Eps 1246: Why is the world so polluted?
— The too lazy to register an account podcast
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Host
Priscilla Alvarez
Podcast Content
What we normally think of as air pollution is actually a mixture of small particles, including those below. This is important because these particles are responsible for the 4.2 million deaths worldwide caused by outdoor air pollution each year. PM 2.5 and living in an area where these guidelines are exceeded exposes you to particulate matter levels above the guidelines. So polluted air affects many more people than any other disease, according to the WHO.
In many cities, the absence of air quality monitoring systems such as air quality monitoring systems and air pollution monitoring systems makes it difficult to determine the levels of pollutants on the ground, but in some cities this is possible.
We know that the use of fossil fuels is the main source of particulate matter pollution in the air and that these cities are among the most polluted in the world. While the current challenges of air pollution are largely concentrated in developing countries, the effects of fossil fuel consumption will affect the entire world, especially in cities like New York City and Paris, which are known to have some of the highest carbon dioxide levels. emissions and the second highest concentration of nitrogen oxides due to their pollution. So why will we continue to rely so heavily on fossil fuels when we know that they cause air pollution and climate change? While pollution can be reduced by reducing the burning of fossil fuels, we cannot have cleaner, pandemic skies without a significant reduction in emissions.
In landlocked countries, dangerous air pollution can reach 100 mg / m3 in a single day, and in some parts of the world 1.5 times that level.
In many of the world's most polluted cities, deforestation and changing weather patterns are behind it. Forest fires and pollution from the petroleum industry are the most common causes of air and water pollution in urban areas. These can lead to widespread and potentially dangerous releases in the event of accidents.
Although the 37 million people affected by disease are tiny compared to the 5.9 billion people who breathe polluted air, the overall impact of air pollution is much greater. Pollution has a huge impact on how Earth systems like the climate function, and everyone in the world bears the burden of that pollution.
Today's global population has lost more than half its life expectancy due to air pollution, and fine dust pollution persists. Given what we know about the dangers of widespread air pollution, it is likely that there will be a significant increase in pollution - deaths related to air pollution - in the coming decades. Until now, we have not had peer-reviewed studies measuring the true health impacts of reducing emissions. This fact could give us a better understanding of how bad pollution is actually on our planet.
Research shows that 92% of people worldwide breathe unsafe air when exposed to high levels of air pollution. Worldwide, 93 percent of children breathe air containing more than twice as many pollutants as the World Health Organization considers safe for human health.
Indoor air pollution from vehicles and industry is blamed for 4.5 million deaths annually, with 2.9 million of those deaths linked to high levels of fine particulate matter in the air, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency . In the 1990 "s, polluted air alone caused 4.2 million deaths, while cooking with polluting fuels and technologies such as coal, oil, and natural gas caused an estimated 3.8 million deaths over the same period.
The crucial difference is that residents of polluted areas do very little to prevent particulate matter pollution, while everyone has to breathe in the air. People living in areas with high air pollution are three times more likely to die from lung cancer than those living in less polluted areas and are at higher risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, cancer and other diseases. Incinerators can help with soil pollution, but they can also exacerbate air pollution problems.
It also gives the inhabitants of some of the world's most polluted cities something they haven't experienced in years: a sense of security. It is a reminder that today's pollution need not be tomorrow's fate, but it is also a warning to the rest of us.
Global warming caused by air pollution remains a threat that scientists around the world are vigorously tackling. The report notes that climate change is exacerbating the effects of air pollution by altering atmospheric conditions and intensifying forest fires, and points out that the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas is also a major cause of polluted air.