Basic facts
The Nature Communications organization has published a study according to which a sharp reduction in carbon emissions into the atmosphere can become cost-effective in the short term.
According to the latest data, most people die because of polluted air in India and China. That is why these countries should first of all fight against particulates into the atmosphere, but the governments of these countries do not pay enough attention to the problem.
Experts claim that the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will decrease mortality and the percentage of serious diseases in places with polluted air in our generation, and improvement of the resident health in problem regions will save money allocated annually for health care.
This point is crucial, but it is not fully taken into account in the global economic analysis of how much the world community should invest in the fight against climate change.
At the same time, the amount of benefit directly depends on the policy of controlling environmental pollution and can reach several trillion dollars per year.
Authors of the study note that usually it is customary to talk about the contribution of our descendants and our planet when discussing the problems of air pollution control but, as evidenced by the latest work in this area, the benefit (including economic) can be obtained in the coming years by eliminating harmful particulate pollutants.
To be more precise, air pollution is considered to be the main cause of the global environmental threat. The international labor organization defines air pollution as the presence in the air of particulates that are harmful to health or dangerous for other reasons, regardless of their physical form. The burning of fossil fuels, agricultural activities, and mining are just some of the causes of air pollution. Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and dust are regarded as the most popular and most polluting the atmosphere.
Any particulates pollute the air: gaseous, solid and liquid if they are contained in it in quantities exceeding their average content. Air pollution is divided into dust and gas. The World Health Organization defines polluted air as if its chemical composition can negatively affect the health of people, plants, and animals, as well as other elements of the environment (water, soil). Air pollution is the most dangerous of all types of pollution because it is mobile and can pollute almost all components of the environment over large areas.
Main sources of air pollution include:
The growing demand for energy has made the burning of hydrocarbons the main source of anthropogenic air pollution.
The most dangerous particulate pollutants are:
Anthropogenic sources of air pollution include:
Natural sources of air pollution are the following:
Particulate pollutants are absorbed by people mainly during breathing. They contribute to the development of respiratory diseases, allergies, and reproductive disorders. Air pollution causes corrosion of metals and building materials in everyday life. It also negatively affects the plant world, disrupting the processes of photosynthesis, transpiration, and respiration.
Particulates also worsen the condition of water and soil. Globally, air pollution has an impact on climate change. Air pollution also increases the acidity of drinking water. This causes an increase in the content of lead, copper, zinc, aluminum, and even cadmium in the water entering our apartments. Water with high acidity destroys water supply systems, washing out various toxic substances.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), financial losses because of poor air pollution control in Europe amount to about 1.6 trillion US dollars. This is the result of about 600,000 premature deaths (about $ 1.4 trillion) and diseases (about $ 200 billion).
The effects of insufficient air pollution control include:
Air pollution caused by cars is responsible for about 1/4 of the deaths in huge cities. In addition to dust, vehicles are a source of nitrogen dioxide emissions, a substance that is at the center of the scandal was the German automaker Volkswagen, which falsified the results of environmental tests of its cars.
As the world around us becomes more polluted and overpopulated, engines continue to emit particulate pollutants into the atmosphere, and half of the entire population does not have access to clean fuels or technologies (such as stoves and lamps), the levels of air pollution we breathe become more dangerous — currently, 9 out of every 10 people breathe polluted air, resulting in 7 million deaths each year.
Poor air pollution control has severe health consequences — one-third of deaths from stroke, lung cancer, and heart disease are caused by air pollution. This is equivalent to exposure to tobacco smoke and is significantly more severe than, for example, the consequences of consuming excessive amounts of salt.
Air pollution is difficult to avoid no matter how rich the area you live in. Microscopic particulates can pass through our body's defenses, penetrating deep into the respiratory and circulatory systems and destroying the lungs, heart, and brain.
The absence of visible smog does not mean that there is healthy air around. All over the world, both cities and villages are exposed to toxic levels of particulate pollutants that exceed the annual average recommended in the WHO air quality guidelines.
Herewith, according to the opinion of health specialists, people who live and work in high air pollution are more attackable to the COVID-19 - today the most thrilling disease, causing panic all over the world. There is an opinion that air pollution control systems such as scrubbers are considered to be one of the best ways to prevent people from lung infections resulting in the reduction of infectious diseases like coronavirus.
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