Air Pollution | Under 2 Minutes

Air pollution refers to the release of harmful pollutants into the atmosphere that poses a threat to human health and the environment as a whole.

Photo by Carolina Pimenta on Unsplash

These pollutants include harmful gases like ammonia, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane as well as organic and inorganic particulate matters and biomolecules.

Key Statistics

• In 2016, it was estimated that Outdoor Air Pollution in both urban and rural areas caused 4.2 million premature deaths globally. About 91% of these deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries.
• Indoor smoke poses a serious health risk to around 3 billion people who cook with and heat their homes using biomass, kerosene fuels, and coal.
• Some 3.8 million premature deaths were attributable to indoor air pollution in 2016. Almost all of the burden was in low-middle-income countries.
• Every year, around 4 million premature deaths occur from illnesses attributed to indoor air pollution.
• About 50% of deaths due to pneumonia among children under 5 years of age are caused by Particulate Matter inhaled from indoor air.
• Indoor air pollution contributes to 28% of all adult deaths to pneumonia.
• One in four or 25% of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults in low- and middle-income countries are due to exposure to indoor air.
• According to WHO, around 90% of people breathe polluted air worldwide. Over the past 6 years, ambient air pollution levels have remained high and approximately stable, with declining concentrations in some parts of Europe and in the Americas.

Current Scenario

Although the data shows that air pollution levels are still high in most parts of the world, some positive progress has also been made. Countries have made strides to tackle and reduce air pollution.

• India’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Scheme has provided some 37 million women living below the poverty line with free LPG connections and helped them switch to clean household energy use.
• Mexico City has decided to move to soot-free buses and ban private diesel cars by 2025 as part of their commitment to adopting cleaner vehicle standards.
• China is taking steps to clean up smog-filled skies, partly by closing or canceling coal-fired power plants.
• The US state of California has been a leader in setting emissions standards aimed at improving air quality, especially in places with significant amounts of air pollution like the city of Los Angeles.
• African countries of Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, and Rwanda, have decided that only low-sulfur fuels would be allowed in their countries from 1 January 2015.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is also actively involved in combating air pollution. It is working with member countries in building capacity at the country and regional level to address indoor air pollution by exchanging knowledge and information through direct consultations and conducting workshops on household energy and health.

Head to WeNaturalists’ dedicated section on ‘Air Pollution’ to learn more.