{"id":42120,"date":"2024-08-29T03:34:31","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T22:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=42120"},"modified":"2025-10-10T12:53:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T07:23:21","slug":"pm25-pollution-declines-in-india-boosting-life-expectancy-by-one-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/pm25-pollution-declines-in-india-boosting-life-expectancy-by-one-year\/","title":{"rendered":"PM2.5 Pollution Declines in India, Boosting Life Expectancy by One Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>What is Section 45 of the PMLA?<\/li>\n<li>Key highlights of the judgement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A study by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) found that favorable meteorological conditions and slightly reduced emissions led to a decrease in PM2.5 pollution in India between 2021 and 2022. This, in turn, has contributed to a one-year increase in the country&#8217;s average life expectancy.<\/p>\n<p>The report also underlined that meeting the World Health Organization (WHO)\u2019s pollution guidelines would increase Delhi residents\u2019 life expectancy by 7.8 years..<\/p>\n<h2><strong>WHO\u2019s revised air quality guidelines 2021<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In September 2021, the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/world-health-organisation\/\" target=\"_blank\">World Health Organization (WHO)<\/a> has strengthened its air quality guidelines.<\/li>\n<li>The revised norms recommend air quality levels for <strong>six pollutants<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide.<\/li>\n<li>The other two are PM10 and PM2.5 &#8212; particulate matter equal or smaller than 10 and 2.5 microns in diameter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The recommended levels for all the six pollutants have been revised downwards from theexisting norms that have been in place since 2005.<\/li>\n<li>The WHO norms are <strong>not binding<\/strong> on any country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Key highlights of the report<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About the report<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The annual report, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/air-quality-index-aqi\/\" target=\"_blank\">Air Quality Life Index<\/a><strong>&#8221; 2024<\/strong>, has been released by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).<\/li>\n<li>The report involves an annual assessment of air quality worldwide, highlighting regions where standards have not been met and instances of policy successes and failures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Key highlights<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A dip in particulate pollution (PM2.5) in India between 2021 and 2022<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>India recorded a significant 19.3% drop in particulate pollution in 2022 compared to 2021, the second-highest reduction in the world after Bangladesh.<\/li>\n<li>Decline in particulate pollution added an average of 51 days to the life expectancy of every citizen.<\/li>\n<li>The researchers attributed this decline to favourable meteorological conditions and a reduced number of thermal inversions.<\/li>\n<li>During thermal inversions, a layer of warm air traps cooler air near the ground, causing pollution to build up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Need to meet the WHO&#8217;s annual PM2.5 concentration standard<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Indians are likely to lose 3.6 years of life expectancy if the country fails to meet the WHO&#8217;s annual PM2.5 concentration standard of 5 micrograms per cubic metre.<\/li>\n<li>PM2.5 concentrations in India in 2022 were around 9 micrograms per cubic metre, 19.3% lower than 2021.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Most significant declines<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The most significant declines were observed in Purulia and Bankura districts of West Bengal, followed by Dhanbad, Purbi, Paschim Singhbhum, Paschim Medinipur and Bokaro districts in Jharkhand.<\/li>\n<li>In each of these districts, PM2.5 concentrations dropped by over 20 micrograms per cubic metre.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>India&#8217;s population still living in areas exceeding the national air quality standard<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>42.6% of India&#8217;s population still lived in areas exceeding the national air quality standard.<\/li>\n<li>The report emphasizes that while air pollution remains the greatest external threat to life expectancy, setting and enforcing ambitious air quality standards could significantly improve public health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Impact of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The report said that PM2.5 concentrations declined by 19% on average in districts with cities covered by India&#8217;s flagship programme on air quality management, the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).<\/li>\n<li>Launched in 2019, the NCAP is India&#8217;s first national effort to set clean air targets.<\/li>\n<li>It aims for a 20-30% reduction in particulate pollution by 2024, using 2017 as the base year.<\/li>\n<li>The revised target is a 40% reduction by 2026, with 2019-20 as the base year.<\/li>\n<li>The programme covers 131 non-attainment cities, which consistently failed to meet the prescribed national ambient air quality standards between 2011 and 2015.<\/li>\n<li>Districts not covered by the programme saw a 16% decline.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Innovative practices highlighted by the report<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2019, Gujarat launched the <strong>world&#8217;s first market for particulate pollution<\/strong>, which has since reduced pollution by 20-30% in Surat and is rapidly expanding to other cities and states.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>These types of innovative policies demonstrate that it is possible to achieve improvements in air quality and people&#8217;s health, without unduly impeding economic growth.\n<ul>\n<li>The report also praised India&#8217;s clean cooking programme, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The decline in emissions from the residential sector in India can largely be attributed to the nationwide rollout of this scheme.\n<ul>\n<li>It attributed the reduction in transport-related emissions to the decreased use of diesel in the transport sector.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q.1. How did PM2.5 pollution affect life expectancy in India in 2022?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The decline in PM2.5 pollution in 2022 added one year to India&#8217;s average life expectancy, highlighting the health benefits of improved air quality.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q.2. What contributed to the reduction of PM2.5 pollution in India between 2021 and 2022?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Favorable meteorological conditions and slight emission reductions contributed to the decrease in PM2.5 pollution, resulting in significant health benefits across the country.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/weather-contributed-marginal-dip-pm2-5-pollution-2022-9537365\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Here\u2019s why PM 2.5 pollution dipped in 2022 in India<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/health\/india-saw-193-drop-in-particulate-pollution-in-2022-adding-51-days-to-life-expectancy-aqli\/article68575637.ece#:~:text=SUBSCRIBE%20%26%20SAVE-,The%20researchers%20attributed%20the%20decline%20in%20particulate%20levels%20in%20India,causing%20pollution%20to%20build%20up.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">| The Hindu<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/city\/delhi\/iit-kanpur-study-to-help-review-air-quality-standards-for-first-time-since-2009\/articleshow\/92323343.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Times of India<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Favorable weather conditions and reduced emissions led to a dip in PM2.5 pollution in India between 2021 and 2022, increasing the average life expectancy by one year. Learn about the key findings of the EPIC report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":42121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-42120","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}