Ranking the World's Sulfur Dioxide (SO ) Hotspots: 2019-2020
Ranking the World’s Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Hotspots: 2019-2020 A closer look at the colourless gas that is poisoning our air and health Writers: Sunil Dahiya, Andreas Anhäuser, Aidan Farrow, Hubert Thieriot, Avinash Chanchal, Lauri Myllyvirta Data analysis and graphs: Hubert Thieriot, Andreas Anhäuser, Lauri Myllyvirta Project coordinators: Xinyi Shen, Erin Newport, Minwoo Son, Jiyun Choi Contributors: Isabella Suarez, Meglena Antonova, Gokhan Ersoy, Jonathan Moylan, Nhlanhla Sibisi, Pablo Ramírez, Elena Sakirko, Qian Liu, Ahmed El Droubi, Bondan Andriyanu, Denis Žiško, Erika Uusivuori Edited by: Kathryn Miller Designed by: Lauren Austin Suggested citation: Dahiya, S., Anhäuser, A., Farrow, A., Thieriot, H., Kumar, A., & Myllyvirta, L. Global SO2 emission hotspot database. Delhi: Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air & Greenpeace India. 48 pp. October 2020. Published by: Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air & Greenpeace India Ranking the World’s Sulfur Dioxide (SO2 ) Hotspots: 2019-2020 1 Executive summary Sulfur dioxide (SO2 ) is a colourless air pollutant that is invisible to the human eye, widespread and hazardous to human health. Breathing SO2 increases the risk of health conditions including stroke, heart disease, asthma, lung cancer and premature death. The single biggest source of SO2 is from burning fossil fuels, including coal, oil and gas. Dangerous levels of SO2 pollution are often found near coal-fired power plants, at oil refineries and in areas that are dominated by heavy industry. Report findings For this CREA/Greenpeace1 report, researchers used satellite data and a global catalogue of SO2 emissions sources from the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to detect emissions hotspots.
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