Three decades of rapid economic development is causing severe and widespread PM2.5 (particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm) pollution in China. However, research on the health impacts of PM2.5 exposure has been hindered by limited historical PM2.5 concentration data. The researchers estimated ambient PM2.5 concentrations from 2004 to 2013 in China at 0.1° resolution using the most recent satellite data and evaluated model performance with available ground observations.

Original Source

Three decades of rapid economic development is causing severe and widespread PM2.5 pollution in China. However, research on the health impacts of PM2.5 exposure has been hindered by limited historical PM2.5 concentration data. The researchers estimated ambient PM2.5 concentrations from 2004 to 2013 in China at 0.1 degree resolution using the latest satellite data and evaluated model performance with available ground observations.

Original Source

The devastating flood episode (16–17 June 2013) at Kedarnath (Uttrakhand, India), caused a huge loss of lives and loss of physical/material wealth. To understand this catastrophic event, rainfall/convective data and associated climate meteorological parameters are investigated. A low-pressure zone with very high cloud cover (60–90 %) and relative humidity (70–100 %), associated with low (< 4 m s−1) wind velocity, are observed over the Kedarnath region during 15–17 June.