Also this week: air pollution in augmented reality, and new climate talks
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 | | Tyler Varsell |
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The Department of Energy estimates that Americans burn 6.6 billion kilowatt-hours annually using holiday lights. That’s enough electricity to power more than 800,000 homes for a year. But with a few simple adjustments, you can make your lights a bit greener. |
The biggest thing you can do is to switch to LED lights. If you do, you’ll use up to 70 percent less energy than you would with traditional incandescent bulbs. Plus, you won’t need to replace lights as often. LEDs last about 10 times longer. |
“If you want the lights, try to get the most efficient ones,” said Shahzeen Attari, an associate professor at Indiana University Bloomington who studies environmental psychology. “And when you’re not using them, turn them off.” |
Eleanor Stokes, a research scientist at the University of Maryland who has worked with NASA to gather satellite data on our lighting habits, agreed. “I’m all about being festive,” she said, “but you don’t need to be festive at, like, 3 a.m.” Putting your lights on a timer can have a “huge benefit,” she said. |
Another tip: You can use an extension cord in places where you want to connect strings but don’t really need lights. |
If you’re lighting candles this season, try to stay away from petroleum-based paraffin ones and instead opt for candles made from soy, beeswax or natural vegetable-based wax. |
And when the holidays are over, don’t forget to promptly take the lights down, pack the candles up and store everything properly so you don’t need to buy new things next year. Don’t throw away light strings just because they’re tangled. |
Finally, enjoy those holiday lights. If you aim for maximum efficiency, Dr. Attari said, they’ll account for only a small fraction of your total energy footprint, just a few dollars a month. |
“Unless you’re one of those homes that lights up the entire home and the entire home is flooded with lights,” she said, “I don’t think it’s a big-ticket item.” |
 | | New York Times |
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What does it feel like to breathe the world’s most polluted air? |
It’s a timely question. Last month, air pollution in New Delhi made headlines when particulate levels rose to near-record levels. Officials declared a public health emergency and distributed millions of protective face masks to residents. |
Around the same time a year ago, pollution was spiking in California. Thick smoke from the Camp Fire blanketed the San Francisco Bay Area for weeks. It prompted officials to close schools and issue health alerts. |
Outdoor particulate pollution is a public health hazard worldwide, responsible for millions of deaths each year and many more illnesses. But this kind of pollution — called PM2.5, for particulate matter that is smaller than 2.5 micrometers across, or about 35 times smaller than a grain of fine beach sand — is often difficult to see with the naked eye. At extreme levels, it casts a haze in the sky, but PM2.5 can imperil health even on clear days. |
In the project, which published this week, you can see particles fill the page as you scroll between cities — and imagine them filling your lungs. And if you have the New York Times app installed on your phone, you can go a step further to see particles fill your physical space in augmented reality. |
Annual United Nations climate negotiations aimed at strengthening the Paris Agreement are underway in Madrid, and even though the United States has moved to formally withdraw from the accord, America is still getting a lot of attention. |
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived for the opening ceremony on Monday and pledged that America was “still in” the 2015 agreement. And on Tuesday on the sidelines of the talks, William Happer, a longtime climate denialist who once served as Mr. Trump’s national security adviser for energy, denounced what he called the “nonexistent climate emergency.” |
A delegation from the State Department is representing the United States at the talks, officially known as the 25th Conference of the Parties and commonly referred to as COP25, but Mr. Trump has not sent senior White House officials. |
American participation in the Paris Agreement will ultimately be determined by the outcome of the 2020 election. If Mr. Trump is not re-elected, the next president could void the current plan to leave the accord with a simple letter to the United Nations Secretary General. |
Still, climate analysts say they worry that no matter how the elections go in the United States, valuable time is being lost and momentum for reducing emissions is slowing. My colleague Henry Fountain reported Wednesday on a stark warning from the World Meteorological Organization that climate change is accelerating, and Brad Plumer reported on Tuesday the worrisome news that carbon emissions hit a record high in 2019. |
Our global climate reporter, Somini Sengupta, will be in Madrid next week when the talks ramp up, so keep an eye out for her articles, tweets and insights! |
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