Air quality

The Chinese government announced Monday that it plans to take more than five million vehicles off the road to improve air quality, including 330,000 cars in Beijing. This announcement comes only weeks after the World Health Organization announced that only 12 percent of cities reporting on air quality meet their standards for safe levels. With the help of our newsroom designers, we put together a list of places recently affected by deteriorating air quality and incidents of smog.The Chinese government announced Monday that it plans to take more than five million vehicles off the road to improve air quality, including 330,000 cars in Beijing. This announcement comes only weeks after the World Health Organization announced that only 12 percent of cities reporting on air quality meet their standards for safe levels. With the help of our newsroom designers, we put together a list of places recently affected by deteriorating air quality and incidents of smog.

If you suffer from spring allergies, take heart that you aren’t in Islamabad, Pakistan, where pollen counts are some of the highest in the world. Reporter Bina Shah just visited the city and couldn’t wait to get out.

If you suffer from spring allergies, take heart that you aren’t in Islamabad, Pakistan, where pollen counts are some of the highest in the world. Reporter Bina Shah just visited the city and couldn’t wait to get out.

EPA chief Stephen Johnson tightens the limit on ozone a little, but not as much as his science advisors wanted.

BBC sports reporter Tom Fordyce put his own lungs on the line to sample the effects that air pollution could have on runners competing in the Beijing Olympics, and his 10-K run through the Chinese capital left him with a serious cough.