In 2021 the World Health Organization updated their global air quality guidelines for the first time since their original publication in 2006, significantly lowering the benchmark for the PM2.5 concentration considered “healthy” from 10µg/m3 to 5µg/m3; over 97% of the planet now breathes air considered to be “unhealthy” according to the revised guidelines.

To discuss both the challenges and opportunities facing action on global air pollution, and in recognition of the 2022 UN International Day of Clean Air, Berkeley Earth’s Data Points podcast welcomed back Christa Hasenkopf, Director of Air Quality Programs and the AQLI at the Energy Policy Institute at University of Chicago (EPIC).