Donald Trump Administration Stopped Air Quality Monitoring from its Embassies in Many Countries Including India Delhi will face problem

Trump Administration Stops Air Quality Monitoring: The Donald Trump administration has stopped monitoring air quality (AQI) through its embassies, which was an important source of providing environmental data worldwide. This decision has led to lack of data used to get accurate information of pollution in cities like Delhi. Its effect is being felt globally.

Live tracking of pollution from American embassies was being done since 2008, which provided accurate information of air quality to US citizens and international communities. This data was very important in India, especially in Delhi, because the Air Quality Index (AQI) here is severely bad. Under the tracking, air pollution monitoring was done in various cities including Delhi, due to which people and agencies from all over the world could know the level of pollution. With its help, he could take appropriate steps. However, now this facility has been discontinued due to the decision of the Trump administration.

Budget deduction and reason for shutdown
The US State Department has cited the budget cut, saying it is shutting down the data telecast of the air quality tracking program. The State Department spokesman said, “We have to stop this facility due to lack of budget.” Old data will still be available on the website of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but live data has been closed from Tuesday (March 3). Until new funds are provided, this situation will remain.

China and air quality data dispute
This is not the first time that the data of American Embassy has become a matter of dispute in a country. There was also a dispute in China over the air quality data of the US embassy. This is from 2014, when Obama went to China to attend a summit. At that time the data of the US Embassy was shared on one app. This showed that there was a huge difference in the pollution figures being released by China and the US embassy figures. This exposed China’s efforts to hide the pollution data and the country had to raise embarrassment.

What is the effect on India?
Many cities of India, especially in places like Delhi, used air quality data given by the American Embassy. In the month of January, when the level of pollution in Delhi becomes dangerous, the data of the American embassy is considered an important source for international agencies and scientists.

Now after the decision of the Trump administration to discontinue this data, international agencies will have to depend only on the data given by the Government of India. This means that global institutions will not have an independent source to measure the level of pollution.

Global environmental impact
The data obtained from the US Embassy was important not only for India but for countries around the world. American citizens, who live in foreign cities or travel, used to take decisions based on the level of pollution for their health. The closure of this monitoring system will make it difficult to get accurate information of air quality globally.

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