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Global SO2 emission hotspot database: ranking the world’s worst sources of SO2 pollution

India is the world's largest emitter of sulphur dioxide contributing more than 15% of the global anthropogenic SO2 emissions from the point sources tracked by NASA. The major SO2 emission hotspots in India are Singrauli (Madhya Pradesh)  Neyveli and Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Talcher and Jharsuguda (Odisha), Korba (Chhattisgarh) , Kutch (Gujarat), Ramagundam (Telangana) and Chandrapur and Koradi (Maharashtra) shows the Greenpeace study based on NASA data.

A new Greenpeace report has revealed that Australia is ranked 12th on the list of the top human-caused sulfur dioxide hotspots as tracked by NASA satellites. Toxic sulfur dioxide pollution can cause childhood asthma, heart and lung disease, and even dementia and fertility problems. Power stations burning coal and oil along with industrial smelters are responsible for two-thirds of human-caused toxic sulfur dioxide emissions tracked by NASA satellites. Unlike other countries, there are no legislated limits on how much sulfur dioxide Australian coal power stations are allowed to emit. Ageing coal-burning power stations in Australia are allowed to emit up to almost 12 times more sulfur dioxide than old power stations in China. Industrial smelting and the burning of coal, oil and gas are the leading causes of toxic sulfur dioxide pollution in Australia.