According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is linked to 7 million premature deaths each year. According to United Nations figures, every hour there are 800 deaths due to air pollution, an average of 13 deaths per minute, 3-5 times more than the number of deaths from dengue fever and HIV.
In this article, we learn about the harmful effects of air pollution and the importance of the natural environment where we all live.
Contents
Air pollution status
Air pollution is not only a problem for urban areas or industrial zones, pollution has now become an urgent problem for the whole society.
According to the latest WHO report, air pollution causes more than 6 million deaths each year from reasons such as lung cancer, myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, etc.
80% of cities in the world do not meet the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) for air quality, which is mainly concentrated in developing countries.
Aggregating data on 3,000 cities, towns, and villages from 103 countries between 2008 and 2013, the WHO claims global urban air pollution levels have increased by 8% despite improvements in some regions.
The US-based HEI Health Impact Research Institute publishes its annual report on air pollution. Accordingly, more than 95% of the world’s population is breathing dust and respiratory pathogens on a daily basis.
Earlier, the latest report from the World Health Organization (WHO) said that environmental pollution claimed the lives of more than 6.1 million people every year, of which more than 1.7 million victims were children. under 5 years old.
Causes of air pollution
Natural causes
Sources of air pollution can come from nature. These can be mentioned as:
Air dust from a large area or sparse vegetation, the image points are places near deserts or deserts
The process of digesting food by animals produced Methane
Dust from a natural source, usually a large area of land with little or no vegetation
Radon gas from radioactive decay in the earth’s crust. Radon gas is the second most common cause of lung cancer, after smoking. In particular, this gas is colorless, odorless, and difficult to detect
Smoke, and carbon monoxide from forest fires
Volcanic activity produces sulfur, chlorine, and ash.
Industrial production activities
Industrial activities will produce huge amounts of belly smoke, which is released directly into the air. Accompanying it are gases produced during fuel combustion such as CO2, CO, SO2, Nox, carbon black, etc.
Military industry activities also have a significant impact on air pollution such as toxic gases, nuclear weapons, chemical substances, etc.
Pollution comes from traffic activities
60% of pollution comes from traffic activities
The engine during operation has created gases that are directly harmful to human health such as CO, CO2, SO2, NOx, Pb, and CH4. Smoke and dust carried by vehicles are also a cause of air pollution.
60-70% of PM2.5 ultrafine dust is generated from motorcycles and cars. They are 1/30 times the size of human hair and extremely dangerous, easy to go deep into the blood and lungs through the respiratory tract.
Human daily activities
Mainly the process of cooking, using burning materials.
Indiscriminate disposal of garbage, poor food preservation, use of odorants, etc.
Agricultural activities such as the use of pesticides
Smoking, drinking alcohol, etc.
Some flowers produce a lot of flavors or strong smells such as milk flowers, lilies, etc., which are grown in many places.
The spread and development of a number of respiratory diseases in residential areas such as influenza, tuberculosis, etc.
Effects of air pollution on human health
Direct effects:
Causes of respiratory diseases: Air pollution is the main cause of respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, allergies, etc.
Cancer: Inhaling toxic gases increases the risk of lung cancer. Not only that, toxic gases are transported in the body, causing cancer in many other parts
Effects on the brain: pollution can affect the brain, causing cognitive decline and memory loss
Effects on the heart: Air pollution increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, especially stroke
Some other diseases such as causing infertility in men, increasing the risk of diabetes, damaging the skin, irritating eye diseases, etc.
For children: decreased IQ, increased risk of birth defects in the womb, early puberty in girls.
Indirect effects:
Air pollution harms flora and fauna. Thereby, reducing the quality of human life.
Final thought
Air pollution has been a thorny issue all over the world and this needs to be dealt with immediately, every one of us can make a contribution to reducing air pollution by raising awareness of natural protection as well as not littering.
Top News hopes this article can help you know more about the harmful effects of air pollution and the importance of maintaining a healthy natural environment.
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