Press Releases
10/11/2019
Is the quality of the air you breathe healthy?
Is the quality of the air you breathe healthy?
The large cities in China, the USA and the EU exhale 54% of the world's CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Their nearly 1.38 billion inhabitants have good reason to be concerned about the quality of the air they breathe.
A woman is protected from air pollution by a mask
China leads the ranking of countries emitting carbon dioxide (CO2), followed by the USA and the EU member states. This potent greenhouse gas is one of the substances that contributes the most to global warming and climate change, but it is not the only one. Many other compounds, known as climate pollutants, influence the amount of solar energy retained by the Earth... and they cause a wide range of health problems.
HOW IS AIR QUALITY MEASURED IN CITIES?
The EPA environment agency is responsible for the Air Quality Index in the United States, while the National Centre for Environmental Monitoring in China (CNEMC) is responsible for compiling, analyzing, aggregating and publishing data on the different air indicators in that country.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) is used for reporting daily air quality. This index can tell you how clean or polluted your air is, the health effects that might raise concerns, and which effects one might experience within hours or days given the quality of air. The EPA calculates the AQI for five major air pollutants: ground-level ozone, particle pollution, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.
At the end of 2017, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission launched a new Air Quality Index (AQI), which allows users to check the air quality at more than 2,000 measuring stations across Europe. This index, which provides up-to-date information on air quality in the 33 EEA member countries, includes national profiles ¬as local public administrations have to adapt their measures to take into account factors such as demography, transport infrastructure, etc. These measurements monitor air quality standards and the levels of ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and all the pollution generated by particulate matter that can pose serious health risks.
HOW DO I FIND OUT THE QUALITY OF THE AIR IN MY CITY?
On websites, through apps, etc., even Google provides this information. Simply type in air quality followed by the name of the city, to see a bar that indicates the air quality and the main pollutants in a location in real time. This gives the Air Quality Index (AQI) from the monitoring stations distributed across cities and, when there are none at ground level, from satellites.
PAY ATTENTION TO INDOOR AIR QUALITY!
People living in urban areas spend 90% of their time indoors, at home or at work. This means that 2.6 billion people are at risk of suffering from sick building syndrome, a term used by the World Health Organization to define diseases caused or stimulated by indoor air pollution.
HOW DOES POLLUTION AFFECT HEALTH?
Around 95% of the world population lives in areas that do not meet healthy air standards according to the State of Global Air report from the Health Effects Institute. Cities, which are home to more than half of the world's nearly 7.5 billion people, are a breeding ground for pollution, a major mortality factor, which is only surpassed by hypertension, unhealthy diet and smoking.
The main health effects of air pollution are:
Cardiovascular disorders
Lung conditions
Eye irritations
HEALTH, ONE OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The UN approved the Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development in 2015. It has 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which range from eliminating poverty to guaranteeing quality education, women's equality, protecting the environment and improving the design of our cities. In terms of health, the UN established Goal 13 to take urgent action to combat climate change and its negative effects, including poor air quality due to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Sustainable development goals
About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $44 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens. In 2024, Avangrid ranked first among utilities and 12 overall. The company supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2024 for the sixth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
About Iberdrola: Iberdrola is one of the world's biggest energy companies and a leader in renewables, spearheading the energy transition to a low carbon economy. The group supplies energy to almost 100 million people in dozens of countries. With a focus on renewable energy, smart networks and smart solutions for customers, Iberdrola’s main markets include Europe (Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and Greece), the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. The company is also present in growth markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Ireland, Sweden and Poland, among others.
With a workforce of nearly 40,000 and assets in excess of €141.7 billion, across the world, Iberdrola helps to support 400,000 jobs across its supply chain, with annual procurement of €12.2 billion. A benchmark in the fight against climate change, Iberdrola has invested more than €130 billion over the past two decades to help build a sustainable energy model, based on sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
