Author: Zaina Shalaby
Introduction
According to National Geographic, air pollution is a mix of particles and gases that can reach harmful concentrations both outside and indoors (Essick, 2019). Air pollution is one of the biggest issues that plague our world today. Air pollution is one of the biggest contributors to deaths worldwide. Air pollution causes heart disease, respiratory issues, cancer, and many other health problems in humans. It also harms animals. Not only is it dangerous to human and animal health, but it has been proven to weaken economies worldwide due to healthcare expenses, infrastructure expenses, and more. Furthermore, air pollution is one of the leading causes of global warming, a phenomenon that is slowly destroying the Earth as we know it. For these reasons, regulating air pollution will always be of greater importance than meeting energy demands.
Human Health
Air pollution kills 5 million people each year (Ritchie & Roser, 2017). That is around 9% of deaths worldwide (Ritchie & Roser, 2017). That may not seem like a large percentage, but it is. It means that 9 out of every 100 deaths globally are a result of air pollution.
That 9% is global, however. The developmental stages of countries have to also be taken into account. Less developed countries tend to have a much higher death rate from air pollution because of two things. First of all, indoor pollution is common in less developed countries due to the fact that they use fuels for cooking and heating that pollute the air. Second of all, as the less developed countries industrialize, air pollution rates rise and therefore death rates rise with them.
Egypt, for example, has one of the highest death rates from outdoor air pollution as of 2017. Egypt experienced 114 deaths for every 100,000 people (Ritchie & Roser, 2019). Looking at the lifestyle in Egypt, outdoor pollution is very difficult to decrease. There are thousands of cars on the streets each day, polluting the air with their carbon emissions. Many of the cars are also older models, meaning that they are not as gas efficient. This also contributes to pollution. Furthermore, many people’s only feasible form of transportation is public transportation, which takes a great toll on the environment because these forms of transportation are not sustainable in any form. The black colored emissions that come from buses, microbuses, taxis, and other forms of transportation are constantly deteriorating air quality. Many other countries are just like Egypt when it comes to outdoor air pollution including India, China, and Pakistan. Looking at what all four of these countries have in common, we see that their populations are very large and as a result, more transportation is used which means more air pollution and a higher death rate.
Air Pollution’s Economic Toll
Air pollution is not only one of the world’s most serious environmental threats, but it is also one of the most serious economic threats. Governments must make sure that they can withstand the strain that the effects of air pollution put on the economy. There are a couple of factors that affect the economy as a result of air pollution. Firstly, health expenditures greatly increase to cover healthcare for citizens, expenses for hospitals to be properly functioning, insurance companies have to pay more to cover outrageous bills, and more. Secondly, air pollution decreases crop yields, which decreases the value of agriculture.
There are many factors to covering the necessities of healthcare. The government and other private organizations must ensure that the staff is being properly paid, the necessary equipment is present and up to date, the infrastructure is proper, and more. Normally, governments spend a lot on healthcare. The United States government spends nearly eleven thousand dollars per person every year as of 2018. In total, that is about 3.6 trillion dollars ("National Health Expenditure Data- Historical", 2019). It wasn’t always that much, however. In 1970, the US government only spent about 75 billion dollars total on healthcare (Kamal, 2019). As industrialization occured, which means air pollution increased, the cost of healthcare increased as well. As air pollution causes more cases of disease, cancer, and even death, healthcare facilities must be prepared for the worst. As a result of all the spending on healthcare, healthcare spending outpaces economic growth and will continue to do so if air pollution doesn’t decrease (Kamal, 2019).
Global Warming
Humans are the leading cause of climate change. We use cars, burn fossil fuels, use pesticides, cut down forests, and more. All of these activities contribute to air pollution and in turn, climate change. Although energy is essential, preserving the environment is more essential. Air pollutants include water vapor, nitrous oxide, methane, volatile organic compounds, and also carbon dioxide. Due to air pollution, there have been an increased number of wildfires, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and overall more extreme temperatures year-round. Not only does the global warming that results from air pollution cause extreme weather and events, but it also destroys habitats. For example, the Arctic polar bear is having a hard time finding food due to the fact that a lot of the ice and snow melted. As a result, that species is in danger of extinction. This is only one of the many different animals that suffers from the effects of air pollution on the climate.
The extent to which people pollute the air just to obtain energy must be reduced. In the United States, the largest coal-burning power plant releases 25 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air annually, and that is only one power plant. Those 25 million tons of carbon dioxide move the Earth closer to being beyond fixing. The world is full of plants just like this one, and eventually, although we will have resources, we will not have any more Earth left.
Conclusion
The world needs to chose if they want to preserve the Earth or go on abusing resources and polluting the environment to obtain energy. Personally, the choice is clear. There will be no Earth if we do not preserve it and all the energy will be for nothing. Although there are some natural causes of air pollution, it is mostly anthropogenic. People need to take a step back and realize that things cannot go on the way they currently are. Resource use needs to be limited, polluting activities need to be regulated, the world needs to be saved from the plague that is humanity.
Bibliography
Essick, P. (2019, June 25). Air Pollution Causes, Effects, and Solutions. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/pollution/#/08-global-warming-gallery.jpg
Health resources - Health spending - OECD Data. (2020). Retrieved April 1, 2020, from https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm
Kamal, R. (2019, December 20). How has U.S. spending on healthcare changed over time? Retrieved April 1, 2020, from https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/u-s-spending-healthcare-changed-time/#item-nhe-trends_year-over-year-growth-in-health-services-spending-by-quarter-2010-2019
National Health Expenditure Data- Historical. (2019, December 17). Retrieved April 1, 2020, from https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NationalHealthAccountsHistorical
Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2014, March 28). Energy. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://ourworldindata.org/energy
Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2017, April 17). Air Pollution. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://ourworldindata.org/air-pollution
Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2019, November 12). Outdoor Air Pollution. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://ourworldindata.org/outdoor-air-pollution
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://img.datawrapper.de/w8YT3/full.png
Comentários