Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types of air pollutants, such as gases (including ammonia, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane, carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons), particulates (both organic and inorganic), and biological molecules. Air pollution can cause diseases, allergies, and even death to humans; it can also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food crops, and may damage the natural environment (for example, climate change, ozone depletion or habitat degradation) or built environment (for example, acid rain). Both human activity and natural processes can generate air pollution.
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Air pollution is a significant risk factor for a number of pollution-related diseases, including respiratory infections, heart disease, COPD, stroke and lung cancer.[1] Growing evidence suggests that air pollution exposure may be associated with reduced IQ scores, impaired cognition,[2] increased risk for psychiatric disorders such as depression[3] and detrimental perinatal health.[4] The human health effects of poor air quality are far reaching, but principally affect the body's respiratory system and the cardiovascular system. Individual reactions to air pollutants depend on the type of pollutant a person is exposed to, the degree of exposure, and the individual's health status and genetics.[5] Outdoor air pollution alone causes 2.1[6][7] to 4.21 million deaths annually, making it one of the top contributors to human death.[1][8] Overall, air pollution causes the deaths of around 7 million people worldwide each year, or a global mean loss of life expectancy (LLE) of 2.9 years,[9] and is the world's largest single environmental health risk.[1][10][11] Indoor air pollution and poor urban air quality are listed as two of the world's worst toxic pollution problems in the 2008 Blacksmith Institute World's Worst Polluted Places report.[12] The scope of the air pollution crisis is enormous: 90% of the world's population breathes dirty air to some degree. Although the health consequences are extensive, the way the problem is handled is often haphazard.[13][14][15]
Productivity losses and degraded quality of life caused by air pollution are estimated to cost the world economy $5 trillion per year[16][17][18] but, along with health and mortality impacts, are an externality to the contemporary economic system and most human activity, albeit sometimes being moderately regulated and monitored.[19][20] Various pollution control technologies and strategies are available to reduce air pollution.[21][22] To reduce the impacts of air pollution, both international and national legislation and regulation have been implemented to regulate air pollution. Local laws, where well enforced, have led to strong public health improvements. At the international level, some of these efforts have been successful – for example the Montreal Protocol was successful at reducing release of harmful ozone depleting chemicals or the 1985 Helsinki Protocol which reduced sulfur emissions, while other attempts have so far been less successful in implementation, such as international action on climate change.
What Is Air Pollution?
Air pollution refers to the release of pollutants into the air—pollutants which are detrimental to human health and the planet as a whole. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), each year air pollution is responsible for nearly seven million deaths around the globe. Nine out of ten human beings currently breathe air that exceeds the WHO’s guideline limits for pollutants, with those living in low- and middle-income countries suffering the most. In the United States, the Clean Air Act, established in 1970, authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to safeguard public health by regulating the emissions of these harmful air pollutants.
What Causes Air Pollution?
“Most air pollution comes from energy use and production,” says John Walke, director of the Clean Air Project, part of the Climate and Clean Energy program at NRDC. “Burning fossil fuels releases gases and chemicals into the air.” And in an especially destructive feedback loop, air pollution not only contributes to climate change but is also exacerbated by it. “Air pollution in the form of carbon dioxide and methane raises the earth’s temperature,” Walke says. “Another type of air pollution, smog, is then worsened by that increased heat, forming when the weather is warmer and there’s more ultraviolet radiation.” Climate change also increases the production of allergenic air pollutants, including mold (thanks to damp conditions caused by extreme weather and increased flooding) and pollen (due to a longer pollen season).
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