Not surprised. The last time I was in Delhi, 4 years ago, I couldn't breathe outside the home.
NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent
71–80 of 211 posts
Re: NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent
#72The Irony ! When I went to India, I though to my-self the living standard in the villages were HIGHER then the cities. The air in the villages were clean - it was much cooler weather due to not being trapped in the congested cities. The village people though I was crazy to think that their village was a paradise, and everyone wanted to move to the city. I think its a serious lack of education that India/Bangladesh wi…
I do not think it is crazy for people of villages to think moving to the city is a good idea. It might seem pristine and like paradise to a person from a city visiting a village but for a person living in a village its a different story. It's not the environmental paradise they are trying to escape from, its mostly lack of opportunity. Most villages in India are agriculture based, and most of central and southern Ind…
I strongly agree with you.
Since my source of income was built due to being in global cities and the only infrastructure I need is the Internet and my ability to think. My source of income is not disrupted due to being in the village.
But I think if your work doesn't allow you to do things remotely, yes there is a lack of opportunity in the village.
I was just thinking of the fact that my main income drain is rent in a global city. So moving to the village eliminates my biggest expense.
Re: NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent
#73Do auto-rickshaws still have dirty two-stroke engines?
Most autos in metros run on CNG now
Re: NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent
#74That satellite image of the haze is scary. Scarier still is how the deterioration of air quality in the cities is affecting health. (The WHO estimates ~15 million bronchial asthma patients in India.) You haven't experienced air pollution if you haven't breathed in the evening air in Mumbai or Bangalore during the rush hour.
>> You haven't experienced air pollution if you haven't breathed in the evening air in Mumbai or Bangalore during the rush hour. Economically, it may be a good sign that 1,400 new cars are added to Delhi's vehicle population every day. According to the Centre for Science and Environment, the number of passenger cars in Delhi has gone up from around 75,000 in 2005-06 to more than half a million today. http://timesofin…
>...how many cars they are putting on the roads every day
That, and the fact that abysmal city planning has created unhealthy environments, such as locating chemical plants in suburban Mumbai, where a massive population resides.
Bhopal was a one-time disaster. But the cities of India are a continuous, on-going, everyday disaster.
Re: NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent
#75That satellite image of the haze is scary. Scarier still is how the deterioration of air quality in the cities is affecting health. (The WHO estimates ~15 million bronchial asthma patients in India.) You haven't experienced air pollution if you haven't breathed in the evening air in Mumbai or Bangalore during the rush hour.
You haven't experienced air pollution until Diwali night in a metro
Re: NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would probably be much more cost effective for the US to pay Chinese firms to reduce emissions (say, by paying for the installation of more advanced filtering equipment) than it is to try and wring further reductions out of US firms.
I don't see how. Particulates don't persist in the atmosphere that long. I understand a little bit of this stuff makes it across the Pacific, but not a whole lot. Living on the east coast, I'm basically unaffected by it except when I go to China, and most Americans don't do that. If we're talking about reducing CO2 emissions, then yes, further cutting emissions in the US is probably not going to do much good compared…
> I don't see how. Particulates don't persist in the atmosphere...
You said
> I would really hate to see the US loosen pollution regulations because of some weird idea that we shouldn't bother cleaning up our air unless everybody else does too.
which, to me, only makes sense for types of pollution that are shared. Why would anyone think that China's position one way or the other on a strictly local pollutant should influence the corresponding US policy?
But in any case, my comment is true regardless. Even for local pollutants, there will be more low hanging fruit in China.
Re: NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do not think it is crazy for people of villages to think moving to the city is a good idea. It might seem pristine and like paradise to a person from a city visiting a village but for a person living in a village its a different story. It's not the environmental paradise they are trying to escape from, its mostly lack of opportunity. Most villages in India are agriculture based, and most of central and southern Ind…
I strongly agree with you. Since my source of income was built due to being in global cities and the only infrastructure I need is the Internet and my ability to think. My source of income is not disrupted due to being in the village. But I think if your work doesn't allow you to do things remotely, yes there is a lack of opportunity in the village. I was just thinking of the fact that my main income drain is rent in…
It also eliminates any opportunities for personal development and expanding social circles that are critical for both career and personal growth. There is a reason why rents are so high in the cities: they are desirable places to live because of the opportunities they offer for recreation and personal and professional progress.
Edit: Also I think its hard for anyone (including myself) to relate to kind of lifestyle that most Indian villagers face. Lack of education, illiteracy, importance of superstitions and so on can greatly hinder the progress of any people.
Re: NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't think so, India is typically 4 stroke because of pollution norms and 4 strokes are more fuel efficient which we're very sensitive to. Frankly, India's problem can only be fixed by population control. If Sanjay Gandhi hadn't been an idiot and forever poisoned the idea of population control, India would be much better off, especially if we can get the population to around 300M - 500M
There are still a lot of older two-stroke engines in use. Four-stroke engines from local and Chinese manufacturers are typically crude air-cooled carbureted designs with very high emissions. A modern European motorcycle might produce 20x lower emissions than a typical Indian bike thanks to much stricter regulations.
Any references on this? I think most engines are Indian manufactured and India uses emission norms based on European regulation [0]
Would be interested to see any data.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Stage_emission_standard...
Re: NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent
#79A related story : There's a mega mall in Chandigarh, India that wasn't given approval for a power connection for quite some time (politics / corruption). Real estate is super expensive & the owners couldn't afford to sit idle and play games with the government so they decided to run the mall from morning till night on diesel generators. That's ~ $4500 of diesel each day, probably 6-8k litres. This is an example of a…
Why would anyone protest? India doesn't have enough electricity to waste on Malls and Movies theaters. Or big offices like tech parks in Bangalore!
What you have mentioned applies to every tech park in Bangalore, so should people now protest against their very source of employment?
Re: NASA Data Shows Toxic Air Threat Choking Indian Subcontinent
#80A related story : There's a mega mall in Chandigarh, India that wasn't given approval for a power connection for quite some time (politics / corruption). Real estate is super expensive & the owners couldn't afford to sit idle and play games with the government so they decided to run the mall from morning till night on diesel generators. That's ~ $4500 of diesel each day, probably 6-8k litres. This is an example of a…
Why would anyone protest? India doesn't have enough electricity to waste on Malls and Movies theaters. Or big offices like tech parks in Bangalore! What you have mentioned applies to every tech park in Bangalore, so should people now protest against their very source of employment?
India doesn't have enough electricity
There's something fundamentally broken about this statement, which suggests a deeper problem - why isn't the market for electricity working in India?