Question

4. You are a member of an international organisation concerned about the environment.
The organisation has asked you to write a report on pollution in the nearest town or city
Your report should include:
a brief account of the kind of town or city it is-residential, industrial, etc.
the main causes of pollution
your opinion of how successfully the town or city is dealing with the problem
your own suggestions for improvement​

Answer 1

In many developing countries, reliance on wood and other solid fuels, like raw coal for cooking and heating, and the use of kerosene for lighting, increases air pollution in homes, harming the health of those exposed. It is estimated that more than 2.7 billion people rely on these types of fuels. Most of the effects are felt in parts of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where burning biomass for cooking is especially prevalent.

While the impacts on human health are the most pressing, air pollution also significantly impacts several different types of ecosystems and it reduces crop yields and the health of forests. It also reduces atmospheric visibility and increases corrosion of materials, buildings, monuments and cultural heritage sites, and causes acidification of sensitive lake ecosystems.

These health and environmental impacts need to be reduced for their own sake, but air pollution also has huge economic costs related to human health, lost productivity, reduced crop yields and reduced competitiveness of globally connected cities. For example, the global cost of health damages in 2016 alone from outdoor air pollution was estimated to be US$5.7 trillion, equivalent to 4.8 percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that year.

Air pollution is also strongly linked to climate change, with many greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants coming from the same sources. Many air pollutants are both bad for human health and powerful climate forcers, thus impacting people’s lives today and making the future less safe for coming generations. Coordinated measures to reduce air pollution and GHGs, such as those addressing Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs), can produce very large benefits to public health and the environment.

Air pollution’s links to development, the economy and the environment means reducing air pollution is tied to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and directly affects the achievement of SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG 13: Climate Change. It indirectly impacts many other SDGs.

Air pollution has also been implicated in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Studies carried out during the early months of the pandemic showed direct links between levels of air pollution and increased vulnerability to succumbing to the disease. Studies also argued that the spread of COVID-19 might be aided by particulate air pollution. These studies need further investigation but are yet another reason for action on air pollution.

From past and current experience, we know that air pollution is preventable, and as the examples show, reducing air pollution will provide additional benefits like healthier and more productive lives, a healthier natural environment, poverty alleviation and increased shared prosperity.

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