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In my opinion is that air pollution is a serious and detrimental issue that poses significant threats to both the environment and human health. The negative consequences of air pollution are well-documented and include respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases, damage to ecosystems, and climate change.

It is widely accepted that action must be taken immediately to address and minimize air pollution. This entails investing in public transit, encouraging cleaner energy sources, enforcing stronger rules on industrial emissions, and increasing public awareness of the significance of individual acts in reducing pollution.

In order to reduce air pollution and safeguard the health of present and future generations, it is critical that individuals, communities, corporations, and governments collaborate. This viewpoint is in line with the international agreement that joint action is required to counteract the harmful impacts of air pollution on the environment and public health.

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How megacities around the world are tackling their air pollution

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How megacities around the world are tackling their air pollution

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Air pollution kills millions each year, especially in the world’s megacities. But we found some surprising news: In many places, it’s actually getting better! Here’s how megacities around the world are already making their air cleaner and safer.

We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.

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How megacities around the world are tackling their air pollution

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WHO: Breathe Life - How air pollution impacts your body

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WHO: Breathe Life - How air pollution impacts your body

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Air pollution is an invisible killer that lurks all around us, preying on the young and old. Learn how it slips unnoticed past our body's defenses causing deaths from heart attack, strokes, lung disease and cancer.

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WHO: Breathe Life - How air pollution impacts your body

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Growing evidence shows that air pollution may be exacerbating the Covid-19 pandemic by facilitating airborne transmissions of the virus. Preliminary studies show that small increases in particulate matter might have led to a rise in mortality rates. Air pollution is linked to many health issues such as heart disease and lung cancer, and is a main environmental trigger for premature death globally. The health impacts of air pollution also have economic consequences. OECD projections show an expected increase of healthcare costs related to air pollution from USD 21 billion in 2015 to USD 176 billion in 2060. Improving air quality can reverse that trend and help yield significant economic benefits.

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Air pollution greatest global threat to human health, says benchmark study

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Air pollution greatest global threat to human health, says benchmark study

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Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on planet Earth than smoking or alcohol, with the threat worsening in its global epicenter South Asia even as China fast improves.

Yet the level of funding set aside to confront the challenge is a fraction of the amount earmarked for fighting infectious diseases, said the research from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).

Its annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report showed that fine particulate air pollution—which comes from vehicle and industrial emissions, wildfires and more—remains the "greatest external threat to public health."

If the world were to permanently reduce these pollutants to meet the World Health Organization's (WHO) guideline limit, the average person would add 2.3 years onto his or her life expectancy, according to the data, which has a 2021 cutoff.

Fine particulate matter is linked to lung disease, heart disease, strokes and cancer.

Tobacco use, by comparison, reduces global life expectancy by 2.2 years while child and maternal malnutrition is responsible for a reduction of 1.6 years.

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People commute along a street amid smoggy conditions in Lahore, Pakistan; South Asia is the global epicenter of an air pollution crisis, a scientific report says.

Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on planet Earth than smoking or alcohol, with the threat worsening in its global epicenter South Asia even as China fast improves, a study showed Tuesday.

Yet the level of funding set aside to confront the challenge is a fraction of the amount earmarked for fighting infectious diseases, said the research from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).

Its annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report showed that fine particulate air pollution -which comes from vehicle and industrial emissions, wildfires and more-remains the "greatest external threat to public health."

If the world were to permanently reduce these pollutants to meet the World Health Organization's (WHO) guideline limit, the average person would add 2.3 years onto his or her life expectancy, according to the data, which has a 2021 cutoff.

Fine particulate matter is linked to lung disease, heart disease, strokes and cancer.

Tobacco use, by comparison, reduces global life expectancy by 2.2 years while child and maternal malnutrition is responsible for a reduction of 1.6 years.

Asia and Africa bear the greatest burden yet have some of the weakest infrastructure to deliver citizens timely, accurate data. They also receive tiny slices of an already small global philanthropic pie.

For example, the entire continent of Africa receives less than $300,000 to tackle air pollution.

"There is a profound disconnect with where air pollution is the worst and where we, collectively and globally, are deploying resources to fix the problem," Christa Hasenkopf, director of air quality programs at EPIC, told AFP.

While there is an international financing partnership called the Global Fund that disburses $4 billion annually on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, there is no equivalent for air pollution.

"Yet, air pollution shaves off more years from the average person's life in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Cameroon than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other health threats," the report said.

Bangladesh tops ranking

Globally, South Asia is the worst impacted region. Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan are in order the top four most polluted countries in terms of annualized, population-weighted averages of fine particulate matter, which are detected by satellites and defined as particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5).

Air pollution concentrations are then fed into the AQLI metric which calculates their impact on life expectancy, based on peer-reviewed methods.

Residents of Bangladesh, where average PM2.5 levels were 74 micrograms per cubic meter, would gain 6.8 years of life if this were brought to WHO guidelines of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

India's capital Delhi meanwhile is the "most polluted megacity in the world" with annual average particulate pollution of 126.5 micrograms per cubic meter.

China, on the other hand, "has had remarkable progress in terms of its war on air pollution" which began in 2014, said Hasenkopf.

Its air pollution dropped 42.3 percent between 2013 and 2021. If the improvements are sustained, the average Chinese citizen will be able to live 2.2 years longer.

In the United States, legislative actions like the Clean Air Act helped reduce pollution by 64.9 percent since 1970, helping Americans gain 1.4 years of life expectancy.

But the growing threat of wildfires-linked to hotter temperatures and drier conditions due to climate change - are causing pollution spikes from the western United States to Latin America and Southeast Asia.

For example, California's historic wildfire season of 2021 saw Plumas County receive an average concentration of fine particulate matter more than five times over the WHO guideline.

North America's story of air pollution improvements in recent decades is similar to Europe, but there remain stark differences between western and eastern Europe, with Bosnia the continent's most polluted country.

© 2023 AFP

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Air pollution greatest global threat to human health, says benchmark study

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Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on planet Earth than smoking or alcohol, with the threat worsening in its global epicenter South Asia even as China fast improves, a study showed Tuesday.

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Air pollution control for Malaysian cities: transport and industry

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Air pollution control for Malaysian cities: transport and industry

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The Malaysian Department of Environment and other offices concerned with air pollution control are to be enabled to implement pollution control measures. The air quality in greater urban areas is to be sustainably improved.

At the national level, the project advises the Malaysian Department of Environment in developing and implementing a modern air pollution control policy. Exhaust emission ceilings for vehicles and industry are defined together with the partner authority, for example. Joint solutions are developed for monitoring compliance with these limits. Improving fuel quality is especially important, since this is the only way to meet modern exhaust emission standards for new vehicles and reduce emissions from old vehicles. Improving the quality of data on the causes and consequences of air pollution (air monitoring network, emission register, health studies) gives the authorities an effective basis for environmental policy decisions, while at the same time creating transparency for the public.

At the municipal level, local public transport and non-motorised transport are promoted. The development of environmentally sensitive urban transport is explained in workshops for industry, media and universities. In addition, environmental communication and intensive information campaigns for project activities raise the awareness of broad segments of the population about the importance of the environment. Activities at the international level include promotion of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities and private sector technology transfer between Malaysia and Europe.

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Project description

Title: Air pollution control for Malaysian cities: transport and industry
Commissioned by: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)
Country: Malaysia
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Department of Environment
Overall term: 2002 to 2006

Context

Because Malaysia, a newly industrialising country, is developing quickly, it has to contend with increasing air pollution generated by transport and industry. Other examples in Asia show that urban air pollution harbours substantial health dangers and inhibits the development of urban agglomerations. In this light, Malaysia's development into a modern and sustainably managed industrial country requires a modern comprehensive environmental policy, including air pollution control.

Objective

The Malaysian Department of Environment and other offices concerned with air pollution control are to be enabled to implement pollution control measures. The air quality in greater urban areas is to be sustainably improved.

Approach

At the national level, the project advises the Malaysian Department of Environment in developing and implementing a modern air pollution control policy. Exhaust emission ceilings for vehicles and industry are defined together with the partner authority, for example. Joint solutions are developed for monitoring compliance with these limits. Improving fuel quality is especially important, since this is the only way to meet modern exhaust emission standards for new vehicles and reduce emissions from old vehicles. Improving the quality of data on the causes and consequences of air pollution (air monitoring network, emission register, health studies) gives the authorities an effective basis for environmental policy decisions, while at the same time creating transparency for the public. At the municipal level, local public transport and non-motorised transport are promoted. The development of environmentally sensitive urban transport is explained in workshops for industry, media and universities. In addition, environmental communication and intensive information campaigns for project activities raise the awareness of broad segments of the population about the importance of the environment. Activities at the international level include promotion of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities and private sector technology transfer between Malaysia and Europe.

Results achieved so far

A fuel quality regulation will be adopted in 2005 which will reduce pollution emissions from vehicles by 15 to 20 percent. Initial drafts were also prepared for European exhaust norms currently in force for vehicles, and for modern exhaust regulations for Malaysian industry, based on European standards. These will further reduce pollution.

The project also conducted studies on the use of Malaysian natural gas and supported the relevant proposals at the policy level. Natural gas is considered a cleaner fuel and, in view of high oil prices, offers an alternative to petrol and diesel fuel.

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Air pollution control for Malaysian cities: transport and industry

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German Development Cooperation is providing advisory services to the Malaysian Government on air pollution control, e.g. on establishing modern exhaust emission standards and traffic avoidance strategies.

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2022 average PM2.5 concentration in Malaysia: 3.5 times the WHO annual air quality guideline value

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5 reasons air pollution is everyone’s problem

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5 reasons air pollution is everyone’s problem

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From contaminating our environment to damaging our health, poor air quality is a major global challenge. No one is immune to the negative effects of air pollution, but many think this shared burden doesn’t affect their lives.

Clean air is everyone’s business and air pollution is preventable. The solutions to this pressing issue are also key to tackling the climate crisis, fostering inclusive societies and improving childhood development. By working together, we have a golden opportunity to transform our approach to one of the great hidden killers.

Here are five reasons clean air is everyone’s business from our latest report, as well as recommendations for funders and campaigners.

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From contaminating our environment to damaging our health, poor air quality is a major global challenge. No one is immune to the negative effects of air pollution, but many think this shared burden doesn't affect their lives.

Clean air is everyone's business and air pollution is preventable. The solutions to this pressing issue are also key to tackling the climate crisis, fostering inclusive societies and improving childhood development. By working together, we have a golden opportunity to transform our approach to one of the great hidden killers.

Here are five reasons clean air is everyone's business from our latest report, as well as recommendations for funders and campaigners.

1. Reducing air pollution would limit global warming

Not only do air pollutants and greenhouse gases share the same sources, some pollutants directly contribute to global warming. Reducing these pollutants (called Short-Lived Climate Pollutants) would slow the rate of climate change and help limit warming to 1.5C.

2. Air pollution is bad for our health

Even though you can't see it, the air you are breathing is probably polluted. Worldwide, 9 out of 10 of us breathe air that is damaging our health. Invisible particles penetrate every cell and organ in our bodies, causing acute and chronic diseases, including asthma, strokes, heart attacks and dementia. Outdoor air pollution causes around 4.2 million early deaths every year.

3. Dirty air is detrimental to childhoods

Our children, and all future generations, deserve to breathe air that is free from toxic pollution. 93% of children under 15 are denied their right to grow up in a clean and healthy environment. Many babies breathe polluted air from their first breath, a critical period when the foundations of growth and cognitive development are being established. Air pollution negatively impacts a child's physical health, their right to an education and to play. These factors are detrimental to brain development, and contribute to mental health and behavioural issues.

4. The most marginalised are hit the hardest

The worst effects of air pollution are often felt by those least responsible. The poorest and most marginalised communities are most likely to live in congested neighbourhoods or work where they are exposed to toxic levels of pollution. The impact on their health prevents them from attending school or work, which further exacerbates poverty and inequity.

5. Our cities should be liveable and sustainable

Throughout the world, many cities prioritise the movement of cars over people. By 2050, 68% of the world's population is projected to live in urban areas. However, only half of the world's urban population has convenient access to public transport. How our cities are designed and, consequently, how we travel, determines the quality of air we breathe, as well as our health, safety and wellbeing as city dwellers.

What funders and campaigners can do

Action on air pollution can address some of our biggest problems at the same time and will pay for itself many times over. Clean air is a critical but unacknowledged secret weapon to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and building a fairer, greener future. Here are six ways funders and campaigners can contribute to this effort:

Develop internal knowledge and strengthen your team's understanding of the benefits of clean air.

Build and diversify demand for clean air by discussing how clean air benefits your work in your communications, advocacy and campaigning.

Support the delivery of clean air by applying your issue-specific expertise to the problem.

Use data and evidence on air pollution to understand the impact of air pollution on your work and vice-versa.

Engage with the communities you serve to build alliances with the groups that are most affected.

Help make the case for more efficient funding and projects that address several development goals together.

Read our new publication, Clean Air is Everyone's Business, for more on the benefits of tackling air pollution, and get suggestions on incorporating clean air into funders' and campaigners' work.

Get the latest news and views straight to your inbox

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5 reasons air pollution is everyone's problem - Clean Air Fund

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From contaminating our environment to damaging our health, poor air quality is a major global challenge. No one is immune to the negative effects of air pollution, but many think this shared burden doesn't affect their lives. Clean air is everyone's business and air pollution is preventable.

# data[].attributes.headline
1. Reducing air pollution would limit global warming

# data[].attributes.subject
1. Reducing air pollution would limit global warming

# data[].attributes.body
Not only do air pollutants and greenhouse gases share the same sources, some pollutants directly contribute to global warming. Reducing these pollutants (called Short-Lived Climate Pollutants) would slow the rate of climate change and help limit warming to 1.5C.

# data[].attributes.body
Even though you can’t see it, the air you are breathing is probably polluted. Worldwide, 9 out of 10 of us breathe air that is damaging our health. Invisible particles penetrate every cell and organ in our bodies, causing acute and chronic diseases, including asthma, strokes, heart attacks and dementia. Outdoor air pollution causes around 4.2 million early deaths every year.

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3. Dirty air is detrimental to childhoods

# data[].attributes.subject
3. Dirty air is detrimental to childhoods

# data[].attributes.body
Our children, and all future generations, deserve to breathe air that is free from toxic pollution. 93% of children under 15 are denied their right to grow up in a clean and healthy environment. Many babies breathe polluted air from their first breath, a critical period when the foundations of growth and cognitive development are being established. Air pollution negatively impacts a child’s physical health, their right to an education and to play. These factors are detrimental to brain development, and contribute to mental health and behavioural issues.

# data[].attributes.headline
4. The most marginalised are hit the hardest

# data[].attributes.subject
4. The most marginalised are hit the hardest

# data[].attributes.body
The worst effects of air pollution are often felt by those least responsible. The poorest and most marginalised communities are most likely to live in congested neighbourhoods or work where they are exposed to toxic levels of pollution. The impact on their health prevents them from attending school or work, which further exacerbates poverty and inequity.

# data[].attributes.headline
5. Our cities should be liveable and sustainable

# data[].attributes.subject
5. Our cities should be liveable and sustainable

# data[].attributes.body
Throughout the world, many cities prioritise the movement of cars over people. By 2050, 68% of the world’s population is projected to live in urban areas. However, only half of the world’s urban population has convenient access to public transport. How our cities are designed and, consequently, how we travel, determines the quality of air we breathe, as well as our health, safety and wellbeing as city dwellers.

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Air pollution is contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.

Household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities and forest fires are common sources of air pollution. Pollutants of major public health concern include particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Outdoor and indoor air pollution cause respiratory and other diseases and are important sources of morbidity and mortality.

WHO data show that almost all of the global population (99%) breathe air that exceeds WHO guideline limits and contains high levels of pollutants, with low- and middle-income countries suffering from the highest exposures.

Air quality is closely linked to the earth’s climate and ecosystems globally. Many of the drivers of air pollution (i.e. combustion of fossil fuels) are also sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Policies to reduce air pollution, therefore, offer a win-win strategy for both climate and health, lowering the burden of disease attributable to air pollution, as well as contributing to the near- and long-term mitigation of climate change.

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1. https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution

2. https://ourfuture.energy/teacher-zone/air-pollution-infographic/

3. https://earth.org/history-of-air-pollution/

4. https://www.cleanairfund.org/news-item/5-reasons-air-pollution-is-everyones-problem/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwYHRyOzjggMVx6tmAh1lnAEREAAYAiAAEgLnLfD_BwE

5. https://www.iqair.com/malaysia

6. https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/17653.html

7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F6mq20QOcE

8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVBeY1jSG9Y

9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjS5UdKyJ4o

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The Industrial Revolution and Its Effects on Air Quality

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The Industrial Revolution and Its Effects on Air Quality

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Between 1820 and 1840, Great Britain and other European countries, along with the United States, began a transition to new manufacturing processes known as the Industrial Revolution. This process included the rise of the mechanised factory system to replace hand production methods, chemical manufacturing, iron production, and an increase in the use of steam and water power, all of which implicated the need for more natural resources such as coal and iron.

Industrialisation has created massive consequences for the environment, affecting first and foremost the air quality in developing urban areas. The expansion of factories and the rise in coal consumption and combustion gave rise to unprecedented levels of air pollution due to the dramatic increase in emissions of primary pollutants. The growing population also played a role, with private households substantially contributing to an increase in domestic emissions from burning coal for heating and cooking. The amount of pollutants in the air first increased in cities but later spread across countries. It quickly became a much larger-scale issue when global trade took off, turning air pollution into one of the harshest consequences of industrial growth across the world.

Europe and North America – the continents that first experienced rapid industrial growth – were not surprisingly also the ones most impacted by emissions and, for most of the second half of the twentieth century, they suffered the majority of adverse effects of air pollution. Until 1970, both continents combined were responsible for more than 80% of the global sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions.

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A fuel quality regulation will be adopted in 2005 which will reduce pollution emissions from vehicles by 15 to 20 percent. Initial drafts were also prepared for European exhaust norms currently in force for vehicles, and for modern exhaust regulations for Malaysian industry, based on European standards. These will further reduce pollution.

The project also conducted studies on the use of Malaysian natural gas and supported the relevant proposals at the policy level. Natural gas is considered a cleaner fuel and, in view of high oil prices, offers an alternative to petrol and diesel fuel.

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Air quality index (AQI) and PM2.5 air pollution in Malaysia

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Globally, South Asia is the worst impacted region. Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan are in order the top four most polluted countries in terms of annualized, population-weighted averages of fine particulate matter, which are detected by satellites and defined as particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5).

Air pollution concentrations are then fed into the AQLI metric which calculates their impact on life expectancy, based on peer-reviewed methods.

Residents of Bangladesh, where average PM2.5 levels were 74 micrograms per cubic meter, would gain 6.8 years of life if this were brought to WHO guidelines of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

India's capital Delhi meanwhile is the "most polluted megacity in the world" with annual average particulate pollution of 126.5 micrograms per cubic meter.

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China, on the other hand, "has had remarkable progress in terms of its war on air pollution" which began in 2014, said Hasenkopf.

Its air pollution dropped 42.3 percent between 2013 and 2021. If the improvements are sustained, the average Chinese citizen will be able to live 2.2 years longer.

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In the United States, legislative actions like the Clean Air Act helped reduce pollution by 64.9 percent since 1970, helping Americans gain 1.4 years of life expectancy.

But the growing threat of wildfires—linked to hotter temperatures and drier conditions due to climate change— are causing pollution spikes from the western United States to Latin America and Southeast Asia.

For example, California's historic wildfire season of 2021 saw Plumas County receive an average concentration of fine particulate matter more than five times over the WHO guideline.