India overtakes China as world’s top SO2 polluter
has overtaken China as the world’s worst emitter of sulphur dioxide (SO2), a toxic pollutant which has serious impact on human health, official media reported Friday quoting a new report.
While SO2 emissions have declined by 75% in China since 2007 in India, the rate has increased by a worrying 50%, the report said.
The report was published in the latest edition of the science journal Scientific Journals and has been widely picked up by the Chinese official media.
The report comes at a time when New Delhi is facing a severe bout of pollution caused by multiple reasons including stubble burning in neighbouring states, vehicular emission, dust and construction
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activities.
China and India are the world’s top consumers of coal, which typically contains up to 3% sulphur, and in both countries SO2 emissions come from coalfired power plants and coal-burning factories. This could be the first time in almost 20 years that a country is surpassing China in SO2 emission.
“The rapid decrease of SO2 emissions in China far exceeds our expectations and projections,” author Can Li, an associate research scientist at University of Maryland, told Xinhua.
Li and colleagues’ conclusion came after examining data from US space agency NASA’s Aura spacecraft.