British Artist Highlights Air Quality Problems

Art installations in a unique exhibition in London allow people to experience different pollution levels using five domes that replicate the environments of the Indian, Chinese and British capitals, Brazil’s Sao Paulo and Norway’s Tautra peninsula.  The event is aimed at raising awareness of pollution. British artist Michael Pinsky, whose work often focuses on environmental issues, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation he wanted to make people stop and think about how their everyday actions impact the atmosphere. “The idea of polar bears on a melting glacier wasn’t something that makes people change their lifestyles. It’s the things that affect them every day,” Pinsky said in an interview at London’s Somerset House, where the pollution pods are on display. The pods are climatically controlled and expose visitors to moderate levels of the different toxins, from nitrogen dioxide in London to ethanol in Sao Paulo. The Tautra dome contains the cleanest air. Pinsky said the worst air quality was in the Delhi pod, reflecting the conditions of the Indian capital. According to the World Health Organization, more than 92% of the world’s population live in places where air pollution levels exceed its safe limits.