Across New York, a Fleet of Sensor-Equipped Vehicles Tracks an Array of Key Pollutants
Inside Climate News
By: Myriam Vidal
Now, Ullah works as a social and environmental justice advocate for the community organization South Bronx Unite. “Heart disease, obesity, diabetes, dementia. All of these diseases are connected to exposure to air pollution.”
A recent study found that eliminating PM 2.5—tiny particulates about one-thirtieth the diameter of a human hair, released by burning fossil fuels and from construction dust and wildfires —would prevent more than 50,000 annual premature deaths in the country. It would also prevent almost 3,000 non-fatal heart attacks, 15,000 asthma-related emergency room visits and 3.68 million days of work lost due to illness.
“The community’s quality of life is being severely diminished,” Ullah said, referring to the South Bronx. Yet, for many years, researchers and government agencies have come to do environmental studies without involving residents in the process. The Department of Environmental Conservation decided to change that.
