This satellite could help clean up the air

In pockets across the U.S., communities are struggling with polluted air, often in neighborhoods where working class people and people of color live. The people who live in these communities often know the air is polluted, but they don't always have the data to fight against it.

Today, NPR climate reporters Rebecca Hersher and Seyma Bayram talk to Short Wave host Emily Kwong about how a new satellite — TEMPO: Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution — could empower these communities with data, helping them in their sometimes decades-long fight for clean air.

TEMPO is a joint project between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It will measure pollutants like ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, across the U.S. every hour, every day. The idea is to use the data to better inform air quality guides that are more timely and location specific.

Got questions about science? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

This episode was produced by Berly McCoy, edited by managing producer Rebecca Ramirez and fact-checked by Rebecca Hersher and Seyma Bayram. Patrick Murray was the audio engineer.