Health impacts, ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation potential of aromatic hydrocarbons (C-C) in the Central Himalayas and the Indo-Gangetic Plain.

The pristine Himalayas are sensitive to pollutants from different source regions, including its foothills that have adverse effects on air quality and climate. Despite this, there are no observations of aromatic hydrocarbons in the central Himalayas. Thus, online observations of aromatics (C-C, defined here as BTEX) were conducted for the first time at the mountain site (Nainital, 1958 m) in the central Himalayas during January 2017-December 2022 period.

Recent decline in carbon monoxide levels observed at an urban site in Ahmedabad, India.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a prominent air pollutant in cities, with far-reaching implications for both local air quality and global atmospheric chemistry. The long-term change in atmospheric CO levels at a specific location is influenced by a complex interplay of local emissions, atmospheric transport, and photochemical processes, making it a subject of considerable interest. This study presents an 8-year analysis (2014-2021) of in situ CO observations using a cutting-edge laser-based analyzer at an urban site in Ahmedabad, western India.

Loss of crop yields in India due to surface ozone: an estimation based on a network of observations.

Surface ozone is mainly produced by photochemical reactions involving various anthropogenic pollutants, whose emissions are increasing rapidly in India due to fast-growing anthropogenic activities. This study estimates the losses of wheat and rice crop yields using surface ozone observations from a group of 17 sites, for the first time, covering different parts of India. We used the mean ozone for 7 h during the day (M7) and accumulated ozone over a threshold of 40 ppbv (AOT40) metrics for the calculation of crop losses for the northern, eastern, western and southern regions of India.