Episode 56TR May 3, 2024. UK elections lean Labour, Turkey PM2.5 pollution deaths higher than for COVID.

In Episode 56TR, 1)United Kingdom, London. RAWSEP View: A 2025 UK Labour government may be more predisposed to stop Drax subsidies for industrial wood burning, and may be more predisposed to support enforcement of indoor residential wood burning pollution regulation. 2)United States. RAWSEP View: Home insurers retreat in wildfire prone areas. 3)Envirotec Magazine. Counting the microns. The United states changed the safe annual limits for PM 2.5 from 12 to 9 µg/m3, seemingly to reflect new adverse human health and climate effect findings. The EPA presents a sliding scale of lethality for PM2.5 exposure.  May, 2024.  4)Turkey, Istanbul. Invisible pandemic: Air pollution’s toll on lives in Istanbul. RAWSEP View; PM2.5 monitors are helpful in detecting conditions that can lead to preventable adverse health effects. One researcher said, in this article. “We call air pollution an invisible killer, but at times, it becomes visible. There are daily reporting apps that measure the quality of the air we breathe. By checking these before going outside, especially if you have a chronic illness, and wearing a mask if the air quality is low or avoiding going out during times of intense pollution, we can protect ourselves from its effects,”. Particulate matter is defined as solid or aerosol particles suspended in the air, with PM 10 and PM 2.5 representing their diameter in micrometers. 5)New York, Manorhaven. RAWSEP View: This article does not mention the health effects of PM2.5 emissions from wood burning. The discussion only touches on wood burning violating codes. The End Of An Oven. May 1, 2024.  6)Massachusetts, Greenfield. Two opinions on wood burning pollution, one in April 2024 sounding an alarm that we must stop subsidizing wood burning, with one this May treating wood burning as a non-existent problem, a bogeyman, a hallucination of pollution, pollution that doesn’t exist, in the opinion of the May 2024 opinion writer.  7)New York, Bushwick. FDNY battle massive supermarket fire that spread to several buildings. 9)California, El Dorado County. Burn Day. 10)Oregon. Working Smoke Alarm Awakens Residents. 11)Oregon, Medford. RAWSEP View: Hopefully, these wood chipper days result in the wood chips being composted into usable soil. Soil is non flammable.  12)Wisconsin, Ripon. Throwback Thursday: Fires often swept throughout Ripon. 13)Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax. Burn Permit. 14)New Zealand, Southland. Limitations on fires, outdoor burning kick in in Southland. 15)India. Reducing air pollution key to fight new diabetes cases in India. 16)Korea. Atmosphere particulate matter and respiratory diseases during COVID-19 in Korea. 1)United Kingdom, London. RAWSEP View: A 2025 UK Labour government may be more predisposed to stop Drax subsidies for industrial wood burning, and may be more predisposed to support enforcement of indoor residential wood burning pollution regulation. From the article below: Labour, in UK local council elections held 5/2/2024, won in the third largest Tory-to-Labour shift since World War II. Blackpool South was one key victory over a “red wall”. General elections will be held within 9 months (by February 2025). Labour leader Keir Starmer may turn out to be the next UK prime minister. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/labour-wins-back-key-seat-as-sunak-suffers-big-election-losses/ar-AA1o4SSU?ocid=  Excerpts edited by RAWSEP for brevity and clarity and relationship to Residents Against Wood Smoke Emission Particulates, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. May 2, 2024. Labour won back a bellwether parliamentary seat from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives in northwest England, as early local election results suggested the UK’s Labour Party may return to power. Labour’s Chris Webb won 58.9% of ballots cast, in an election for the “red wall” seat in Blackpool triggered after the Tory MP resigned in scandal. Tories were in second place, securing just 117 more votes than the populist Reform UK party founded by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage.  It represented a 26% swing from the Conservatives to Labour, the third-largest Tory-to-Labour shift since World War II. It follows similarly large moves in by-elections over the past year which, if replicated nationally at a general election due within 9 months, would make Labour leader Keir Starmer the next prime minister. Blackpool South is the first major setback in a predicted slew of defeats for Sunak’s Tories, as results from local council elections across England, plus key mayoralties such as London, Tees Valley and West Midlands, are announced Friday and over the weekend. 2)United States. RAWSEP View: Home insurers retreat in wildfire prone areas. Climate change home insurance retreats begun in wildfire-prone California, Florida and Louisiana are spreading to hurricane prone North Carolina and wildfire-prone Oregon, Colorado, and Arizona. From the Article: Climate change-driven insurance crisis threatens new US states https://www.context.news/climate-risks/climate-change-driven-insurance-crisis-threatens-new-us-states?utm_source= s May 2, 2024. U.S., March 29, 2023. REUTERS.  What’s the context? The home insurance crisis in the United States is spreading as climate change drives extreme weather. Could your state be next? Insurers retreat as floods and fires threaten homes Climate-fuelled storms, wildfires increasing risk Costs of supplemental wind, flood policies soaring. Excerpts edited by RAWSEP for brevity and clarity and relationship to Residents Against Wood Smoke Emission Particulates, a 501c3 nonprofit organization.   WILMINGTON, North Carolina After major providers quit California, Florida, and Louisiana, insurers are starting to pull back in other U.S. states, leaving homeowners struggling to find affordable cover for the risk of being hit by floods, wildfires or hurricanes. Insurers are retreating from markets in hurricane-prone North Carolina and western states like Oregon, Colorado, and Arizona that have struggled with wildfires in recent years. Insurance firm Nationwide last year did not renew around 10,000 policies in parts of North Carolina due to risks posed by hurricanes in climate-risky areas.  Nationwide, (a home insurer), has also limited its offering in Oregon, where brokers say  wildfires are more frequent.  Arizona, Nevada and Washington have also seen a recent increase of non-renewal notices and premium hikes amid major wildfires. There were 28 weather and climate disasters costing $1 billion each in the U.S. last year, with a price tag of $94 billion. In North Carolina, the state’s rate bureau proposed an average increase of 42% in homeowners insurance rates this year but this was rejected by the North Carolina Insurance Commissioner. The executive director of Battleship North Carolina, across from downtown Wilmington, estimated that the total cost of wind insurance on his home, a supplement to standard homeowners insurance, is now more than $6,600.  Personally, he had an annual wind premium of roughly half that a decade ago. State Farm stopped selling new homeowners policies in California, for example, before scaling back operations, said a professor of risk management in North Carolina. “Insurance companies can quietly be more selective in their underwriting or find ways to non-renew because they don’t like your roof or something,” he said, naming North Carolina and wildfire-prone Colorado as the next potential insurance problem spots. As of May 2024, the average annual premium for a home with a dwelling coverage amount of $300,000 was $2,535 in North Carolina and $2,988 in Colorado, well above the national average of $2,151 per year, according to bankrate.com In Colorado, state lawmakers last year set up a state-backed “insurer of last resort” intended to take on policies and customers deemed too high-risk for the private market.  3)Envirotec Magazine. Counting the microns – Envirotec Magazine  The United states changed the safe annual limits for PM 2.5 from 12 to 9 µg/m3, seemingly to reflect new adverse human health and climate effect findings. The EPA presents a sliding scale of lethality for PM2.5 exposure.  Counting the microns. May, 2024.  Excerpts edited by RAWSEP for brevity and clarity and relationship to Residents Against Wood Smoke Emission Particulates, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Now considered the world’s leading environmental risk factor, the striking fact about PM2.5 is how little of the world’s populace manages to escape seemingly dangerous exposure. A Monash University study puts the number free from dangerous exposure at only 0.001% of the global population. Only seven countries and three territories last year met World Health Organization pollution guidelines for fine particulate matter, according to the latest report by Swiss company IQ Air, published in March. WHO guidelines currently state that annual average concentrations of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 µg/m3, while 24-hour average exposures should not exceed 15 µg/m3 more than 3 – 4 days per year. In the US – pegged by IQ Air’s report as falling short of meeting WHO guidelines, and in February the EPA lowered the acceptable annual amount of PM 2.5 from 12 to 9 µg/m3, seemingly to reflect new findings. The EPA presents a sliding scale of lethality for PM2.5 exposure, for which the upper limit is 500 µg/m3 – which adds perspective to New Delhi’s lung-rupturing 900 µg/m3 levels recorded in late 2019. Some research indicates that even a modest increase of 10 µg/m3 of PM 2.5 in the surrounding air is associated with a 10 percent increase in a person’s likelihood of dying from heart disease.  The report is said to be based upon a worldwide monitoring network of more than 30,000 stations. Montenegro experienced the greatest absolute increase in PM2.5 concentrations.  One obvious conclusion is that much more work remains to be done to combat air pollution. And data gathering is key to this effort. IQ Air said government-operated stations contribute 73% of air quality data in Europe, with Germany having the highest number of cities included in the report and Russia’s data bolstered by non-government operated stations. From Monash University, in Melbourne, and published in March in The Lancet Planetary Health, this study looks at PM2.5 levels in the two decades up until 2019.  Daily levels of PM2.5 have increased in Southern Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America and the Caribbean.  The study noted that, In southern and eastern Asia, more than 90% of days had daily PM2.5 concentrations higher than 15 µg/m³. The highest PM2.5 concentrations were distributed in the regions of Eastern Asia (50.0 µg/m3) and Southern Asia (37.2 µg/m3), followed by northern Africa (30.1 µg/m3).  Common sources of both categories of particulate matter include combusion is also a big contributor, including wood-burning stoves. 4)Turkey, Istanbul. Invisible pandemic: Air pollution’s toll on lives in Istanbul | Daily Sabah  RAWSEP View; PM2.5 monitors are helpful in detecting conditions that can lead to preventable adverse health effects. One researcher said, in this article. “We call air pollution an invisible killer, but at times, it becomes visible. There are daily reporting apps that measure the quality of the air we breathe. By checking these before going outside, especially if you have a chronic illness, and wearing a mask if the air quality is low or avoiding going out during times of intense pollution, we can protect ourselves from its effects,” he stressed. Particulate matter is defined as solid or aerosol particles suspended in the air, with PM 10 and PM 2.5 representing their diameter in micrometers. Istanbul often faces poor air quality due to pollution and natural factors like desert dust, Istanbul, Türkiye, April 26, 2024. (AA Photo)      ISTANBUL May 02, 2024.  Data reveals that air pollution-related deaths have surpassed COVID-19 fatalities, signaling a critical public health concern in Istanbul. 

Excerpts edited by RAWSEP for brevity and clarity and relationship to Residents Against Wood Smoke Emission Particulates, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. There were almost no cities with clean air in Türkiye between 2020 and 2022, according to Turkish Thoracic Society research on harmful airborne substances conducted in line with World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The findings also indicated that deaths due to air pollution in the three years exceeded those caused by COVID-19.  Chest disease specialists conducting the study noted that the increased cases of heart attacks at a young age are believed to be due to the damage caused by air pollution rather than vaccinations. At the 27th annual congress of the Turkish Thoracic Society (TTS) held in the TRNC with international participation, the main theme was set as “Be the Voice for Climate, Breathe for the World” to draw attention to the greatest enemy of health, air pollution and climate change. One of the notable presentations noted that fine particles of pollutants in the air resulted in over 87,000 deaths in individuals over 30 years old in 2022 alone, with 40,000 attributed to cardiovascular diseases and 18,000 to respiratory diseases. Both experts emphasized that considering these impacts, the invisible pandemic is still ongoing. PM 2.5 can penetrate deeper lung tissues and even reach the bloodstream. Evaluating air pollution data using World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, Erçelik emphasized that PM levels exceeding 15 micrograms/cubic meter for PM 10 and 5 micrograms/cubic meter for PM 2.5 are considered harmful to public health. Erçelik emphasized that in their research, they detected PM 2.5 measurements in 51 provinces. “In every province measured, values exceeded the WHO limit. Istanbul, Türkiye, April 26, 2024.   Particularly in the southeastern Anatolia and eastern Anatolia regions, provinces like Muş, Iğdır and Hakkari have the highest values nationwide. 188K lives lost in 3 years “The WHO has a program called AirQ Plus. In this program, we input air pollution levels of cities in our country, the surface area of our provinces and deaths of individuals over 30 years old obtained from the statistical institution,” Erçelik explained.  We calculated the premature deaths of individuals over 30 years old due to PM 2.5 between 2020-2022 (for a three-year period) in this manner. Furthermore, we excluded COVID-19 death data,” she added. Despite excluding injuries, poisonings and similar deaths, the actual number of deaths due to PM 2.5 exposure, meaning premature deaths, was approximately 188,000, according to the research. In comparison, COVID-19 deaths from 2020 to December 2022 were around 100,000. “This data tells us that deaths due to PM (related to air pollution) are 1.8 times higher than COVID-19 deaths. Air pollution doesn’t just affect our respiratory health; it primarily leads to cardiovascular diseases. “So, the cause of heart attacks is actually this. Our cardiovascular system, respiratory system, skin, digestive system, reproductive health, children’s health, all systems are affected, and this is the cause of many diseases,” she stressed. In just one year, around 40,000 cardiac deaths occurred. “In our study, we attempted to calculate the proportion of deaths among individuals aged 30 and above that were attributed to air pollution. We calculated that in 2022 alone, there were 87,000 deaths due to air pollution, specifically PM 2.5 exposure. “Approximately 40,000 of these deaths were related to cardiac or cardiovascular diseases, while around 18,000 were related to respiratory diseases. Moreover, in 2022, we were still seeing the effects of COVID-19.” He continued: “During this period, sudden heart attacks and related deaths observed in our environment were sometimes mistakenly attributed to the COVID-19 vaccine, but we believe that the main cause of the approximately 40,000 deaths due to heart diseases was actually air pollution.”  5)New York, Manorhaven. RAWSEP View: This article does not mention the health effects of PM2.5 emissions from wood burning. The discussion only touches on wood burning violating codes. The End Of An Oven – Anton Media Group  Serra Provisions and the End Of An Oven. May 1, 2024.  Excerpts edited by RAWSEP for brevity and clarity and relationship to Residents Against Wood Smoke Emission Particulates, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. The Village of Manorhaven responds to residents concerned with a local Italian specialty shop.  According to a statement made by Serra Provisions on April 24, Serra Provisions isn’t denying that the wood-burning oven wasn’t part of the original plan. “We didn’t decide to transition from an electric oven to a wood-burning oven until we had been open for several months and realized that it would better fit our family’s vision. We did not neglect to inform the village out of ill intent. It was a massive oversight on our end. We worked with the Nassau County Fire Chief Marshal, which we believed at the time was the appropriate path forward. We are not a fire hazard. We are fully insured.” Upon discovering that the Village needed to be involved in the details about the wood-burning oven, the Village states that they have shared the information from the Village Building Department on what needs to be done. Mayor Popeleski said, “The board of trustees and myself as the mayor, we’re not even involved. This is something that’s being handled through our building department. Village Codes along with Town and County Codes are there for the safety of the village residents and for the public.  One person at Serra Provisions said that “I am choosing to take the oven out.” He shared that the oven weighs 5,000 pounds. Serra Provisions are considering removing the chimney and plugging the hole so its just a piece of furniture.  He is also considering looking for a new space in Port Washington.  6)Massachusetts, Greenfield. Two opinions on wood burning pollution, one in April 2024 sounding an alarm that we must stop subsidizing wood burning, with one this May treating wood burning as a non-existent problem, a bogeyman, a hallucination of pollution that doesn’t exist, in the opinion of the May 2024 opinion writer.  My Turn: Modern wood heat not carbon bogeyman – Greenfield Recorder  The study found that when they made the switch, their air quality typically improved, and that wood particulate emissions are likely less dangerous to. Greenfield Recorder – My Turn: Modern wood heat not carbon … 5/1/2024 · My Turn: Modern wood heat not carbon bogeyman. Published: 05-01-2024. Greenfield Recorder – My Turn: Must stop subsidizing wood … Apr 4, 2024 · Specifically, woody biomass combustion must be removed from the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (APS), which provides incentives for wood heating.  7)New York, Bushwick. FDNY battle massive supermarket fire that spread to several buildings in Bushwick – abc7NY  Officials say one of the challenges is the wood-framed construction. FDNY officials say seven people suffered minor injuries, including six injured. FDNY battles massive supermarket fire that spread to several buildings in Bushwick; 6 injured  abc7NY.  NewsCopter 7 was over the scene at 1385 Bushwick Avenue. 8)Arizona, Maricopa County. PSA: Maricopa County fire ban and being Firewise | Local News | citysuntimes.com  City Sun Times.  At parks the restrictions encompass activities such as using wood-burning chimneys, outdoor pits and any other open flames for warmth, recreational. 9)California, El Dorado County. Burn Day – El Dorado County – CA.gov  El Dorado County – CA.gov  10)Oregon. Working Smoke Alarm Awakens Residents | MyCentralOregon.com  Bend Fire & Rescue officials caution residents when removing ashes from a wood stove, always assume they are hot, having potential to ignite. 11)Oregon, Medford. RAWSEP View: Hopefully, these wood chipper days result in the wood chips being composted into usable soil. Soil is non flammable.  Medford holds Wood Debris Chipper days ahead of fire season – YouTube  This week Medford residents can cut down on the fire fuels around their property with two days of wood chipping at city public parks. 12)Wisconsin, Ripon. Throwback Thursday: Fires often swept throughout Ripon | News | riponpress.com  Ripon Commonwealth Press. wood burning and coal stoves for heating. There are records of entire blocks of downtown business buildings that were burned to the ground. 13)Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax. Burn Permit | Address Map | Open-Air | Campfire | Chimenea – Halifax Regional Municipality  User friendly map that answers many burning questions on open-air burning, campfires and backyard outdoor wood burning appliances at a specific.14)New Zealand, Southland. Limitations on fires, outdoor burning kick in in Southland | Stuff  “Firewood must have a moisture content of less than 25% before burning to reduce the amount of smoke it produces. “Not only does burning wet wood. 15)India. Reducing air pollution key to fight new diabetes cases in India: Doctors – AP7AM  PM 2.5 is a tiny particle that enters the bloodstream and attaches to the cells to produce insulin resistance. “It can possibly attack the. 16)Korea. Atmosphere particulate matter and respiratory diseases during COVID-19 in Korea – Nature  For PM2.5, S-shaped and inverted U-shaped changes were observed in asthma and COPD, respectively. Extremely high and low levels of PM10 and extremely.