Air pollution is contamination of
the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent
that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. Household
combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities and forest fires are
common sources of air pollution. Pollutants of major public health concern
include particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur
dioxide.
Air pollution now a days is
threating to all living beings from various aspects. It includes the respiratory
and other diseases, which can be fatal. In world the total deaths caused by urban
outdoor air pollution is estimated to cause 1.3 million deaths per year.
Children are particularly at risk due to the immaturity of their respiratory
organ systems. Also indoor air pollution is responsible for 2 million deaths
annually. Acute lower respiratory infections, in particular pneumonia, continue
to be the biggest killer of young children and this toll almost exclusively
falls on children in developing countries.
According to a research inhaling
air pollution takes away at least 1-2 years of a typical human life. Deaths
caused by air pollution cost the European Union €161 billion and air pollution resulting
deaths are increasing fastest in Asia especially in china, India, Malaysia and
Indonesia. In china the rising levels of air pollution in Beijing has brought a
new disease called Beijing cough and
it is astonishing to know 70% of the air pollution caused in Chinese cities is
due to tailpipes. It is estimated that 750,000 people die in china prematurely
due to air pollution. Air pollution in China is so much that it can travel up to
Central Valley of California. The second most polluted country in Asia is India
where 25% (527700 people) deaths are due to air pollution. Also it is very
awful to know that 2 million cars in Manila, Philippines cause 80% of air
pollution.
According to a study it is found
that by 2050, 6 million people will die per year due to air pollution. It is
important to know that air pollution is not a recent occurrence, in 1952 the
Great Smog of London killed 8000 people. These events are not frequent but
people are dying slowly due to different respiratory and heart diseases.
Increase in the number of vehicles and industrialization different notorious
gases such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are released from burning of
fossil fuels in motor vehicles, and factories. During heavy traffic jam,
pollutants outside can seep into your car, making the air inside car 10 times
more polluted than typical city air.
An air quality index (AQI) is a number
used by government agencies to communicate to the public how polluted the air
currently is or how polluted it is. As the AQI increases, an increasingly large
percentage of the population is likely to experience increasingly severe
adverse health effects. Different countries have their own air quality indices,
corresponding to different national air quality standards. (Scale of AQI is
given in last)
The World Health Organization (WHO)
gathered the data on air pollution in various cities and countries of world. The
database of WHO contains results of urban outdoor air pollution monitoring from
almost 1100 cities in 91 countries. Air pollution is measured by the
concentration of fine particulate matter (<10 or 2.5 microns, called PM10
and PM2.5). Globally, more than 3 million people die prematurely each year from
prolonged exposure to air pollution, according to the World Health
Organization. By 2050, it could be 6.6 million premature deaths every year
worldwide, a new study predicts.
According to the study, in Middle
East, North Africa and Central Asia, natural sources of air pollution, such as
desert storm dust, were the dominant contributor to premature deaths.
Beijing’s average PM2.5
concentration last year was 85.9 micrograms per cubic meter. The figure dropped
to 78.8 in the first six months of this year, but it was still more than double
the national acceptable standard of 35.
The air pollution from aircraft
emissions in conjunction with other anthropogenic sources are expected to
modify atmospheric composition (gases and aerosols). Atmospheric changes from
aircraft result from three types of processes: direct emission of radioactively
active substances (e.g., CO2 or water vapor); emission of chemical species that
produce or destroy radioactively active substances (e.g., NOx, which modifies
O3 concentration); and emission of substances that trigger the generation of
aerosol particles or lead to changes in natural clouds.
Many events occur in world every
year such as haze in Malaysia and volcanic eruption in japan, Indonesia and
Hawaii. These events has increased the air pollution globally. The total
concentration of Particulate matter, Ozone, Sulphur dioxide, lead and Nitrogen
dioxide has also increased worsening the health and atmospheric chemistry. It
also effect the global mean temperature of world. Across Europe concentrations
of PM2.5 ranged between 3 and 35 µg m−3. The extreme pollution from Asia
affects cloud formations, precipitation, storm intensity and other factors and
eventually impacts climate.
Air Pollution in Pakistan:
Air pollution in Pakistan’s major
cities like Lahore and Karachi is 20 times higher than the World Health
Organization standards. There are layers of smog, dust and smoke that exist
over Karachi. There is also a prominent smell of gasoline that infiltrates air.
The PM10 for Pakistan (1999) was 180 micro grams per cubic meter. Pakistan is
not in list for air pollution emission but it is in top three most vulnerable
country from air pollution.
Summary:
We conclude that the global air
pollution is threating both human health and climate. The most populated and
polluted country china is number one country with highest PM concentration.
Thousands of people died due to air pollution which mean the current scenario
of world is not good and is worsening day by day. Millions of people are dying
and the figures of deaths show us how much our air is polluted. It need more
laws and regulations to control the emissions of gases into atmosphere.
Especially in developing countries where children’s are suffering more.
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