At least where air pollution levels are concerned, it looks like I moved here at the right time. This is due to to an effort to get buildings in New York City to stop using two kinds of very dirty burning fuel oils. By switching to cleaner fuels, “sulfur dioxide levels have dropped by 69 percent since 2008, and the level of soot pollution has dropped by more than 23 percent since 2007,” according to the New York Times. Not only do residents breathe easier but it is estimated that 800 deaths and some 2,000 emergency rooms visits have been prevented.
Of the concrete jungle’s massive inventory of buildings, 10,000 buildings (apparently only 1 percent of NYC’s total!) were burning the dirtiest kinds of heating fuel. About a quarter of those buildings have already made the switch to less polluting forms of fuel and another quarter are currently in the conversion process. The maps below show the difference between winter 2008-2009 data and winter 2012-2013 data show a pronounced decrease in the concentration of sulfur particulates.
If only the same progress could be have to clean up the air in China.
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