logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2023
18m 10s

Asia's air pollution problem

Bbc World Service
About this episode

It’s the week of the Climate Change Conference or COP28, and as leaders from around the world meet in the UAE to talk about how to tackle global warming, we take a look at one urgent issue: air pollution.

According to World Health Organisation data, nearly seven million lives are lost prematurely each year due to harmful air.

In this edition. Devina Gupta explores the air problem affecting major cities in Asia - to the cities of Delhi, Lahore, Taipei and Jakarta - to find out how lives and livelihoods are being impacted, and what can be done.

(Picture: The Swaminarayan Akshardham temple under a thick layer of smog in Delhi, India. Credit: Harish Tyagi/Shutterstock)

Presented and produced by Devina Gupta.

Up next
Yesterday
The founder tackling Africa’s data scarcity problem
We meet Kate Kallot, the founder and CEO of Amini AI, a startup working to make farming and environmental data easier to obtain across Africa and other emerging economies. The entrepreneur set up the company with the aim of improving access to reliable information, shaped in part ... Show More
17m 39s
Apr 7
Headspace: from mindfulness app to military partner
Headspace started life as a mindfulness app. Now it's partnering with the US Navy and investing in artificial intelligence for mental health support.The company's CEO Tom Pickett speaks to us about therapy, the increasing role of technology, and tackling burnout at scale.If you'd ... Show More
17m 28s
Apr 7
Anthropic: the $300bn AI firm at war with the White House
Anthropic’s rise from startup to one of the world’s leading players in artificial intelligence has been staggering, but so in recent weeks has been its row with the US Government.Today, we look at that journey to becoming a 380 billion dollar company, ask why Claude has become on ... Show More
17m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2021
Putting a Price on Pollution
<p>Extreme weather across Europe, North America and Asia is highlighting a harsh reality of science and history: The world as a whole is neither prepared to slow down climate change nor live with it.</p><p>European officials are trying to change that. The European Commission, the ... Show More
25m 40s
Dec 2023
BBC OS Conversations: Climate change and the young
World leaders are currently meeting in Dubai for the United Nations’ COP23 climate summit to discuss how to cope with a changing global climate. At the same time, a new study has suggested that air pollution from using fossil fuels is responsible for 5 million avoidable deaths ar ... Show More
23m 57s
Oct 2023
Delhi GRAPples with air pollution
<p>In today’s episode for 30th October 2023, we talk about Delhi’s deteriorating air quality and what the city has been doing about it. Talk to Ditto - https://bit.ly/45uvyDL </p> 
6m 3s
Sep 2022
Women raising the alarm on air pollution
<p>It’s the third annual International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on Wednesday 7 September. It’s aimed at raising public awareness at all levels of the urgent need to improve air quality. Air pollution is the largest contributor to the burden of disease from the environment, ... Show More
27m 45s
Aug 2022
La pollution
En 2017, la revue scientifique médicale britannique "The Lancet" a estimé à --- 9 millions de personnes dans le monde --- le nombre de morts prématurées liées à la pollution pour l'année 2015. Par morts prématurées, la revue a considéré les décès avant l'âge de 65 ans. Si bien év ... Show More
40m 27s
Nov 2021
Jet fuel from thin air
Scientists in Switzerland have developed a system which uses solar energy to extract gases such as hydrogen and carbon dioxide from the air and turns them into fuels for transport. So far they have only made small quantities in experimental reactors, however they say with the rig ... Show More
1h 13m