Air, The Silent Killer! Examining Air Quality and Pollution

Is it safe to breathe the air?!  It all depends on where you live.  First, we need to find out what dangers lurk in our air.  Here are the following culprits of air pollution:

Global PM2.5 levels and coal consumption

  • Particle Pollution - Fine liquid and/or solid emissions such as tobacco smoke, dust, smog and factory fumes.  Particles such as these cause enough harm all on their own, but they also act as little magnets for chemicals and bacteria.

  • Ozone Pollution - A naturally produced colorless gas that does damage to the lungs and throat when inhaled.  Ozone normally exists in the upper layer of our atmosphere and helps protect us from the sun; however, when ozone is found in the lower level of the sky zone, it is known as a harmful smog.

  • Currently, China suffers from the worst air quality.  Due to their excessive coal burning, their country has the deadliest PM2.5 particle pollution in the world.  In 2009, China burnt nearly half of the world's coal.  They are the largest consumer of coal in the world.  To put this in perspective, China derives 68% of their electricity from coal, while the US uses 49%.  What makes their air quality so deadly is the PM2.5 particle pollution from factory emissions.
  • PM2.5 is a particle that is sized at less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter and can lodge themselves deeply within the lungs.  Vehicles, coal/wood burning and power plants emit these particles.  This particle also works as a vesicle for other harmful chemicals.  When this particle is inhaled, all of the chemicals that have hitched a ride on it are then introduced to our internal organs.  The inhalation of this particle has been linked to fetal demise, cancer and stroke.  Every one of all ages can be harmed by inhaling these particles in the air.

  • Both O3 and PM2.5 effect the regional and hemispheric climate.

  • The biggest threats to air quality are coal-burning power plants, exhaust and tobacco smoke  Exposure to these particulate pollutants is being attributed to more and more deaths all over the world.  

Deaths linked to particle pollution

  • According to NASA AQAST research, air quality in the US has improved.  Over recent years, ozone pollution and particulate matter have decreased by 20%.  But, due to lingering ozone pollution, average surface temperatures over the continental

United States are projected to increase by 1–3°C by the mid-21st century.

 

Online resources:
http://www.who.int/en/
http://aqicn.org/
http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/where.html