While the argument of pollution on climate change continues to rage and cause divide, even with such debate put to the side, ending air pollution is still a priority because the problem of air pollution goes far beyond climate change.
Two studies out of Lancet Planetary Health highlights the important of curbing air pollution
In study one, reviewing nearly 13,000 cities worldwide, conclude that air pollution from nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant out of car exhaust, lead to almost 2 million diagnosis of pediatric asthma, with two-thirds of the cases attributed to urban settings. Countries that were able to curb nitrogen dioxide pollution saw a decrease in cases of asthma diagnoses in children.
A second study, funded by NASA and lead by George Washington University, found that 86% of residents living in cities are exposed to air pollution (fine particulate matter) exceeded guidelines set by the World Health Organization. This violation resulted in nearly 1.8 million deaths in 2019 attributable to air pollution. Good news is that air pollution declined in some area from the ears of 2000 to 2019; however, the bad news is that due to the lasting effects of air pollution, some places saw that death rates attributable to air pollution continued to rise.
Is the answer to just live where there’s less air pollution and traffic? No because that’s a selfish move and if everyone does that, it’ll just create more cities with air pollution. So it is in the best interest of your children and your family, to find ways to decrease reliance on cars and activities that lead to high amounts of air pollution. Additionally, these studies show that high level of regulation of decrease air pollution is a necessity in population health.
S Anenberg et al. Long-term trends in urban NO2 concentrations and associated paediatric asthma incidence: estimates from global datasets. The Lancet Planetary Health 2022. 6(1); E49-E58. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00255-2
V Southerland et al. Global urban temporal trends in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and attributable health burdens: estimates from global datasets. The Lancet Planetary Health 2022. Online first 01/02/2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00350-8
