CONA - Community Observation Networks for Air

Stories like this have been appearing in the press around the world recently: http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/80075184/timarus-air-pollution-the-worst-in-oceania-figures-reveal This has been triggered by the release of a global air quality database by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The data they have used (in the case of Timaru) actually comes from Environment Canterbury (ECan) and specifically the continuous monitoring site they operate in the town. It's just the same as the ECan site in the centre of our CONA pilot study town of Rangiora. Press in other countries have basically done the same thing - looked through the database to find the worst or most surprising results in their local area and done some international comparison. I'm sure many readers abroad have come across the NZ figures and gone "Timaru? Never heard of it!" Well they have now. But is this 'notoriety' justified? I've already responded to several enquiries asking me if...

Good timing! Just as CONA gets underway in Rangiora, a story appears in The Press (10 th August 2015), and elsewhere, covering the latest air quality monitoring data from Environment Canterbury (ECan). The Press article states: “ Christchurch's air quality is improving but there are still too many high pollution days, monitoring data shows. The article also mentions that Rangiora has again failed to meet the National Standards that it is legally required to do so by 2016. However, understanding whether air quality is, or is not getting better is much more complicated than you might think. Being able to answer this seemingly basic question is one of the main scientific aims of CONA. To find out more check out our longer article on the topic.