03/06/2025

US State Department Kills Global Air Monitoring Program

The program's researcher say it paid for itself

In 2008, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing started regularly tweeting about the air quality in the city, which was gearing up to host China’s first Olympic Games. Two times a day, the embassy automatically published current pollution levels measured by an air quality monitor installed on its roof in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The data contradicted the figures published by the local government, angering local officials and eventually spurring China to clean up the air in its capital city. However, on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told WIRED the program is abruptly ending due to budget constraints.

The project eventually became part of a broader, highly successful U.S. government initiative known officially as DOSAir, which measured pollution levels in about 80 cities where U.S. diplomatic missions are located around the world. Scientists and researchers have credited it with helping clean up the air in dozens of countries, preventing up to 895 premature deaths and saving $465 million in medical costs per median city annually, according to a research paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2022.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.