Air Pollution..
The Invisible Threat…
The new WHO guidelines on the permissible levels of particulate matter indicate that more than 90 per cent of the world’s population lived in areas that fall into the category of polluted zones…
According to WHO’s World Global Ambient Air Quality Database, nine in 10 people on Earth breathe highly polluted air and around 70 lakh people die every year from exposure to polluted air The World Health Organisation (WHO) has lowered the bar of pollution levels from the earlier concentration of PM 2.5 of 25 micrograms per cubic metre to 15 micrograms. The existing norms of WHO, which worked as a yardstick for policy makers and governments battling air pollution, had been in place since the year 2005. But more than 90 percent of the world’s population lived in areas that did not meet the 2005 air quality guidelines and with more stringent guidelines in place now, the number is expected to go substantially beyond the 90 percent mark.
The New Guidelines
In a bid to push countries towards clean energy, WHO has tightened the air quality guidelines for the first time since 2005. Even at very low levels, research has shown “air pollution affects all parts of the body, from the brain to a growing baby in a mother’s womb,”. It is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change. Improving air quality can enhance climate change mitigation efforts while reducing emissions that will, in turn, improve air quality.
The organisation has revised air quality levels for six pollutants that include particulate matter (PM), ozone (O), nitrogen dioxide (NO) sulfur dioxide (SO) and carbon monoxide (CO). According to the new limits, average annual PM2.5 concentrations should be no higher than five micrograms per cubic meter.
Scientists have determined that long-term exposure to concentrations even that low still contributed to heart and lung diseases, stroke and other negative health impacts. Announcing the new guidelines, the WHO said that “almost 80% of deaths related to PM2.5 could be avoided in the world if the current air pollution levels were reduced.”
A Looming Catastrophe
According to data from more than 3,000 cities compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO), outdoor air pollution has grown 8% globally in the past five years, with billions of people around the world now exposed to dangerous air. The WHO said that disparities in air pollution exposure are increasing worldwide, particularly as low- and middle-income countries are experiencing growing levels of air pollution because of large-scale urbanization and economic development.
The fact that nearly 90 per cent of the world population lived in areas that did not meet the air quality standards is definitely the sign of a looming catastrophe and India definitely features prominently in this red alert zone.
Almost all of India is polluted!
Significantly, in tune with the new WHO guidelines, almost all parts of India can be deemed polluted as the air quality levels are worse than the permissible limits prescribed by the WHO throughout the year.
India recommends the concentration of PM2.5 of upto 60 micrograms per cubic metre over a 24-hour period for an area to be termed as pollution free in contrast to the 25 microgram limit set by the WHO 2005 guidelines. Even the lower standards set by the Indian government are flouted every year as several metropolitan cities report severe pollution in the run up to the winter months including Delhi, NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Gwalior among others.
Indian cities dominate and stand on the worst ranks in a number of studies on air pollution. As per a Greenpeace study, the average concentration of PM2.5 was about 17 times higher in Delhi, eight times higher in Mumbai, nine times higher in Kolkata and over five times higher in Chennai than the recommended levels.
The University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report showed that India is the most polluted country in the world, with more than 480 million people or about 40 per cent of its population living in the Indo-Gangetic plains in the north where pollution levels regularly exceed those found anywhere else in the world by an order of magnitude. It has also been reported that the pollution levels have expanded geographically over time and increased so much in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh that an average person is now losing an additional 2.5 to 2.9 years of life expectancy.
A Greenpeace report titled, ‘Behind the Smokescreen’ pointed that among the eight state capitals, Delhi had the worst breathable air with a massive spike of 125 per cent in Nitrogen Dioxide concentrations during April 2021 as compared to the corresponding month in 2020. While researchers took into account the weather changes, had it been more severe the pollution would have spiked by 146 per cent from 2020. This clearly indicates that human induced factors contribute exponentially to increase air pollution levels.
We are responsible…
In early 2020, NASA published satellite images which showed a dramatic decline in pollution levels over China, which the US space agency says was “partly related” to the coronavirus. This was the case across many countries in the world. Efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus changed the ways people worked and conducted their lives. Though temporary, these changes have definitely led to curbing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.
Satellite readings in the troposphere (the lower atmosphere) of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a pollutant primarily from burning fossil fuels, show a dramatic decline compared to early period when power plants were operating at normal levels. NASA Earth Observatory
The same difference was evident during the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing. To help improve the air, government officials had shut factories and dramatically limited car travel before and during the games leading to levels of some air pollutants dropped by half. This clearly points out to the fact that the high levels of pollution are due to mankind’s irresponsible behaviour towards the environment, restricted not only to a particular country or continent but across the global landscape.
Air pollutants also contribute to climate change like heat waves, extreme weather changes, food supply disruptions, and other effects that can create havoc to the very existences of life on planet earth. Humans have pumped enough carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past 150 years to raise its levels higher than they have been for hundreds of thousands of years.
Lakes around the world are freezing less and less over time, and in a few decades, thousands of lakes around the world may lose their winter ice cover entirely. The Amazon is losing the equivalent of nearly one million soccer fields of forest cover each year, much of which is cut down to make way for agriculture.
When forest is lost, the carbon it seized ends up in the atmosphere, accelerating but across the global landscape. Air pollutants also contribute to climate change like heat waves, extreme weather changes, food supply disruptions, and other effects that can create havoc to the very existences of life on planet earth.
This implies that in all ways, governments around the world must take bold action to ensure their cities and communities turn from sources of air pollution related health risks to safe places for billions of humans to reside.
Clean the Air now or …
The WHO’s updated Air Quality Guidelines are a firm warning about the severity of our air pollution crisis. The need of the hour is for governments across the world to adopt WHO Air Quality Guidelines, which are based on the latest scientific understanding and seek alternatives to burning fossil fuels for power, transport and industry.
What if…and hear me out…
what if the entire human population used this opportunity to restart society on a greener, more environment conscious foot…?” Yes, the time to begin is NOW
-Dr Siddhivinayak Barve
Editor, ScienceNow
