Air quality, as a phenomenon, refers to the physicochemical state of the atmosphere with respect to the presence, concentration, and reactivity of gaseous and particulate constituents, including criteria pollutants (e.g., ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter) and numerous hazardous air pollutants. It emerges from dynamic interactions among emission sources, atmospheric transport, dispersion, chemical transformation, and removal processes such as deposition and scavenging. Quantification of air quality relies on continuous or episodic monitoring, expressed through pollutant concentrations and composite indices, and is central to studying atmospheric chemistry, exposure assessment, and the impacts of atmospheric composition on biological, ecological, and material systems.
Cleaner engine standards and a gradual uptake of electric vehicles have been credited with helping improve Auckland's air quality in recent years.
Environment
Sep 9, 2026
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Southeast Asia has spent decades trying to tackle haze from forest fires. Yet every few years, the region finds itself breathing it again. The transboundary environmental problem has become a recurrent phenomenon in the region.
Earth Sciences
Sep 8, 2026
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Every US$1 invested in tackling climate change and air pollution together can generate around US$15 in economic benefits, according to a report published today by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and ...
Environment
Sep 8, 2026
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Wildfires ravaging the Indonesian part of Borneo are choking communities as far away as Malaysia with putrid haze, testing the resources and resolve of those who must endure it.
Environment
Sep 8, 2026
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An increase in pollution from wildfires and heat waves risks undermining international efforts to improve air quality and protect human and ecosystem health, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 7, 2026
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9
Toiling around the clock, haggard Indonesian firefighters on the island of Borneo cannot keep up with the blazes devouring landscapes and shrouding communities in a cloying haze.
Environment
Sep 7, 2026
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Acrid smoke hung heavily over the Malaysian town of Serian, seeping into homes and cloaking roadside stalls, as residents navigated an air-quality emergency fueled by transboundary haze from Indonesia's raging fires.
Environment
Sep 6, 2026
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Thick smog has blanketed parts of Indonesia as the vast archipelago battles fires that have burned large swaths of Borneo and Sumatra for weeks.
Environment
Sep 5, 2026
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Malaysia declared an emergency in the Serian division of its Sarawak state on Borneo after hazardous haze from fires in neighboring Indonesia drove air pollution to critical levels, the Prime Minister's Office said.
Environment
Sep 4, 2026
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Malaysia launched a three-day cloud-seeding operation Thursday in a bid to ease hazardous haze choking Sarawak state, as smoke from Indonesian forest fires pushed air quality to dangerous levels.
Environment
Sep 3, 2026
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13
