Emissions from diesel vehicles in London is responsible for 9500 premature deaths a year and has made law makers call for cleaner skies from now on. While cutting down on emissions and opting for cleaner sources of energy are obvious steps, Londoners have chosen an alternative to monitoring the pollution that smogs up the sky. What you may have thought were a nuisance for shitting on your diesel car, are now helping the British capital maintain pollution levels at threshold level. 10 birds equipped with miniature backpacks carrying pollution sensors and GPS trackers took to the skies. The devices allow them to tweet (via Twitter, of course) of the pollution levels and the readings of nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Residents who tweet at the Pigeon Air Patrol (@PigeonAir) will get responses from the birds about air pollution in their area, and a live map of the pigeons’ location.

The patrol is, alas, a publicity stunt that is meant to raise awareness about the city’s harmful air. It should be noted that birds too are victims of all sorts of nefarious ailments caused by air pollution, such as lung damage and low body weight.

Plume Labs, the tech firm doing this, assured that a veterinarian was involved in the project to ensure the safety of the pigeons.

This is not the first time birds have donned backpacks for an environmental cause. Vultures in Lima, Peru, had been adorned with GPS trackers and GoPro cameras to hunt down illegal garbage dumping sites.

Perhaps it's time Indian cities like Delhi and Mumbai adopted something similar to get citizens more aware of how their activities affect an entire ecosystem.