<
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/climate/state-department-air-monitoring-embassies.html>
"What’s the air quality in New Delhi, Jakarta or Buenos Aires? Until Tuesday,
the United States Embassy in those cities could have told you.
But the Trump administration has effectively shut down a global air quality
monitoring program, ending more than a decade of public data-collection and
reporting from 80 embassies and consulates worldwide.
The information has supported research, helped thousands of foreign service
officers working abroad to decide if it was safe to let their children play
outdoors, and has directly led to air quality improvements in countries like
China.
The State Department said in an email that the program was being suspended “due
to budget constraints.”
Health officials and environmental experts said ending air quality monitoring
would hurt Americans overseas, particularly those who work for the U. S.
government.
“Embassies are situated sometimes in very difficult air quality circumstances,”
said Gina McCarthy, who led the Environmental Protection Agency in the Obama
administration.
She, along with John Kerry, who was secretary of state at the time, expanded
globally what had been a limited but transformational air monitoring effort in
China.
“You can’t send people in risky areas without information,” Ms. McCarthy said.
“We generally think of risky areas as war zones or something like that. But
it’s equally important to look at whether their health is deteriorating because
they are in a place with such poor air quality.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
