Analyzing the air quality dataset from NYC Open Data
NYC Air Quality Analysis
I was walking near a bus station in Queens and wondered how long it has been since I smelled clean fresh mountain air. It's been years. Even in the winter I see the exhaust and water vapor coming out of cars and it is a constant reminder that the air quality can be improved.
So, I stumbled into another dataset. NYC apparently had a very thorough air quality monitoring program until recently.
https://nyccas.cityofnewyork.us/nyccas2021v9/report/2
They stopped in 2019, maybe due to the pandemic. I hope they start it up. I'm curious as to how the air quality changed since so few cars were running around Manhattan.
The dataset I used:
https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Environment/Air-Quality/c3uy-2p5r
Here is what I found:
Note: I focused only on "PM 2.5" which means particle matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers. This is usually the stuff that comes from car exhaust. Read more here: https://blissair.com/what-is-pm-2-5.htm
Surprising results. I thought the air was bad, but it was way worse 10 years ago.
Even in Manhattan, there are similar results. Significant improvement in the last 10 years.Now the question is why and how did this happen?
We can see from automotive trends from EPA that car manufacturers have been quite busy reducing their emissions footprint. Read more here: https://www.epa.gov/automotive-trends/highlights-automotive-trends-report#Highlight1
Also particular to NYC, there has been a huge incentive to reducing emissions on all city buses.
Report link: https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/air_06081001a.pdf
In the pdf I read about reducing emissions, they installed new filters in buses which reduced their emissions from 0.31g/mile to 0.046g/mile.
Additionally, there have been new building regulations where landlords have to use low emission fuels in their boilers. Below is an excerpt from the article.
Article:
https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/11-39pr.shtml#.Yf0MEJrMJPZ
The new heating oil regulations reduce emissions from the approximately 10,000 boilers in larger New York City buildings that burn grades Nos. 4 and 6 oil, the dirtiest heating oil types available in New York. Nos. 4 and 6 heating oil have significantly higher levels of sulfur, nickel, and other pollutants compared to other available heating fuels. The new regulations, when fully implemented, will require that all boilers in New York City be required to burn low-sulfur Number 2 oil, natural gas, or any fuel that is as clean or cleaner. Only 1% of city buildings still burn Nos. 4 and 6 heating oil but they account for more soot pollution than all the cars and trucks in New York City combined.
I'm disappointed that the air quality tests have been discontinued. It would have been awesome to see how COVID impacted air quality in Manhattan and the other boroughs. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the results.