Air pollution is the natural processes caused by human activities through which certain substances enter the atmosphere at a sufficient concentration to cause environmental pollution. The World Health Organization reported that 80% of the world's cases of heart disease and stroke deaths were due to air pollution, and a total of 7 million people in the world died of air pollution in 2012. Unplanned urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural activities contribute to air pollution. Climate change affects air pollution in a number of factors including changes in temperature, solar radiation, humidity, precipitation, atmospheric transport, and biogenic emissions. Increasing scientific evidence shows that air pollution and climate change policies must be integrated to achieve sustainable development and a low carbon (LC) society. Combined efforts to deal with air pollution and climate issues at the urban level will be particularly important as most people are exposed to air pollution, and 75% of global GHG emissions are generated in urban areas.
TopAir Pollution
The vehicular pollution, industrial effluents, power plants, use of stems causes air pollution. Unplanned urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural activities contribute to the air pollution. It can have haphazard effects on the expansion, growth and durability of different creatures. Air pollution is harmful for health because of the presence of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the air. Dust, effluents discharged from industries, and smoke from households and vehicles etc. are examples of SPM. They deteriorate air quality and causes environmental degradation. Pollutants released from vehicular pollution have adverse effects on flora, fauna, agricultural yield and human health. Moreover, with the growth of urbanization, industrial and commercial practices in the city, the requirement of transportation has been continuously increasing (Empirical Study of Air Pollution, 2014).
Vehicular emission causes adverse effects on respiratory and immune system of the human body as including causing pulmonary diseases and physiological effects. Carbon monoxide generated from vehicular emission causes sickness due to acute lack of oxygen in blood and tissues. Smokes emitted from using wood, crop residues, animal dung, and low quality coal produce dangerous particles and gases and their in-doors usage can cause serious respiratory disease and tuberculosis.
Air pollution is a slow poison and one of the greatest causes of major global diseases. Due to the effects of air pollution, the diseases like bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer and heart ailments affect human health. The state of air pollution is often expressed as air quality. The concentrations of gaseous pollutants and particulate matter are then used as a measure of air quality (Dalsøren, et al. 2016). Again, ozone is strongly coupled to meteorological variability both in terms of regional photochemical production and loss, and the contribution from intercontinental transport (UNEP, 2014).
Since the 1980s, air-quality regulations have led to a decline in air pollution (Mishchenko et al. 2007). Heavy air pollution can even lead to die-off of Sphagnum mosses, triggering for example peat erosion in blanket mires (Tallis, 1985). Contribution to air pollution and deposition from domestic and transboundary sources varies significantly subject to the pollutant, local source strength, proximity to major transboundary sources, and the geographical size of the individual countries. The transportation sector consumes about 28% (91 Exa joules) of the global energy demand and contributes to 23% of fossil fuel CO2 emissions (The World Bank, 2018).