self-actualization, so, becoming the best version of yourself.
2:02 · A car covers a whole lot of those needs.
2:05 · Not only does it take you wherever you want to go, whenever you want to go.
2:09 · It’s also relatively safe and comfortable.
2:11 · And friends and colleagues, who see your car as a sign of success, may admire you.
2:17 · Sure, a bus gets you from A to B as well.
2:19 · But forget about glamour or comfort, once you get off a subway, covered in sweat and super late for your business lunch.
2:28 · The thing is just…
2:29 · while driving might be great for those inside the car, it’s actually pretty bad for everyone else.
2:34 · Cars, vans and motorbikes kill around two million people each year - through air pollution or road accidents.
2:42 · Plus, they emit around 10% of global carbon emissions into the air, because most of them still run on fossil fuels.
2:51 · Yes, public transport also emits carbon, but per person it’s much less.
2:57 · Having many people share a vehicle makes the trip more efficient in this respect.
3:02 · That’s why governments want people to switch.
3:04 · After Tallinn, other cities and countries have also tried to bait them with the simplest thing - money - and made public transit free.
3:12 · Like Luxembourg, the island of Malta, Kansas City and Albuquerque.
3:16 · Their experience was largely the same as in Tallinn.
3:20 · “The people who were using public transport anyways, uh, are now using it more often, taking more rides.”
3:27 · Merlin Rehema is a sustainable city researcher based in Tallinn.
3:32 · “To some extent also like short walks and bicycle trips, that were taken before, became then bus trips.”
3:40 · But just very few give up their car.
3:42 · The cost is 40 euros per resident per year to make public transport free in Tallinn.
3:47 · But if buses are packed and not well connected, residents are reluctant to switch.
3:52 · You also need to make the public transport system better.
3:56 · “There are ways in which you can make journeys smoother, more punctual, more reliable by improving, say signaling, giving bus priority to public transport.
4:09 · A safer environment, a more comfortable environment.
4:12 · The access to a seat or a table, or the ability to do useful or meaningful things whilst travelling.”
4:20 · Some cities have understood this and are working hard to improve their public transport system.
4:25 · Like Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.
Taking the bus in Jakarta
4:29 · There are almost 11 million people there, almost 4 million cars, 17 million motorbikes.
4:36 · People spend hours in traffic.
4:38 · Air pollution has gotten really unhealthy.
4:41 · But the city also has invested a lot in public transport.
4:45 · Here’s what a trip can look like.
4:47 · Within 500 meters of your home, you find a stop for a free minibus that’s part of the “MikroTrans” network.
4:54 · This takes you to a bus station.
4:56 · From there you catch a bus that drives on a separate lane, past all the cars stuck in traffic.
5:01 · The whole trip costs 3,500 Rupiah, as much as a small bottle of water.
5:07 · That’s affordable.
5:09 · The bus is air-conditioned, which is a nice relief.
5:13 · It has service staff on board, and a separate, supposedly safe area for women.
5:18 · These pink busses are women only.
5:22 · BRT, short for Bus Rapid Transit, has become popular in big cities in Latin America and Asia.
5:29 · Jakarta has the largest network, with 14 of these corridors spanning over more than 250 km.
5:36 · They call it “TransJakarta”.
5:38 · The concept of BRT is to give more space to public buses.
5:42 · This way they’re supposed to travel quickly and reliably - without building much new infrastructure.
5:48 · “And it is attractive because it is integrated with MicroTrans, it is integrated with the minibuses or medium buses.
5:57 · We call it first mile and last mile connectivity.”
5:59 · Gonggomtua Sitanggang is the Southeast Asia Director of a non-profit transport institute.
6:05 · He lives in Jakarta and advises the transit operators.
6:09 · The first and last mile connectivity he just spoke about is important to let people access public transport in the first place.
6:16 · That can work with bikes or e-scooters, in Jakarta it’s these minibuses.
6:21 · They used to be informal and privately operated but then got integrated into the public system.
6:28 · 20 years after the first bus corridor was built, Jakarta’s bus network now covers most of the city and is connected to the local train network.
6:39 · Overall about 10% of trips are made by public transport.
6:43 · That might not sound like a lot yet.
6:45 · But the government is thinking big.
6:47 · It wants to increase that number sixfold by 2030.
6:51 · Seems like Jakarta is taking user needs seriously.
6:55 · But they also haven’t found the secret formula yet.
6:58 · Because as public transit has been growing, so has car and motorcycle traffic.
7:04 · It seems that nudging people into public transport is one thing.
7:08 · But…
7:09 · “the major challenge here, or the major homework here, is that to push people to use public transport.”
Making car use harder
7:18 · For decades the solution to too much traffic has been to build more lanes, more roads, more flyovers, more free parking..
7:26 · And Jakarta has done just that.
7:29 · The thing is: that’s not how you unclog your streets.
7:33 · Today we know: More space for cars only attracts more cars.
7:38 · And after a few years, roads are congested again, with more vehicles than before.
7:43 · This is called “induced traffic”.
7:46 · If you want fewer cars, you’re better off doing the opposite: make it harder and more inconvenient to drive a car.
7:55 · Again, the most obvious tool is money.
7:58 · From 2025, car owners in Estonia will have to pay two kinds of taxes.
8:04 · One when they buy a car and one when they use it.
8:07 · They aren’t big fans of that new tax, of course.
8:11 · London has established a congestion charge zone.
8:14 · Everyone driving into it during the day has to pay 15 pounds.
8:19 · Car traffic dropped significantly, while bus and metro use went up.
8:25 · But simply making it expensive to drive might hit poorer people particularly hard.
8:30 · There are other options too.
8:32 · “They can also be like non-monetary measures, like really redesigning your cities in order to favor public transport use and, and active modes.”
8:45 · Paris for example has been removing tens of thousands of parking lots, closing entire roads to cars and tripling parking fees for big and polluting SUVs.
8:54 · Jakarta is starting to redesign as well in an area with tens of thousands of parking spaces.
9:01 · Gongomtua Sitangang is advising the pilot project.
9:06 · “We start by improving the connectivity, the pedestrian facilities and also cycling facilities, and then we also develop a strategy of how to reduce the parking space within the area.
9:22 · What is important here is that the neighborhood sits at a major public transport hub with bus and rail connections.
9:28 · You can only put pressure on car drivers if you have good public transport alternatives ready.
What now?
9:35 · Just like with cars, people have very different needs and expectations when it comes to good public transport.
9:41 · It must be…
9:42 · “easy and enjoyable” “in between affordable and accessible” “Reliable and comfortable” And just like that, each city starts from a different point.
9:54 · In terms of traffic, infrastructure, budget, mobility behavior, and so on.
10:00 · There’s no single formula for public transport that applies to everyone.
10:04 · Whether you’re “nudging” or “pushing” residents into transit, it still looks different in each place.
10:09 · But the goal is the same: to reduce traffic, carbon emissions and air pollution.
10:16 · The challenge is that new public transit has to be built within existing cities, in between houses, cars and people.
10:23 · Unless you want chaos and frustrated citizens, room for private vehicles can only be reduced step by step as well.
10:31 · And we haven’t even talked about rural areas yet, where routes are longer and buses scarcer.
10:36 · But a few quick fixes could make public transport more convenient almost immediately.
10:42 · Like an app that shows in real-time where the bus is and when it’ll arrive.
10:47 · Or a uniform, maybe cheap fare system that works for different types of transit.
10:52 · Little things that reduce stress and give a sense of control.
10:59 · What do you think about buses or trains where you are?
11:02 · Leave us a comment and subscribe, we post a new video every Friday.