effects of air pollution on animals essay

Essay on Effects Of Pollution On Animals

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100 Words Essay on Effects Of Pollution On Animals

Introduction.

Pollution is a big problem for our world. It not only affects people, but animals too. Different types of pollution harm animals in different ways. Let’s learn about how pollution affects animals.

Air Pollution

Air pollution is harmful to animals. It can cause lung problems and other health issues. Birds, for example, can have trouble flying because of the poor air quality. This makes it hard for them to find food and survive.

Water Pollution

Water pollution is another big issue. When harmful substances enter water bodies, they harm aquatic life. Fish and other water creatures can get sick or even die from the polluted water.

Land Pollution

Land pollution affects animals too. When we throw away trash, it can end up in places where animals live. They can get hurt by sharp objects or get stuck in plastic waste.

250 Words Essay on Effects Of Pollution On Animals

Pollution is harmful to everyone, including animals. It is caused by harmful substances released into the environment. This essay will explore how pollution affects animals.

Air pollution is very harmful to animals. It can cause breathing problems and diseases. For example, birds can get sick from polluted air, which can lead to their death.

Water pollution is another big problem for animals. When harmful substances get into water, they can poison animals that drink from or live in it. Fish, for instance, can die from polluted water, which affects the whole food chain.

Land pollution can also harm animals. When trash is not properly disposed of, animals can eat it and get sick. For example, a bird might mistake a piece of plastic for food and choke on it.

In conclusion, pollution has a big impact on animals. It can cause them to get sick or even die. We must do our part to reduce pollution and protect our animal friends.

500 Words Essay on Effects Of Pollution On Animals

Pollution is a big problem that affects all living beings on Earth. It is when harmful substances mix with the environment and cause damage. Animals, like humans, are victims of pollution. This essay will talk about the effects of pollution on animals.

Land pollution hurts animals in many ways. When we throw away trash like plastic, it can harm animals. Many animals mistake plastic for food and eat it. This can make them very sick or even cause death. Land pollution also destroys the homes of animals. When their homes are destroyed, animals have to find new places to live. This can be very hard and some animals may not survive.

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is when there is too much noise in the environment. This can be very stressful for animals. It can scare them and make it hard for them to find food or a mate. Noise pollution can also hurt the ears of some animals, like bats and dolphins, that use sound to navigate.

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Essay Effects of Air Pollution on Animals

Introduction

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• Reduced fertility and birth defects
• Developmental issues
• Respiratory damage
• Damage to neurological function
• Weakening of the immune system

1. Supporting evidence

Increase in elderly and infant deaths, 1. respiratory system, 2. cardiovascular system., 3. nervous system, 2. supporting evidence, harm to animals.

• By affecting the living quality of their environment or habitat
• By affecting their food supply availability and quality

3. Supporting evidence

Damage to plant life.

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Effects of Air Pollution

Air pollution affects all things. It is harmful to our health, and it impacts the environment by reducing visibility and blocking sunlight, causing acid rain, and harming forests, wildlife, and agriculture. Greenhouse gas pollution, the cause of climate change, affects the entire planet.

Harming Human Health

According to the World Health Organization , an estimated seven million people die each year from air pollution. More than 4,000 people died in just a few months due to a severe smog event that occurred in London in 1952. Ground-level ozone causes muscles in the lungs to contract, making it difficult to breathe. Exposure to high ozone levels can cause sore throat, coughing, lung inflammation, and permanent lung damage.

Ozone pollution affects our lungs, making it difficult to breathe. UCAR

Symptoms from short-term exposure typically resolve quickly, but long term exposure is linked to serious illness and disease in multiple body systems. Children, the elderly, and people with ongoing illnesses are more vulnerable to air pollution than other groups. Urban populations are also at greater risk due to high concentrations of pollution within cities. Check the current air quality in your area to determine if you should take precautions such as reducing or avoiding outdoor activity.

Harming Animals and Plants

Brown patches on these potato leaves are evidence of moderate ozone damage.

Danica Lombardozzi/NCAR

Wildlife can experience many of the same negative health effects of air pollution that humans do. Damage to respiratory systems is the most common effect on animals, but neurological problems and skin irritations are also common.

Plants and crops grow less when exposed to long-term air pollution. Ozone pollution harms plants by damaging structures called stomata, which are tiny pores on the underside of leaves that allow the plant to "breathe." Some types of plants can protect themselves by temporarily closing their stomata or producing antioxidants, but others are particularly sensitive to damage. Between 1980 and 2011, nine billion dollars-worth of soybeans and corn were lost in the US as a result of ozone pollution. When acid rain, lead toxicity, and exposure to nitrogen oxides change the chemical nature of the soil, plants are robbed of the nutrients that they need to grow and survive. This impacts agriculture, forests, and grasslands.

There are many other ways that air pollution affects living things, such as damaging the habitat, water, and food sources that plants and animals need to survive.

Causing Acid Rain

Acid rain damages buildings. UCAR/NAME

Burning fossil fuels releases sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. Acid rain forms when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide mix with water droplets in the atmosphere to make sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Winds can carry these pollutants for thousands of miles, until they fall to the Earth's surface as acid rain, which damages the leaves of vegetation, increases the acidity of soils and water, and is linked to over 500 deaths each year. Buildings and other structures are also impacted by acid rain, which causes an estimated five billion dollars of property damage each year. Acid rain dissolves mortar between bricks, causes stone foundations to become unstable, and is destroying ancient buildings and statues carved from marble and limestone.

Reducing Sunlight

High levels of particulate pollution from all types of burning reduces the amount of sunlight that reaches the surface and even changes  the appearance of the sky . When less sunlight is available for photosynthesis, forests grow at a slower rate and crops are less productive. Hazy skies not only reduce visibility, but also impact the weather and even the climate .

Making a Hole in the Ozone Layer

In 2019 the ozone hole over Antarctica (shown in blue) was the smallest it has been since the hole was discovered. Since the banning of CFCs, the ozone hole continues to shrink, but scientists warn that complete recovery is still uncertain.

The hole in the ozone layer is caused by air pollutants . Chemicals used as refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), contain chlorine atoms. Releasing chlorine atoms into the atmosphere destroys ozone. A single chlorine atom can destroy thousands of ozone molecules. The ozone layer blocks harmful ultraviolet-C (UVC) and ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation from the Sun — it protects us in a way that is similar to putting sunscreen on your skin to prevent sunburn. The ozone hole puts all living things at risk by increasing the amount of ultraviolet radiation that reaches the surface. Exposure to this radiation increases the risk of skin cancer in humans, restricts growth and development in plants, slows the development of fish and amphibians, and reduces the number of phytoplankton in marine ecosystems. It also causes natural and synthetic materials to breakdown at an accelerated rate.

Adding Too Much Nitrogen to the Land

Gaseous ammonia (NH3) from agriculture and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from car, truck, and airplane emissions increase the amount of nitrogen in soils. Plants need nitrogen to grow, but too much nitrogen can limit the growth of some plants and increase the growth of others, disrupting the balance of species within an ecosystem. This disruption is negatively impacting grasslands and other fragile environments around the world.

This map shows global ammonia hotspots identified over a 14-year period. Warm colors represent an increase in ammonia, while cool colors represent a decrease in ammonia. NASA

Effects of Greenhouse Gas Pollution

Greenhouse gas pollution is causing climate change. As a result, ecosystems are changing faster than plants and animals can adapt, and many species are going extinct. Marine ecosystems are vulnerable to ocean acidification caused when carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere is dissolved in seawater. Ocean acidification makes it difficult for many marine species to grow shells and skeletons.

Melting ice sheets, warming oceans, and extreme weather conditions are examples of how climate changes caused by greenhouse gas pollution threaten ecosystems across the Earth. In many cases, the decline of one or a few species due to air pollution can topple the balance of entire ecosystems.

• Air Quality Activities
• How Does Ozone Damage Plants?
• Ozone in the Troposphere
• The Changing Nitrogen Cycle
• The Greenhouse Effect

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Environmental and Health Impacts of Air Pollution: A Review

Ioannis manisalidis.

1 Delphis S.A., Kifisia, Greece

2 Laboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece

Elisavet Stavropoulou

3 Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Service de Médicine Interne, Lausanne, Switzerland

Agathangelos Stavropoulos

4 School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Eugenia Bezirtzoglou

One of our era's greatest scourges is air pollution, on account not only of its impact on climate change but also its impact on public and individual health due to increasing morbidity and mortality. There are many pollutants that are major factors in disease in humans. Among them, Particulate Matter (PM), particles of variable but very small diameter, penetrate the respiratory system via inhalation, causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, reproductive and central nervous system dysfunctions, and cancer. Despite the fact that ozone in the stratosphere plays a protective role against ultraviolet irradiation, it is harmful when in high concentration at ground level, also affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular system. Furthermore, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), dioxins, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are all considered air pollutants that are harmful to humans. Carbon monoxide can even provoke direct poisoning when breathed in at high levels. Heavy metals such as lead, when absorbed into the human body, can lead to direct poisoning or chronic intoxication, depending on exposure. Diseases occurring from the aforementioned substances include principally respiratory problems such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, bronchiolitis, and also lung cancer, cardiovascular events, central nervous system dysfunctions, and cutaneous diseases. Last but not least, climate change resulting from environmental pollution affects the geographical distribution of many infectious diseases, as do natural disasters. The only way to tackle this problem is through public awareness coupled with a multidisciplinary approach by scientific experts; national and international organizations must address the emergence of this threat and propose sustainable solutions.

Approach to the Problem

The interactions between humans and their physical surroundings have been extensively studied, as multiple human activities influence the environment. The environment is a coupling of the biotic (living organisms and microorganisms) and the abiotic (hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere).

Pollution is defined as the introduction into the environment of substances harmful to humans and other living organisms. Pollutants are harmful solids, liquids, or gases produced in higher than usual concentrations that reduce the quality of our environment.

Human activities have an adverse effect on the environment by polluting the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the soil in which plants grow. Although the industrial revolution was a great success in terms of technology, society, and the provision of multiple services, it also introduced the production of huge quantities of pollutants emitted into the air that are harmful to human health. Without any doubt, the global environmental pollution is considered an international public health issue with multiple facets. Social, economic, and legislative concerns and lifestyle habits are related to this major problem. Clearly, urbanization and industrialization are reaching unprecedented and upsetting proportions worldwide in our era. Anthropogenic air pollution is one of the biggest public health hazards worldwide, given that it accounts for about 9 million deaths per year ( 1 ).

Without a doubt, all of the aforementioned are closely associated with climate change, and in the event of danger, the consequences can be severe for mankind ( 2 ). Climate changes and the effects of global planetary warming seriously affect multiple ecosystems, causing problems such as food safety issues, ice and iceberg melting, animal extinction, and damage to plants ( 3 , 4 ).

Air pollution has various health effects. The health of susceptible and sensitive individuals can be impacted even on low air pollution days. Short-term exposure to air pollutants is closely related to COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, asthma, respiratory disease, and high rates of hospitalization (a measurement of morbidity).

The long-term effects associated with air pollution are chronic asthma, pulmonary insufficiency, cardiovascular diseases, and cardiovascular mortality. According to a Swedish cohort study, diabetes seems to be induced after long-term air pollution exposure ( 5 ). Moreover, air pollution seems to have various malign health effects in early human life, such as respiratory, cardiovascular, mental, and perinatal disorders ( 3 ), leading to infant mortality or chronic disease in adult age ( 6 ).

National reports have mentioned the increased risk of morbidity and mortality ( 1 ). These studies were conducted in many places around the world and show a correlation between daily ranges of particulate matter (PM) concentration and daily mortality. Climate shifts and global planetary warming ( 3 ) could aggravate the situation. Besides, increased hospitalization (an index of morbidity) has been registered among the elderly and susceptible individuals for specific reasons. Fine and ultrafine particulate matter seems to be associated with more serious illnesses ( 6 ), as it can invade the deepest parts of the airways and more easily reach the bloodstream.

Air pollution mainly affects those living in large urban areas, where road emissions contribute the most to the degradation of air quality. There is also a danger of industrial accidents, where the spread of a toxic fog can be fatal to the populations of the surrounding areas. The dispersion of pollutants is determined by many parameters, most notably atmospheric stability and wind ( 6 ).

In developing countries ( 7 ), the problem is more serious due to overpopulation and uncontrolled urbanization along with the development of industrialization. This leads to poor air quality, especially in countries with social disparities and a lack of information on sustainable management of the environment. The use of fuels such as wood fuel or solid fuel for domestic needs due to low incomes exposes people to bad-quality, polluted air at home. It is of note that three billion people around the world are using the above sources of energy for their daily heating and cooking needs ( 8 ). In developing countries, the women of the household seem to carry the highest risk for disease development due to their longer duration exposure to the indoor air pollution ( 8 , 9 ). Due to its fast industrial development and overpopulation, China is one of the Asian countries confronting serious air pollution problems ( 10 , 11 ). The lung cancer mortality observed in China is associated with fine particles ( 12 ). As stated already, long-term exposure is associated with deleterious effects on the cardiovascular system ( 3 , 5 ). However, it is interesting to note that cardiovascular diseases have mostly been observed in developed and high-income countries rather than in the developing low-income countries exposed highly to air pollution ( 13 ). Extreme air pollution is recorded in India, where the air quality reaches hazardous levels. New Delhi is one of the more polluted cities in India. Flights in and out of New Delhi International Airport are often canceled due to the reduced visibility associated with air pollution. Pollution is occurring both in urban and rural areas in India due to the fast industrialization, urbanization, and rise in use of motorcycle transportation. Nevertheless, biomass combustion associated with heating and cooking needs and practices is a major source of household air pollution in India and in Nepal ( 14 , 15 ). There is spatial heterogeneity in India, as areas with diverse climatological conditions and population and education levels generate different indoor air qualities, with higher PM 2.5 observed in North Indian states (557–601 μg/m 3 ) compared to the Southern States (183–214 μg/m 3 ) ( 16 , 17 ). The cold climate of the North Indian areas may be the main reason for this, as longer periods at home and more heating are necessary compared to in the tropical climate of Southern India. Household air pollution in India is associated with major health effects, especially in women and young children, who stay indoors for longer periods. Chronic obstructive respiratory disease (CORD) and lung cancer are mostly observed in women, while acute lower respiratory disease is seen in young children under 5 years of age ( 18 ).

Accumulation of air pollution, especially sulfur dioxide and smoke, reaching 1,500 mg/m3, resulted in an increase in the number of deaths (4,000 deaths) in December 1952 in London and in 1963 in New York City (400 deaths) ( 19 ). An association of pollution with mortality was reported on the basis of monitoring of outdoor pollution in six US metropolitan cities ( 20 ). In every case, it seems that mortality was closely related to the levels of fine, inhalable, and sulfate particles more than with the levels of total particulate pollution, aerosol acidity, sulfur dioxide, or nitrogen dioxide ( 20 ).

Furthermore, extremely high levels of pollution are reported in Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, followed by Milan, Ankara, Melbourne, Tokyo, and Moscow ( 19 ).

Based on the magnitude of the public health impact, it is certain that different kinds of interventions should be taken into account. Success and effectiveness in controlling air pollution, specifically at the local level, have been reported. Adequate technological means are applied considering the source and the nature of the emission as well as its impact on health and the environment. The importance of point sources and non-point sources of air pollution control is reported by Schwela and Köth-Jahr ( 21 ). Without a doubt, a detailed emission inventory must record all sources in a given area. Beyond considering the above sources and their nature, topography and meteorology should also be considered, as stated previously. Assessment of the control policies and methods is often extrapolated from the local to the regional and then to the global scale. Air pollution may be dispersed and transported from one region to another area located far away. Air pollution management means the reduction to acceptable levels or possible elimination of air pollutants whose presence in the air affects our health or the environmental ecosystem. Private and governmental entities and authorities implement actions to ensure the air quality ( 22 ). Air quality standards and guidelines were adopted for the different pollutants by the WHO and EPA as a tool for the management of air quality ( 1 , 23 ). These standards have to be compared to the emissions inventory standards by causal analysis and dispersion modeling in order to reveal the problematic areas ( 24 ). Inventories are generally based on a combination of direct measurements and emissions modeling ( 24 ).

As an example, we state here the control measures at the source through the use of catalytic converters in cars. These are devices that turn the pollutants and toxic gases produced from combustion engines into less-toxic pollutants by catalysis through redox reactions ( 25 ). In Greece, the use of private cars was restricted by tracking their license plates in order to reduce traffic congestion during rush hour ( 25 ).

Concerning industrial emissions, collectors and closed systems can keep the air pollution to the minimal standards imposed by legislation ( 26 ).

Current strategies to improve air quality require an estimation of the economic value of the benefits gained from proposed programs. These proposed programs by public authorities, and directives are issued with guidelines to be respected.

In Europe, air quality limit values AQLVs (Air Quality Limit Values) are issued for setting off planning claims ( 27 ). In the USA, the NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards) establish the national air quality limit values ( 27 ). While both standards and directives are based on different mechanisms, significant success has been achieved in the reduction of overall emissions and associated health and environmental effects ( 27 ). The European Directive identifies geographical areas of risk exposure as monitoring/assessment zones to record the emission sources and levels of air pollution ( 27 ), whereas the USA establishes global geographical air quality criteria according to the severity of their air quality problem and records all sources of the pollutants and their precursors ( 27 ).

In this vein, funds have been financing, directly or indirectly, projects related to air quality along with the technical infrastructure to maintain good air quality. These plans focus on an inventory of databases from air quality environmental planning awareness campaigns. Moreover, pollution measures of air emissions may be taken for vehicles, machines, and industries in urban areas.

Technological innovation can only be successful if it is able to meet the needs of society. In this sense, technology must reflect the decision-making practices and procedures of those involved in risk assessment and evaluation and act as a facilitator in providing information and assessments to enable decision makers to make the best decisions possible. Summarizing the aforementioned in order to design an effective air quality control strategy, several aspects must be considered: environmental factors and ambient air quality conditions, engineering factors and air pollutant characteristics, and finally, economic operating costs for technological improvement and administrative and legal costs. Considering the economic factor, competitiveness through neoliberal concepts is offering a solution to environmental problems ( 22 ).

The development of environmental governance, along with technological progress, has initiated the deployment of a dialogue. Environmental politics has created objections and points of opposition between different political parties, scientists, media, and governmental and non-governmental organizations ( 22 ). Radical environmental activism actions and movements have been created ( 22 ). The rise of the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) are many times examined as to whether and in which way they have influenced means of communication and social movements such as activism ( 28 ). Since the 1990s, the term “digital activism” has been used increasingly and in many different disciplines ( 29 ). Nowadays, multiple digital technologies can be used to produce a digital activism outcome on environmental issues. More specifically, devices with online capabilities such as computers or mobile phones are being used as a way to pursue change in political and social affairs ( 30 ).

In the present paper, we focus on the sources of environmental pollution in relation to public health and propose some solutions and interventions that may be of interest to environmental legislators and decision makers.

Sources of Exposure

It is known that the majority of environmental pollutants are emitted through large-scale human activities such as the use of industrial machinery, power-producing stations, combustion engines, and cars. Because these activities are performed at such a large scale, they are by far the major contributors to air pollution, with cars estimated to be responsible for approximately 80% of today's pollution ( 31 ). Some other human activities are also influencing our environment to a lesser extent, such as field cultivation techniques, gas stations, fuel tanks heaters, and cleaning procedures ( 32 ), as well as several natural sources, such as volcanic and soil eruptions and forest fires.

The classification of air pollutants is based mainly on the sources producing pollution. Therefore, it is worth mentioning the four main sources, following the classification system: Major sources, Area sources, Mobile sources, and Natural sources.

Major sources include the emission of pollutants from power stations, refineries, and petrochemicals, the chemical and fertilizer industries, metallurgical and other industrial plants, and, finally, municipal incineration.

Indoor area sources include domestic cleaning activities, dry cleaners, printing shops, and petrol stations.

Mobile sources include automobiles, cars, railways, airways, and other types of vehicles.

Finally, natural sources include, as stated previously, physical disasters ( 33 ) such as forest fire, volcanic erosion, dust storms, and agricultural burning.

However, many classification systems have been proposed. Another type of classification is a grouping according to the recipient of the pollution, as follows:

Air pollution is determined as the presence of pollutants in the air in large quantities for long periods. Air pollutants are dispersed particles, hydrocarbons, CO, CO 2 , NO, NO 2 , SO 3 , etc.

Water pollution is organic and inorganic charge and biological charge ( 10 ) at high levels that affect the water quality ( 34 , 35 ).

Soil pollution occurs through the release of chemicals or the disposal of wastes, such as heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and pesticides.

Air pollution can influence the quality of soil and water bodies by polluting precipitation, falling into water and soil environments ( 34 , 36 ). Notably, the chemistry of the soil can be amended due to acid precipitation by affecting plants, cultures, and water quality ( 37 ). Moreover, movement of heavy metals is favored by soil acidity, and metals are so then moving into the watery environment. It is known that heavy metals such as aluminum are noxious to wildlife and fishes. Soil quality seems to be of importance, as soils with low calcium carbonate levels are at increased jeopardy from acid rain. Over and above rain, snow and particulate matter drip into watery ' bodies ( 36 , 38 ).

Lastly, pollution is classified following type of origin:

Radioactive and nuclear pollution , releasing radioactive and nuclear pollutants into water, air, and soil during nuclear explosions and accidents, from nuclear weapons, and through handling or disposal of radioactive sewage.

Radioactive materials can contaminate surface water bodies and, being noxious to the environment, plants, animals, and humans. It is known that several radioactive substances such as radium and uranium concentrate in the bones and can cause cancers ( 38 , 39 ).

Noise pollution is produced by machines, vehicles, traffic noises, and musical installations that are harmful to our hearing.

The World Health Organization introduced the term DALYs. The DALYs for a disease or health condition is defined as the sum of the Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to premature mortality in the population and the Years Lost due to Disability (YLD) for people living with the health condition or its consequences ( 39 ). In Europe, air pollution is the main cause of disability-adjusted life years lost (DALYs), followed by noise pollution. The potential relationships of noise and air pollution with health have been studied ( 40 ). The study found that DALYs related to noise were more important than those related to air pollution, as the effects of environmental noise on cardiovascular disease were independent of air pollution ( 40 ). Environmental noise should be counted as an independent public health risk ( 40 ).

Environmental pollution occurs when changes in the physical, chemical, or biological constituents of the environment (air masses, temperature, climate, etc.) are produced.

Pollutants harm our environment either by increasing levels above normal or by introducing harmful toxic substances. Primary pollutants are directly produced from the above sources, and secondary pollutants are emitted as by-products of the primary ones. Pollutants can be biodegradable or non-biodegradable and of natural origin or anthropogenic, as stated previously. Moreover, their origin can be a unique source (point-source) or dispersed sources.

Pollutants have differences in physical and chemical properties, explaining the discrepancy in their capacity for producing toxic effects. As an example, we state here that aerosol compounds ( 41 – 43 ) have a greater toxicity than gaseous compounds due to their tiny size (solid or liquid) in the atmosphere; they have a greater penetration capacity. Gaseous compounds are eliminated more easily by our respiratory system ( 41 ). These particles are able to damage lungs and can even enter the bloodstream ( 41 ), leading to the premature deaths of millions of people yearly. Moreover, the aerosol acidity ([H+]) seems to considerably enhance the production of secondary organic aerosols (SOA), but this last aspect is not supported by other scientific teams ( 38 ).

Climate and Pollution

Air pollution and climate change are closely related. Climate is the other side of the same coin that reduces the quality of our Earth ( 44 ). Pollutants such as black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone, and aerosols affect the amount of incoming sunlight. As a result, the temperature of the Earth is increasing, resulting in the melting of ice, icebergs, and glaciers.

In this vein, climatic changes will affect the incidence and prevalence of both residual and imported infections in Europe. Climate and weather affect the duration, timing, and intensity of outbreaks strongly and change the map of infectious diseases in the globe ( 45 ). Mosquito-transmitted parasitic or viral diseases are extremely climate-sensitive, as warming firstly shortens the pathogen incubation period and secondly shifts the geographic map of the vector. Similarly, water-warming following climate changes leads to a high incidence of waterborne infections. Recently, in Europe, eradicated diseases seem to be emerging due to the migration of population, for example, cholera, poliomyelitis, tick-borne encephalitis, and malaria ( 46 ).

The spread of epidemics is associated with natural climate disasters and storms, which seem to occur more frequently nowadays ( 47 ). Malnutrition and disequilibration of the immune system are also associated with the emerging infections affecting public health ( 48 ).

The Chikungunya virus “took the airplane” from the Indian Ocean to Europe, as outbreaks of the disease were registered in Italy ( 49 ) as well as autochthonous cases in France ( 50 ).

An increase in cryptosporidiosis in the United Kingdom and in the Czech Republic seems to have occurred following flooding ( 36 , 51 ).

As stated previously, aerosols compounds are tiny in size and considerably affect the climate. They are able to dissipate sunlight (the albedo phenomenon) by dispersing a quarter of the sun's rays back to space and have cooled the global temperature over the last 30 years ( 52 ).

Air Pollutants

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports on six major air pollutants, namely particle pollution, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead. Air pollution can have a disastrous effect on all components of the environment, including groundwater, soil, and air. Additionally, it poses a serious threat to living organisms. In this vein, our interest is mainly to focus on these pollutants, as they are related to more extensive and severe problems in human health and environmental impact. Acid rain, global warming, the greenhouse effect, and climate changes have an important ecological impact on air pollution ( 53 ).

Particulate Matter (PM) and Health

Studies have shown a relationship between particulate matter (PM) and adverse health effects, focusing on either short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic) PM exposure.

Particulate matter (PM) is usually formed in the atmosphere as a result of chemical reactions between the different pollutants. The penetration of particles is closely dependent on their size ( 53 ). Particulate Matter (PM) was defined as a term for particles by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ( 54 ). Particulate matter (PM) pollution includes particles with diameters of 10 micrometers (μm) or smaller, called PM 10 , and extremely fine particles with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers (μm) and smaller.

Particulate matter contains tiny liquid or solid droplets that can be inhaled and cause serious health effects ( 55 ). Particles <10 μm in diameter (PM 10 ) after inhalation can invade the lungs and even reach the bloodstream. Fine particles, PM 2.5 , pose a greater risk to health ( 6 , 56 ) ( Table 1 ).

Penetrability according to particle size.

Multiple epidemiological studies have been performed on the health effects of PM. A positive relation was shown between both short-term and long-term exposures of PM 2.5 and acute nasopharyngitis ( 56 ). In addition, long-term exposure to PM for years was found to be related to cardiovascular diseases and infant mortality.

Those studies depend on PM 2.5 monitors and are restricted in terms of study area or city area due to a lack of spatially resolved daily PM 2.5 concentration data and, in this way, are not representative of the entire population. Following a recent epidemiological study by the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, MA) ( 57 ), it was reported that, as PM 2.5 concentrations vary spatially, an exposure error (Berkson error) seems to be produced, and the relative magnitudes of the short- and long-term effects are not yet completely elucidated. The team developed a PM 2.5 exposure model based on remote sensing data for assessing short- and long-term human exposures ( 57 ). This model permits spatial resolution in short-term effects plus the assessment of long-term effects in the whole population.

Moreover, respiratory diseases and affection of the immune system are registered as long-term chronic effects ( 58 ). It is worth noting that people with asthma, pneumonia, diabetes, and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are especially susceptible and vulnerable to the effects of PM. PM 2.5 , followed by PM 10 , are strongly associated with diverse respiratory system diseases ( 59 ), as their size permits them to pierce interior spaces ( 60 ). The particles produce toxic effects according to their chemical and physical properties. The components of PM 10 and PM 2.5 can be organic (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins, benzene, 1-3 butadiene) or inorganic (carbon, chlorides, nitrates, sulfates, metals) in nature ( 55 ).

Particulate Matter (PM) is divided into four main categories according to type and size ( 61 ) ( Table 2 ).

Types and sizes of particulate Matter (PM).

Gas contaminants include PM in aerial masses.

Particulate contaminants include contaminants such as smog, soot, tobacco smoke, oil smoke, fly ash, and cement dust.

Biological Contaminants are microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, mold, and bacterial spores), cat allergens, house dust and allergens, and pollen.

Types of Dust include suspended atmospheric dust, settling dust, and heavy dust.

Finally, another fact is that the half-lives of PM 10 and PM 2.5 particles in the atmosphere is extended due to their tiny dimensions; this permits their long-lasting suspension in the atmosphere and even their transfer and spread to distant destinations where people and the environment may be exposed to the same magnitude of pollution ( 53 ). They are able to change the nutrient balance in watery ecosystems, damage forests and crops, and acidify water bodies.

As stated, PM 2.5 , due to their tiny size, are causing more serious health effects. These aforementioned fine particles are the main cause of the “haze” formation in different metropolitan areas ( 12 , 13 , 61 ).

Ozone Impact in the Atmosphere

Ozone (O 3 ) is a gas formed from oxygen under high voltage electric discharge ( 62 ). It is a strong oxidant, 52% stronger than chlorine. It arises in the stratosphere, but it could also arise following chain reactions of photochemical smog in the troposphere ( 63 ).

Ozone can travel to distant areas from its initial source, moving with air masses ( 64 ). It is surprising that ozone levels over cities are low in contrast to the increased amounts occuring in urban areas, which could become harmful for cultures, forests, and vegetation ( 65 ) as it is reducing carbon assimilation ( 66 ). Ozone reduces growth and yield ( 47 , 48 ) and affects the plant microflora due to its antimicrobial capacity ( 67 , 68 ). In this regard, ozone acts upon other natural ecosystems, with microflora ( 69 , 70 ) and animal species changing their species composition ( 71 ). Ozone increases DNA damage in epidermal keratinocytes and leads to impaired cellular function ( 72 ).

Ground-level ozone (GLO) is generated through a chemical reaction between oxides of nitrogen and VOCs emitted from natural sources and/or following anthropogenic activities.

Ozone uptake usually occurs by inhalation. Ozone affects the upper layers of the skin and the tear ducts ( 73 ). A study of short-term exposure of mice to high levels of ozone showed malondialdehyde formation in the upper skin (epidermis) but also depletion in vitamins C and E. It is likely that ozone levels are not interfering with the skin barrier function and integrity to predispose to skin disease ( 74 ).

Due to the low water-solubility of ozone, inhaled ozone has the capacity to penetrate deeply into the lungs ( 75 ).

Toxic effects induced by ozone are registered in urban areas all over the world, causing biochemical, morphologic, functional, and immunological disorders ( 76 ).

The European project (APHEA2) focuses on the acute effects of ambient ozone concentrations on mortality ( 77 ). Daily ozone concentrations compared to the daily number of deaths were reported from different European cities for a 3-year period. During the warm period of the year, an observed increase in ozone concentration was associated with an increase in the daily number of deaths (0.33%), in the number of respiratory deaths (1.13%), and in the number of cardiovascular deaths (0.45%). No effect was observed during wintertime.

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Carbon monoxide is produced by fossil fuel when combustion is incomplete. The symptoms of poisoning due to inhaling carbon monoxide include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, and, finally, loss of consciousness.

The affinity of carbon monoxide to hemoglobin is much greater than that of oxygen. In this vein, serious poisoning may occur in people exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide for a long period of time. Due to the loss of oxygen as a result of the competitive binding of carbon monoxide, hypoxia, ischemia, and cardiovascular disease are observed.

Carbon monoxide affects the greenhouses gases that are tightly connected to global warming and climate. This should lead to an increase in soil and water temperatures, and extreme weather conditions or storms may occur ( 68 ).

However, in laboratory and field experiments, it has been seen to produce increased plant growth ( 78 ).

Nitrogen Oxide (NO 2 )

Nitrogen oxide is a traffic-related pollutant, as it is emitted from automobile motor engines ( 79 , 80 ). It is an irritant of the respiratory system as it penetrates deep in the lung, inducing respiratory diseases, coughing, wheezing, dyspnea, bronchospasm, and even pulmonary edema when inhaled at high levels. It seems that concentrations over 0.2 ppm produce these adverse effects in humans, while concentrations higher than 2.0 ppm affect T-lymphocytes, particularly the CD8+ cells and NK cells that produce our immune response ( 81 ).It is reported that long-term exposure to high levels of nitrogen dioxide can be responsible for chronic lung disease. Long-term exposure to NO 2 can impair the sense of smell ( 81 ).

However, systems other than respiratory ones can be involved, as symptoms such as eye, throat, and nose irritation have been registered ( 81 ).

High levels of nitrogen dioxide are deleterious to crops and vegetation, as they have been observed to reduce crop yield and plant growth efficiency. Moreover, NO 2 can reduce visibility and discolor fabrics ( 81 ).

Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2 )

Sulfur dioxide is a harmful gas that is emitted mainly from fossil fuel consumption or industrial activities. The annual standard for SO 2 is 0.03 ppm ( 82 ). It affects human, animal, and plant life. Susceptible people as those with lung disease, old people, and children, who present a higher risk of damage. The major health problems associated with sulfur dioxide emissions in industrialized areas are respiratory irritation, bronchitis, mucus production, and bronchospasm, as it is a sensory irritant and penetrates deep into the lung converted into bisulfite and interacting with sensory receptors, causing bronchoconstriction. Moreover, skin redness, damage to the eyes (lacrimation and corneal opacity) and mucous membranes, and worsening of pre-existing cardiovascular disease have been observed ( 81 ).

Environmental adverse effects, such as acidification of soil and acid rain, seem to be associated with sulfur dioxide emissions ( 83 ).

Lead is a heavy metal used in different industrial plants and emitted from some petrol motor engines, batteries, radiators, waste incinerators, and waste waters ( 84 ).

Moreover, major sources of lead pollution in the air are metals, ore, and piston-engine aircraft. Lead poisoning is a threat to public health due to its deleterious effects upon humans, animals, and the environment, especially in the developing countries.

Exposure to lead can occur through inhalation, ingestion, and dermal absorption. Trans- placental transport of lead was also reported, as lead passes through the placenta unencumbered ( 85 ). The younger the fetus is, the more harmful the toxic effects. Lead toxicity affects the fetal nervous system; edema or swelling of the brain is observed ( 86 ). Lead, when inhaled, accumulates in the blood, soft tissue, liver, lung, bones, and cardiovascular, nervous, and reproductive systems. Moreover, loss of concentration and memory, as well as muscle and joint pain, were observed in adults ( 85 , 86 ).

Children and newborns ( 87 ) are extremely susceptible even to minimal doses of lead, as it is a neurotoxicant and causes learning disabilities, impairment of memory, hyperactivity, and even mental retardation.

Elevated amounts of lead in the environment are harmful to plants and crop growth. Neurological effects are observed in vertebrates and animals in association with high lead levels ( 88 ).

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons(PAHs)

The distribution of PAHs is ubiquitous in the environment, as the atmosphere is the most important means of their dispersal. They are found in coal and in tar sediments. Moreover, they are generated through incomplete combustion of organic matter as in the cases of forest fires, incineration, and engines ( 89 ). PAH compounds, such as benzopyrene, acenaphthylene, anthracene, and fluoranthene are recognized as toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic substances. They are an important risk factor for lung cancer ( 89 ).

Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs)

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as toluene, benzene, ethylbenzene, and xylene ( 90 ), have been found to be associated with cancer in humans ( 91 ). The use of new products and materials has actually resulted in increased concentrations of VOCs. VOCs pollute indoor air ( 90 ) and may have adverse effects on human health ( 91 ). Short-term and long-term adverse effects on human health are observed. VOCs are responsible for indoor air smells. Short-term exposure is found to cause irritation of eyes, nose, throat, and mucosal membranes, while those of long duration exposure include toxic reactions ( 92 ). Predictable assessment of the toxic effects of complex VOC mixtures is difficult to estimate, as these pollutants can have synergic, antagonistic, or indifferent effects ( 91 , 93 ).

Dioxins originate from industrial processes but also come from natural processes, such as forest fires and volcanic eruptions. They accumulate in foods such as meat and dairy products, fish and shellfish, and especially in the fatty tissue of animals ( 94 ).

Short-period exhibition to high dioxin concentrations may result in dark spots and lesions on the skin ( 94 ). Long-term exposure to dioxins can cause developmental problems, impairment of the immune, endocrine and nervous systems, reproductive infertility, and cancer ( 94 ).

Without any doubt, fossil fuel consumption is responsible for a sizeable part of air contamination. This contamination may be anthropogenic, as in agricultural and industrial processes or transportation, while contamination from natural sources is also possible. Interestingly, it is of note that the air quality standards established through the European Air Quality Directive are somewhat looser than the WHO guidelines, which are stricter ( 95 ).

Effect of Air Pollution on Health

The most common air pollutants are ground-level ozone and Particulates Matter (PM). Air pollution is distinguished into two main types:

Outdoor pollution is the ambient air pollution.

Indoor pollution is the pollution generated by household combustion of fuels.

People exposed to high concentrations of air pollutants experience disease symptoms and states of greater and lesser seriousness. These effects are grouped into short- and long-term effects affecting health.

Susceptible populations that need to be aware of health protection measures include old people, children, and people with diabetes and predisposing heart or lung disease, especially asthma.

As extensively stated previously, according to a recent epidemiological study from Harvard School of Public Health, the relative magnitudes of the short- and long-term effects have not been completely clarified ( 57 ) due to the different epidemiological methodologies and to the exposure errors. New models are proposed for assessing short- and long-term human exposure data more successfully ( 57 ). Thus, in the present section, we report the more common short- and long-term health effects but also general concerns for both types of effects, as these effects are often dependent on environmental conditions, dose, and individual susceptibility.

Short-term effects are temporary and range from simple discomfort, such as irritation of the eyes, nose, skin, throat, wheezing, coughing and chest tightness, and breathing difficulties, to more serious states, such as asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, and lung and heart problems. Short-term exposure to air pollution can also cause headaches, nausea, and dizziness.

These problems can be aggravated by extended long-term exposure to the pollutants, which is harmful to the neurological, reproductive, and respiratory systems and causes cancer and even, rarely, deaths.

The long-term effects are chronic, lasting for years or the whole life and can even lead to death. Furthermore, the toxicity of several air pollutants may also induce a variety of cancers in the long term ( 96 ).

As stated already, respiratory disorders are closely associated with the inhalation of air pollutants. These pollutants will invade through the airways and will accumulate at the cells. Damage to target cells should be related to the pollutant component involved and its source and dose. Health effects are also closely dependent on country, area, season, and time. An extended exposure duration to the pollutant should incline to long-term health effects in relation also to the above factors.

Particulate Matter (PMs), dust, benzene, and O 3 cause serious damage to the respiratory system ( 97 ). Moreover, there is a supplementary risk in case of existing respiratory disease such as asthma ( 98 ). Long-term effects are more frequent in people with a predisposing disease state. When the trachea is contaminated by pollutants, voice alterations may be remarked after acute exposure. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be induced following air pollution, increasing morbidity and mortality ( 99 ). Long-term effects from traffic, industrial air pollution, and combustion of fuels are the major factors for COPD risk ( 99 ).

Multiple cardiovascular effects have been observed after exposure to air pollutants ( 100 ). Changes occurred in blood cells after long-term exposure may affect cardiac functionality. Coronary arteriosclerosis was reported following long-term exposure to traffic emissions ( 101 ), while short-term exposure is related to hypertension, stroke, myocardial infracts, and heart insufficiency. Ventricle hypertrophy is reported to occur in humans after long-time exposure to nitrogen oxide (NO 2 ) ( 102 , 103 ).

Neurological effects have been observed in adults and children after extended-term exposure to air pollutants.

Psychological complications, autism, retinopathy, fetal growth, and low birth weight seem to be related to long-term air pollution ( 83 ). The etiologic agent of the neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's) is not yet known, although it is believed that extended exposure to air pollution seems to be a factor. Specifically, pesticides and metals are cited as etiological factors, together with diet. The mechanisms in the development of neurodegenerative disease include oxidative stress, protein aggregation, inflammation, and mitochondrial impairment in neurons ( 104 ) ( Figure 1 ).

Impact of air pollutants on the brain.

Brain inflammation was observed in dogs living in a highly polluted area in Mexico for a long period ( 105 ). In human adults, markers of systemic inflammation (IL-6 and fibrinogen) were found to be increased as an immediate response to PNC on the IL-6 level, possibly leading to the production of acute-phase proteins ( 106 ). The progression of atherosclerosis and oxidative stress seem to be the mechanisms involved in the neurological disturbances caused by long-term air pollution. Inflammation comes secondary to the oxidative stress and seems to be involved in the impairment of developmental maturation, affecting multiple organs ( 105 , 107 ). Similarly, other factors seem to be involved in the developmental maturation, which define the vulnerability to long-term air pollution. These include birthweight, maternal smoking, genetic background and socioeconomic environment, as well as education level.

However, diet, starting from breast-feeding, is another determinant factor. Diet is the main source of antioxidants, which play a key role in our protection against air pollutants ( 108 ). Antioxidants are free radical scavengers and limit the interaction of free radicals in the brain ( 108 ). Similarly, genetic background may result in a differential susceptibility toward the oxidative stress pathway ( 60 ). For example, antioxidant supplementation with vitamins C and E appears to modulate the effect of ozone in asthmatic children homozygous for the GSTM1 null allele ( 61 ). Inflammatory cytokines released in the periphery (e.g., respiratory epithelia) upregulate the innate immune Toll-like receptor 2. Such activation and the subsequent events leading to neurodegeneration have recently been observed in lung lavage in mice exposed to ambient Los Angeles (CA, USA) particulate matter ( 61 ). In children, neurodevelopmental morbidities were observed after lead exposure. These children developed aggressive and delinquent behavior, reduced intelligence, learning difficulties, and hyperactivity ( 109 ). No level of lead exposure seems to be “safe,” and the scientific community has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce the current screening guideline of 10 μg/dl ( 109 ).

It is important to state that impact on the immune system, causing dysfunction and neuroinflammation ( 104 ), is related to poor air quality. Yet, increases in serum levels of immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM) and the complement component C3 are observed ( 106 ). Another issue is that antigen presentation is affected by air pollutants, as there is an upregulation of costimulatory molecules such as CD80 and CD86 on macrophages ( 110 ).

As is known, skin is our shield against ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and other pollutants, as it is the most exterior layer of our body. Traffic-related pollutants, such as PAHs, VOCs, oxides, and PM, may cause pigmented spots on our skin ( 111 ). On the one hand, as already stated, when pollutants penetrate through the skin or are inhaled, damage to the organs is observed, as some of these pollutants are mutagenic and carcinogenic, and, specifically, they affect the liver and lung. On the other hand, air pollutants (and those in the troposphere) reduce the adverse effects of ultraviolet radiation UVR in polluted urban areas ( 111 ). Air pollutants absorbed by the human skin may contribute to skin aging, psoriasis, acne, urticaria, eczema, and atopic dermatitis ( 111 ), usually caused by exposure to oxides and photochemical smoke ( 111 ). Exposure to PM and cigarette smoking act as skin-aging agents, causing spots, dyschromia, and wrinkles. Lastly, pollutants have been associated with skin cancer ( 111 ).

Higher morbidity is reported to fetuses and children when exposed to the above dangers. Impairment in fetal growth, low birth weight, and autism have been reported ( 112 ).

Another exterior organ that may be affected is the eye. Contamination usually comes from suspended pollutants and may result in asymptomatic eye outcomes, irritation ( 112 ), retinopathy, or dry eye syndrome ( 113 , 114 ).

Environmental Impact of Air Pollution

Air pollution is harming not only human health but also the environment ( 115 ) in which we live. The most important environmental effects are as follows.

Acid rain is wet (rain, fog, snow) or dry (particulates and gas) precipitation containing toxic amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. They are able to acidify the water and soil environments, damage trees and plantations, and even damage buildings and outdoor sculptures, constructions, and statues.

Haze is produced when fine particles are dispersed in the air and reduce the transparency of the atmosphere. It is caused by gas emissions in the air coming from industrial facilities, power plants, automobiles, and trucks.

Ozone , as discussed previously, occurs both at ground level and in the upper level (stratosphere) of the Earth's atmosphere. Stratospheric ozone is protecting us from the Sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. In contrast, ground-level ozone is harmful to human health and is a pollutant. Unfortunately, stratospheric ozone is gradually damaged by ozone-depleting substances (i.e., chemicals, pesticides, and aerosols). If this protecting stratospheric ozone layer is thinned, then UV radiation can reach our Earth, with harmful effects for human life (skin cancer) ( 116 ) and crops ( 117 ). In plants, ozone penetrates through the stomata, inducing them to close, which blocks CO 2 transfer and induces a reduction in photosynthesis ( 118 ).

Global climate change is an important issue that concerns mankind. As is known, the “greenhouse effect” keeps the Earth's temperature stable. Unhappily, anthropogenic activities have destroyed this protecting temperature effect by producing large amounts of greenhouse gases, and global warming is mounting, with harmful effects on human health, animals, forests, wildlife, agriculture, and the water environment. A report states that global warming is adding to the health risks of poor people ( 119 ).

People living in poorly constructed buildings in warm-climate countries are at high risk for heat-related health problems as temperatures mount ( 119 ).

Wildlife is burdened by toxic pollutants coming from the air, soil, or the water ecosystem and, in this way, animals can develop health problems when exposed to high levels of pollutants. Reproductive failure and birth effects have been reported.

Eutrophication is occurring when elevated concentrations of nutrients (especially nitrogen) stimulate the blooming of aquatic algae, which can cause a disequilibration in the diversity of fish and their deaths.

Without a doubt, there is a critical concentration of pollution that an ecosystem can tolerate without being destroyed, which is associated with the ecosystem's capacity to neutralize acidity. The Canada Acid Rain Program established this load at 20 kg/ha/yr ( 120 ).

Hence, air pollution has deleterious effects on both soil and water ( 121 ). Concerning PM as an air pollutant, its impact on crop yield and food productivity has been reported. Its impact on watery bodies is associated with the survival of living organisms and fishes and their productivity potential ( 121 ).

An impairment in photosynthetic rhythm and metabolism is observed in plants exposed to the effects of ozone ( 121 ).

Sulfur and nitrogen oxides are involved in the formation of acid rain and are harmful to plants and marine organisms.

Last but not least, as mentioned above, the toxicity associated with lead and other metals is the main threat to our ecosystems (air, water, and soil) and living creatures ( 121 ).

In 2018, during the first WHO Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health, the WHO's General Director, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called air pollution a “silent public health emergency” and “the new tobacco” ( 122 ).

Undoubtedly, children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, especially during their development. Air pollution has adverse effects on our lives in many different respects.

Diseases associated with air pollution have not only an important economic impact but also a societal impact due to absences from productive work and school.

Despite the difficulty of eradicating the problem of anthropogenic environmental pollution, a successful solution could be envisaged as a tight collaboration of authorities, bodies, and doctors to regularize the situation. Governments should spread sufficient information and educate people and should involve professionals in these issues so as to control the emergence of the problem successfully.

Technologies to reduce air pollution at the source must be established and should be used in all industries and power plants. The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 set as a major target the reduction of GHG emissions to below 5% by 2012 ( 123 ). This was followed by the Copenhagen summit, 2009 ( 124 ), and then the Durban summit of 2011 ( 125 ), where it was decided to keep to the same line of action. The Kyoto protocol and the subsequent ones were ratified by many countries. Among the pioneers who adopted this important protocol for the world's environmental and climate “health” was China ( 3 ). As is known, China is a fast-developing economy and its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is expected to be very high by 2050, which is defined as the year of dissolution of the protocol for the decrease in gas emissions.

A more recent international agreement of crucial importance for climate change is the Paris Agreement of 2015, issued by the UNFCCC (United Nations Climate Change Committee). This latest agreement was ratified by a plethora of UN (United Nations) countries as well as the countries of the European Union ( 126 ). In this vein, parties should promote actions and measures to enhance numerous aspects around the subject. Boosting education, training, public awareness, and public participation are some of the relevant actions for maximizing the opportunities to achieve the targets and goals on the crucial matter of climate change and environmental pollution ( 126 ). Without any doubt, technological improvements makes our world easier and it seems difficult to reduce the harmful impact caused by gas emissions, we could limit its use by seeking reliable approaches.

Synopsizing, a global prevention policy should be designed in order to combat anthropogenic air pollution as a complement to the correct handling of the adverse health effects associated with air pollution. Sustainable development practices should be applied, together with information coming from research in order to handle the problem effectively.

At this point, international cooperation in terms of research, development, administration policy, monitoring, and politics is vital for effective pollution control. Legislation concerning air pollution must be aligned and updated, and policy makers should propose the design of a powerful tool of environmental and health protection. As a result, the main proposal of this essay is that we should focus on fostering local structures to promote experience and practice and extrapolate these to the international level through developing effective policies for sustainable management of ecosystems.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

IM is employed by the company Delphis S.A. The remaining authors declare that the present review paper was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Air Pollution — Air Pollution: Causes, Effects, And Solutions

Air Pollution: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

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Published: Feb 8, 2022

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Causes and effects of air pollution, possible solutions to the problem of air pollution.

This essay explores the critical issue of air pollution, emphasizing human activities as the primary contributors, including fossil fuel combustion, industrial emissions, and transportation. It discusses the harmful effects of air pollution on human health, the environment, and global ecosystems, highlighting the urgency of addressing this global crisis. Offering practical solutions, such as adopting renewable energy sources and implementing cleaner technologies, the essay serves as a problem and solution essay example detailed , advocating for collective action to mitigate the adverse effects of air pollution and protect the planet for future generations.

Works Cited

• Begum, B. A., & Hill, J. A. (2019). Air Pollution and Public Health: A Primer. In Air Pollution and Health (pp. 3-22). Elsevier.
• Bhaskar, A., & Upadhyay, R. (2021). Air Pollution: Causes, Impacts and Control Measures. In Environmental Pollution and Control Measures (pp. 29-52). Springer.
• Chakraborty, S., & Pervez, S. (2019). Impact of Air Pollution on Human Health and Environment: An Overview. In Environmental Impact of Chemical Pollution (pp. 3-24). Elsevier.
• Dockery, D. W., & Pope III, C. A. (2020). Air Pollution and Health. In Air Pollution and Health (pp. 23-35). Elsevier.
• Garg, A., Martin, R. V., & Crounse, J. D. (2021). Air Pollution and Its Effects on Climate and Health. In Climate and Air Pollution (pp. 1-21). Springer.
• Hidy, G. M., & Pennell, W. T. (2020). Air Pollution: Chemicals and Particles in Ambient Air and Their Health Effects. In Encyclopedia of Environmental Health (pp. 22-31). Elsevier.
• Kampa, M., & Castanas, E. (2020). Human Health Effects of Air Pollution. Environmental Pollution, 151, 362-367.
• Lelieveld, J., Evans, J. S., Fnais, M., Giannadaki, D., & Pozzer, A. (2015). The Contribution of Outdoor Air Pollution Sources to Premature Mortality on a Global Scale. Nature, 525(7569), 367-371.
• Pruss-Ustun, A., Wolf, J., Corvalan, C., Bos, R., & Neira, M. (2016). Preventing Disease through Healthy Environments: A Global Assessment of the Burden of Disease from Environmental Risks. World Health Organization.
• World Health Organization. (2018). Ambient Air Pollution: A Global Assessment of Exposure and Burden of Disease. World Health Organization.

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• Effect of air pollution on plants and ...

Effect of air pollution on plants and animals

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Air pollution, emerging as a formidable adversary to global ecosystems, is primarily born from the unbridled activities of industrialisation, urban sprawl, and transport congestion. Both plants and animals, the core pillars of our ecological fabric, grapple with the multidimensional repercussions of deteriorating air quality. A profound understanding of these ramifications is imperative, offering pathways for mitigation and conservation.

Reduced Photosynthesis and Growth

Photosynthesis, the very cornerstone of plant life, ensures growth and nourishment. This process is imperilled by particulate matter, ozone, sulphur dioxide , and nitrogen oxides. These agents often hamper the chlorophyll’s absorption capability, derailing the natural process of converting light to chemical energy.

Furthermore, studies have illuminated that a 10% reduction in photosynthesis can lead to a consequential 5-8% decline in crop yield. For instance, nutrient-rich crops like soybeans have significantly reduced yield, even in mildly polluted environments.

Air pollutants’ insidious nature means they can settle onto the leaf surfaces, initiating a sequence of deleterious effects. The visible symptoms are manifold, from necrotic spots and premature leaf drop to yellowing and stippling. These damages disrupt essential functions like transpiration, making plants vulnerable to heat stress, nutrient deficiencies, and subsequent illnesses.

From the larger perspective of an ecosystem’s vitality, air pollution’s effect on plant reproduction is severely unsettling. Pollutants can distort the structural integrity of pollens, debilitating their function. With compromised pollen health, plants face daunting challenges in reproduction. A cascading effect ensues, with herbivores facing food shortages, further affecting the predators that depend on them.

In the US, certain plant species, like the Black Cherry, have displayed extensive foliar injury in areas with dense ozone concentrations. Another species, the Eastern White Pine, bears witness to the devastating effects of sulphur dioxide, with its needles showing evident signs of discolouration and damage.

Drawing parallels to humans, animals too are victim to the respiratory onslaught posed by air pollutants. Chronic exposure can evoke myriad ailments, from bronchitis and asthma to irreversible lung damage. This has been observed across species, from pigeons in metropolitan areas to deer in more semi-urban locales.

As the realm of research broadens, evidence suggesting the neurotoxicity of certain air pollutants in animals is mounting. Urban birds, for example, have manifested alterations in their songs, which could impede mating rituals. On the dermatological front, particulate matter can trigger skin irritations, reducing the creature’s overall fitness.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in polluted air pose another grave threat. Animals exposed to these agents can experience hormonal imbalances, impacting reproduction, development, and survival. Notably, amphibians have displayed alarming vulnerabilities, with observed skewed sex ratios and limb deformities.

The weakening of animal immune systems due to pollutants increases susceptibility to various diseases. A quintessential example lies in the amphibian populations of the US. With compromised immunity, these animals have succumbed to fungal diseases at an unprecedented rate, leading to sharp population declines.

The US paints a grim portrait of wildlife affected by air pollution. Birds like sparrows and kestrels inhabiting urban territories have exhibited diminished hatch rates. Aquatic ecosystems haven’t been spared either. Fish populations in areas like Chesapeake Bay grapple with the after-effects of nitrogen oxide emissions, leading to algal blooms and the subsequent depletion of oxygen, endangering marine life.

The battle against air pollution in the US has seen the fortification of regulations, with the Clean Air Act being a prime example. The confluence of technology and stringent policy-making offers hope. In this nexus, real-time air quality monitoring emerges as the frontline defence, equipping authorities and communities with real-time insights and data for actionable interventions.

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Effects Of Air Pollution On Animals

This study, conducted in 1961, summarizes the knowledge at the time about the effects of air pollution on animals. This is one of the only major studies that addresses the issue of animals and air pollution.

This articles summarizes the outcome of major air pollution disasters and provides a review of animal-based laboratory experiments. The author finds that a dearth of knowledge regarding the specific characteristics of each animal species, as well as other environmental factors, influence the effects that air pollution will have on animals.

Highlights from media coverage of the study :

• A well-known smog incident in Donora, PA in 1948 is known to have made 15% of dogs sick and even killed 10 dogs out of the 229 included in survey records. Sicknesses included respiratory and digestive issues as well as refusal to eat. Out of 165 cats included in survey records, 12 got sick and 3 died. Poultry farmers also reported that their birds got sick, and 40% of those sick birds died.
• The sulfur dioxide from the London fog incident of 1952 reportedly affected cattle with bronchiolitis, emphysema, and heart failure. Some cattle died or were euthanized.
• In 1950 in Poza Rica, Mexico, hydrogen sulfide is reported to have killed 100% of canaries and approximately 50% of other animals who were exposed to the pollution.
• In lab tests, ozone has been shown to adversely affect dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and mice. It impacted their respiratory systems and also led to deaths.

E.J. Catcott, World Health Organization, 1961 Worldwide|United States (National)

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Air Pollution Effects on Terrestrial and Aquatic Animals

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• James R. Newman ,
• R. Kent Schreiber &
• E. Novakova  

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Air pollution has adversely affected animals since the advent of the industrial revolution (Newman 1980). Currently, the greatest threat to animal biodiversity from air pollution occurs in industrial countries where regional impacts (e.g., acid precipitation, ozone) are causing widespread direct and indirect effects to animals and their habitats. In Eastern Europe, local, regional, and transboundary air pollution is severe. Future threats will occur as underdeveloped countries that have minimal air pollution controls industrialize. Of particular concern are those areas, such as the tropical forest of the Amazon Basin, that harbor the world’s greatest biodiversity including many species yet to be described (Wilson 1988).

The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again. William Beebe (1906)

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Newman, J.R., Schreiber, R.K., Novakova, E. (1992). Air Pollution Effects on Terrestrial and Aquatic Animals. In: Barker, J.R., Tingey, D.T. (eds) Air Pollution Effects on Biodiversity. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3538-6_10

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Air pollution.

Air pollution consists of chemicals or particles in the air that can harm the health of humans, animals, and plants. It also damages buildings.

Biology, Ecology, Earth Science, Geography

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Air pollution consists of chemicals or particles in the air that can harm the health of humans, animals, and plants. It also damages buildings. Pollutants in the air take many forms. They can be gases , solid particles, or liquid droplets. Sources of Air Pollution Pollution enters the Earth's atmosphere in many different ways. Most air pollution is created by people, taking the form of emissions from factories, cars, planes, or aerosol cans . Second-hand cigarette smoke is also considered air pollution. These man-made sources of pollution are called anthropogenic sources . Some types of air pollution, such as smoke from wildfires or ash from volcanoes , occur naturally. These are called natural sources . Air pollution is most common in large cities where emissions from many different sources are concentrated . Sometimes, mountains or tall buildings prevent air pollution from spreading out. This air pollution often appears as a cloud making the air murky. It is called smog . The word "smog" comes from combining the words "smoke" and " fog ." Large cities in poor and developing nations tend to have more air pollution than cities in developed nations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) , some of the worlds most polluted cities are Karachi, Pakistan; New Delhi, India; Beijing, China; Lima, Peru; and Cairo, Egypt. However, many developed nations also have air pollution problems. Los Angeles, California, is nicknamed Smog City. Indoor Air Pollution Air pollution is usually thought of as smoke from large factories or exhaust from vehicles. But there are many types of indoor air pollution as well. Heating a house by burning substances such as kerosene , wood, and coal can contaminate the air inside the house. Ash and smoke make breathing difficult, and they can stick to walls, food, and clothing. Naturally-occurring radon gas, a cancer -causing material, can also build up in homes. Radon is released through the surface of the Earth. Inexpensive systems installed by professionals can reduce radon levels. Some construction materials, including insulation , are also dangerous to people's health. In addition, ventilation , or air movement, in homes and rooms can lead to the spread of toxic mold . A single colony of mold may exist in a damp, cool place in a house, such as between walls. The mold's spores enter the air and spread throughout the house. People can become sick from breathing in the spores. Effects On Humans People experience a wide range of health effects from being exposed to air pollution. Effects can be broken down into short-term effects and long-term effects . Short-term effects, which are temporary , include illnesses such as pneumonia or bronchitis . They also include discomfort such as irritation to the nose, throat, eyes, or skin. Air pollution can also cause headaches, dizziness, and nausea . Bad smells made by factories, garbage , or sewer systems are considered air pollution, too. These odors are less serious but still unpleasant . Long-term effects of air pollution can last for years or for an entire lifetime. They can even lead to a person's death. Long-term health effects from air pollution include heart disease , lung cancer, and respiratory diseases such as emphysema . Air pollution can also cause long-term damage to people's nerves , brain, kidneys , liver , and other organs. Some scientists suspect air pollutants cause birth defects . Nearly 2.5 million people die worldwide each year from the effects of outdoor or indoor air pollution. People react differently to different types of air pollution. Young children and older adults, whose immune systems tend to be weaker, are often more sensitive to pollution. Conditions such as asthma , heart disease, and lung disease can be made worse by exposure to air pollution. The length of exposure and amount and type of pollutants are also factors. Effects On The Environment Like people, animals, and plants, entire ecosystems can suffer effects from air pollution. Haze , like smog, is a visible type of air pollution that obscures shapes and colors. Hazy air pollution can even muffle sounds. Air pollution particles eventually fall back to Earth. Air pollution can directly contaminate the surface of bodies of water and soil . This can kill crops or reduce their yield . It can kill young trees and other plants. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide particles in the air, can create acid rain when they mix with water and oxygen in the atmosphere. These air pollutants come mostly from coal-fired power plants and motor vehicles . When acid rain falls to Earth, it damages plants by changing soil composition ; degrades water quality in rivers, lakes and streams; damages crops; and can cause buildings and monuments to decay . Like humans, animals can suffer health effects from exposure to air pollution. Birth defects, diseases, and lower reproductive rates have all been attributed to air pollution. Global Warming Global warming is an environmental phenomenon caused by natural and anthropogenic air pollution. It refers to rising air and ocean temperatures around the world. This temperature rise is at least partially caused by an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases trap heat energy in the Earths atmosphere. (Usually, more of Earths heat escapes into space.) Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that has had the biggest effect on global warming. Carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels (coal, gasoline , and natural gas ). Humans have come to rely on fossil fuels to power cars and planes, heat homes, and run factories. Doing these things pollutes the air with carbon dioxide. Other greenhouse gases emitted by natural and artificial sources also include methane , nitrous oxide , and fluorinated gases. Methane is a major emission from coal plants and agricultural processes. Nitrous oxide is a common emission from industrial factories, agriculture, and the burning of fossil fuels in cars. Fluorinated gases, such as hydrofluorocarbons , are emitted by industry. Fluorinated gases are often used instead of gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs have been outlawed in many places because they deplete the ozone layer . Worldwide, many countries have taken steps to reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming. The Kyoto Protocol , first adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, is an agreement between 183 countries that they will work to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. The United States has not signed that treaty . Regulation In addition to the international Kyoto Protocol, most developed nations have adopted laws to regulate emissions and reduce air pollution. In the United States, debate is under way about a system called cap and trade to limit emissions. This system would cap, or place a limit, on the amount of pollution a company is allowed. Companies that exceeded their cap would have to pay. Companies that polluted less than their cap could trade or sell their remaining pollution allowance to other companies. Cap and trade would essentially pay companies to limit pollution. In 2006 the World Health Organization issued new Air Quality Guidelines. The WHOs guidelines are tougher than most individual countries existing guidelines. The WHO guidelines aim to reduce air pollution-related deaths by 15 percent a year. Reduction Anybody can take steps to reduce air pollution. Millions of people every day make simple changes in their lives to do this. Taking public transportation instead of driving a car, or riding a bike instead of traveling in carbon dioxide-emitting vehicles are a couple of ways to reduce air pollution. Avoiding aerosol cans, recycling yard trimmings instead of burning them, and not smoking cigarettes are others.

Downwinders The United States conducted tests of nuclear weapons at the Nevada Test Site in southern Nevada in the 1950s. These tests sent invisible radioactive particles into the atmosphere. These air pollution particles traveled with wind currents, eventually falling to Earth, sometimes hundreds of miles away in states including Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Washington. These areas were considered to be "downwind" from the Nevada Test Site. Decades later, people living in those downwind areascalled "downwinders"began developing cancer at above-normal rates. In 1990, the U.S. government passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. This law entitles some downwinders to payments of $50,000.

Greenhouse Gases There are five major greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere.

• water vapor
• carbon dioxide
• nitrous oxide

London Smog What has come to be known as the London Smog of 1952, or the Great Smog of 1952, was a four-day incident that sickened 100,000 people and caused as many as 12,000 deaths. Very cold weather in December 1952 led residents of London, England, to burn more coal to keep warm. Smoke and other pollutants became trapped by a thick fog that settled over the city. The polluted fog became so thick that people could only see a few meters in front of them.

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Air pollution: effects on wild animals

Animals, or wildlife, are vulnerable to harm from air pollution. Pollutant issues of concern include acid rain , heavy metals , persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other toxic substances.

Insects, worms, clams, fish, birds and mammals, all interact with their environment in different ways. As a result, each animal's exposure and vulnerability to the impacts of air pollution can be equally different.

Air pollution can harm wildlife in two main ways.

• It affects the quality of the environment or habitat in which they live
• It affects the availability and quality of the food supply

How air pollution harms habitat

Habitat is the place in which animals live, including in and on the soil, as well as in water.

Acid rain can change the chemistry and quality of soils and water . For example, water bodies can become too acidic for some animals to survive or have normal physiological functions. Alternatively, acid rain can increase the release of heavy metals, such as aluminum, from soils into water habitats. The result is higher availability of heavy metals in the water column, which are very toxic to many animals including fish.

Some heavy metals, such as mercury , can be transported in the air long distances away from emission sources.

Although not as well understood, other forms of air pollution, such as smog , particulate matter , and ground-level ozone , to mention a few, likely affect wildlife health in similar ways to human health including harming the lungs and cardiovascular systems. An animal's vulnerability to air pollution is influenced by how it breathes - whether it uses lungs, gills or some other form of gas exchange, such as passive diffusion across the surface of the skin.

How air pollution harms food supply and quality

Many heavy metals , toxics , persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other air pollutants affect wildlife by entering the food chain and damaging the supply and quality of food.

Once consumed, many of these pollutants collect and are stored within the animal's tissues. As animals are eaten by other animals along the food chain, these pollutants continue to collect and increase in concentration. This process is called bioaccumulation. Top level predators such as bears and eagles, among many others, are particularly susceptible to the bioaccumulation of these types of air pollutants.

For example, mercury is of great enough concern that it is recommended we limit how often we eat certain types of fish that may contain high levels of heavy metal.

Air pollutants can poison wildlife through the disruption of endocrine function, organ injury, increased vulnerability to stresses and diseases, lower reproductive success, and possible death.

Changes in the abundance of any species because of air pollution can dramatically influence the abundance and health of dependent species. For example, the loss of some species of fish because of higher levels of aluminum may allow insect populations to increase, which may benefit certain types of ducks that feed on insects. But the same loss of fish could be detrimental to eagles, ospreys and many other animals that depend on fish as a source of food.

It is very difficult to fully understand and appreciate how far and in what ways such changes will affect other species throughout the ecosystem, including humans.

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What Are The Effects Of Air Pollution On Animals?

Pollution comes in many forms, from plastic pollution to chemical substances entering our waterways. But one of the biggest forms of pollution is pollution of the air. This is a growing global environmental problem which comes in many forms and therefore causes many different direct and indirect problems. We now know many of these pollutants are having adverse effects on our own health and so this raises the question that, if air pollution is so bad for us, what are the effects of air pollution on animals?

In short, air pollution affects animals both directly and indirectly and the amount it affects a certain animal will vary greatly depending on a number of factors. Direct effects include:

• Inhalation of gases and particles in the air
• Ingestion of particles in food or water
• Absorption of gases through the skin

Indirect effects include:

• Climate change

Ocean acidification

Ozone layer depletion.

As you can see there are plenty of potential effects of air pollution on animals. Some of these are quite well understood and some are not. In this article, I will briefly try and summarise what we know.

What is an air pollutant?

A substance that causes air pollution is known as an air pollutant and is defined as:

“a substance in the air that can have damaging effects on humans and the wider ecosystem”.

This could be a solid particle, such as dust or soot emitted from a coal-fired power station. But it could also be a gas, invisible to the naked eye, such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), the most well known ‘greenhouse gas’.

It is important to note that for a substance to be an air pollutant, it doesn’t have to have originated from human activities. Natural air pollutants also occur such as when a volcano erupts, or a forest fire begins naturally, this has been a natural process for a long time before humans were affecting animals (we are just making things much worse!).

The difference between primary pollutants and secondary pollutants.

Any substance directly emitted and instantly having adverse effects are primary pollutants. Secondary pollutants are caused by these primary pollutants reacting with another substance causing a new pollutant to form.

Tropospheric ozone or ground level ozone is an example of a secondary pollutant that forms near the earth’s surface when other primary pollutants react.

What are the main air pollutants?

Before we can understand why pollutants can have adverse effects on animals we need to have a quick rundown of the main culprits.

Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) – gas

I’m sure you have all heard of this one. The most well known of all the greenhouse gases .

Abundant in the atmosphere already, but thanks to us humans, now in far greater quantities following the industrial revolution and the rise in factories and vehicles emitting the gas at an alarming rate.

Nitrogen Oxides – gas

Another group of pollutants which includes nitrous oxide (N 2 O).

Nitrogen and oxygen are commonly found particles in the atmosphere which don’t react together at normal temperatures. However, under extreme temperatures (such as those found in a power plant or a car engine) they do and are released into the air.

Nitrous Oxide is actually a greenhouse gas with 298 times the ability of CO 2 when it comes to trapping heat (over a 100 year period). However, it is currently in much lower quantities than CO 2 and so is only thought to have 1/3 the effect on climate.

Sulphur Dioxide – gas

This is another one you may well have come across. Sulphur dioxide does not float around in the air like CO 2 however it does enter the atmosphere naturally during volcanic eruptions.

However, we have been adding significantly to the quantity of this pollutant by burning coal and petroleum to produce power.

Methane (CH 4 ) and other Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) – gas

Another group of pollutants that contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Methane directly and the other VOCs with their ability to form ozone which makes methane last longer in the atmosphere.

Some of the main human-made sources of methane are decomposing food/ waste in landfill and also from animal agriculture (farting cows basically).

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

You may (and if not probably should) have a carbon monoxide detector in your home. This is because carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless and yet extremely deadly gas and can be formed when burning natural gas (such as in an oven).

The main man-made source of CO though is within vehicle exhaust fumes.

Airborne particulates

Unlike the invisible gases mentioned above, airborne particulates are very small particles of solid or liquid that are light enough to be suspended in the air for a length of time. Soot or dust are common examples of this type of pollutant.

These are produced naturally from volcanoes and forest fires and then by humans when we burn anything, such as in power plants.

So far I have mentioned some of the main offenders, but there are many more air pollutants on top of that including:

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) produced by refrigerators and aerosols
• Ammonia from farm waste
• Free radicals from burning fossil fuels

And the list goes on. But now we know the main air pollutants that we as humans have contributed towards over the years what are the effects of them on animals?

Direct effects of air pollution on animals

In humans, the direct health effects of air pollution are becoming more well known. With respiratory disease, heart disease and lung cancer among the worst.

The air pollutants responsible for these diseases are the airborne particles but also the nitrogen oxides emitted by road vehicles.

But as we are only really just beginning to understand the effects on humans the effects on most animals are still not that well known.

Pet animals

The effect of air pollution on pets, which spend much of their time in the same environments to humans, you would expect to be similar.

And studies have found adverse effects on dogs. A study in Mexico City, a city with notoriously high levels of air pollution, compared dogs living in the city with dogs living in an unpolluted area. They found that dogs in the polluted areas had inflamed brains and other signs indicative of disease (1). But there are still very few studies on the subject.

Indoor pollutants are also bad for pet animals with a study on cats showing a decrease in lung capacity when sharing a home with a smoker . So when a study showed that on a day in Beijing with particularly high pollution, standing outside is the equivalent of smoking 1.5 cigarettes an hour. From this, we can infer that when air pollution is bad it must surely have an adverse effect on these animals as well.

Arguably even more at risk to the direct effects of air pollution are birds. Unlike pets, they don’t spend time indoors and are often resident in our cities where air pollution levels are high.

A study in the early 1990s examined the effects in quite an extreme way by placing caged birds (coal tits and rock buntings) within close vicinity of a working coal-fired power plant. The mixture of particulates, nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide was shown to have adverse effects on the respiratory system of the birds (2).

More recently in 2017, a paper compiled a series of studies of air pollutants on birds dating back as far as 1950 and found consistent evidence of adverse effects. Effects included respiratory illness, affected immune systems, changes in behaviour and less success in laying eggs and therefore producing young ( 3 ).

The same study mentioned above where birds were placed in cages by a coal-fired power station was repeated on small mammals (wood mice and house mice). Yet again the pollutants caused respiratory problems.

A study in Sao Paolo, Brazil, (another city with high levels of air pollution) placed mice outside in cages for 4 months. One cage with filtered clean air and the other with unfiltered polluted air. The study found that when exposed to the unfiltered air from an early age, the reproductive success of the females went down (4).

The indirect effects of air pollution on animals

This is where it starts to get complicated. It gets complicated because everything in the environment is inter-connected making it very hard to pinpoint exactly how these pollutants are indirectly affecting animals.

If air pollution is affecting just the tiniest of microbes, that could still have indirect implications for other animals further up the food chain. So I won’t try and explain every single impact in this article but I’ll highlight a few of the more interesting/ concerning.

Indirect effects caused by climate change

As mentioned earlier in the article, many of the man-made air pollutants contribute to the greenhouse effect. Acting as a blanket in the atmosphere trapping heat in. The more of these gases we release the worse this effect becomes.

The warming effect caused by this is what we refer to as ‘global warming’ although because the earth’s climate is a complex system of weather patterns, climate can be effective in many different ways and all these can affect wildlife.

The number of studies linking climate change to impacts on wildlife is increasing all the time. The key thing to remember again is that everything is linked and so if climate change starts to affect even the smallest plants or insects, it will also more than likely affect the largest animals eventually.

Many species have evolved together over millions of years, with certain insects relying on certain plants to survive. If those plants are impacted by warming temperatures the insects will suffer and then the animal which eats the insects may also suffer, you get the picture. It doesn’t take much, a slight change in the life cycle of one animal can completely ruin that of another if they can’t alter to be in sync.

One of the main effects of climate change that has been observed is a change in range, i.e where certain animals are found. A study in Britain of 329 different species showed that 275 moved further north, most likely due to the warmer climate .

Rising ocean temperatures are causing corals, which are the foundation of huge ecosystems, to ‘bleach’. This is where corals expel algae living in their tissues leaving them looking white or ‘bleached’. This doesn’t kill the corals straight away but does lead to a higher rate of mortality .

The list of impacts is vast and ever growing. But as I say the important thing to note with all these indirect impacts is the fact that the slightest change to one plant or animal species can affect many others.

Other indirect effects of air pollution on animals

Ocean acidification occurs when the increasing amount of CO 2 from air pollution is absorbed by the oceans. The absorption of CO 2 changes the pH of the seawater i.e makes it more acidic.

As with climate change if this change occurred slowly, like it might have done before humans arrived, then animals could potentially adapt to the different conditions. However, these changes are happening rapidly thanks to all the air pollution we are causing and animals just can’t adapt quickly enough.

This more acidic water makes it difficult for animals to create shells, and has actually been found to start dissolving the shells of existing ones (5).

The acidic water has also been found to alter other important functions of reef fish such as communication and reproduction .

Acid rain is formed when sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide air pollution combines with water in the atmosphere causing it to become acidic. When this water falls as rain it can then have some bad consequences for wildlife.

The clearest effects of this are on aquatic animals in streams, lakes, swamps and marshes. The acid rain has been found to react with soils to release aluminium which washes into waterways. This aluminium causes acidification and has effects on the survival of fish eggs for example.

The more acidic water also causes more mucus buildup on the gills of adult fish. This affects their ability to absorb oxygen and they can suffocate. This has lead to some pretty apocalyptic scenes of dead fish floating on the surface of ponds and lakes.

More acidic conditions have also lead to impacts on frogs, snails and other species. Frogs are slightly more resilient to acidic conditions than fish, but the shallow ponds they use to breed can be more rapidly affected by acid rain which quickly makes it impossible for frogs and other amphibians to breed in them.

Ozone (O 3 ) is a molecule in the atmosphere that occurs naturally and forms a layer, known as the ozone layer, that acts to absorb potentially harmful UVB rays from the sun. Those rays that cause us to tan (or burn) although too many of which would cause us to be covered in skin cancer.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are an air pollutant released by refrigerators and aerosols. These are broken down in the atmosphere to form, among other things, chlorine. The chlorine reacts with the ozone and this converts it to oxygen which no longer provides the protection from those UVB rays.

So what does this mean for wildlife?

Well it has been shown to affect the development of plants, which you now know will consequently affect many animal species too. It has also been shown to have effects on marine life (6).

More recent findings of the effects of air pollution on animals include:

Some air pollutants (such as ozone) have been found to interact with and break down the scent molecules produced by plants that bees use to find their food. This increases the amount of time they have to spend foraging and therefore causes a decrease in average lifespan (7).

Another study showed that plants in urban areas with high levels of nitrogen dioxide produced more chemicals to help defend themselves against insects that want to eat them. (8)

The list goes on.

Negative feedback cycles

Just to make things look even bleaker I need to mention negative feedback cycles. These are effects that are triggered by the things I have already mentioned that make things worse and worse.

One example is that as temperatures on the earth rise due to climate change ice begins to melt at the earth’s poles. Now as you know ice is white, and as you will also know a white surface is very good at reflecting sunlight. You might notice this on a hot day if you touch a black car and a white car, the black car will be hotter as it has absorbed more heat, whereas the white car will be cooler as it has reflected it. This is known as the ‘albido effect’.

Once ice has melted you are left with the earth’s surface or an ocean exposed underneath. Neither of these surfaces is as good at reflecting the heat of the sun as ice and so less heat energy is reflected back, more is absorbed and the earth heats up even more. Hence the term ‘negative feedback cycle’.

The list of the effects of air pollution on animals just keeps growing, as scientists carry out more studies and we see the effects of a longer time period (remember man-made air pollution is still a relatively recent phenomenon).

The fact is that the direct impacts of these substances are bad enough for many animals, but the indirect effects are making things even worse.

As I mentioned already animals and ecosystems have adapted to changing conditions on earth for millions of years. But those changes have mostly been slow. And when they have been rapid, such as when a large volcano erupts, this has lead to mass extinctions.

Since we started burning fossil fuels and producing motor vehicles, changes have been rapid and animals simply can’t keep up.

It is therefore clear that the effects of air pollution on animals is very bad indeed and I’m sure further studies will show those effects to be even worse than we think now. The quickest solution is to stop our pollution outputs as quickly as we can.

We have started to do this with some success in some areas. Bans on CFCs in some countries have led to a halt of ozone layer depletion and we are seeing the harmful UVB radiation reduced as a result of that. But for some other pollutants such as CO 2, because the effects perhaps aren’t so immediately obvious to humans, the desire to stop producing them is not enough.

We need to work hard to find solutions and to change policy to stop the effects of air pollution before it is too late. If not for ourselves, for the animals.

• Calderón-Garcidueñas, Lilian, et al. “Air pollution, cognitive deficits and brain abnormalities: a pilot study with children and dogs.” Brain and cognition  68.2 (2008): 117-127.
• Llacuna, S., et al. “Effects of air pollution on passerine birds and small mammals.”  Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology  24.1 (1993): 59-66.
• Sanderfoot, Olivia V., and Tracey Holloway. “Air pollution impacts on avian species via inhalation exposure and associated outcomes.”  Environmental Research Letters  12.8 (2017): 083002.
• Mohallem, Soraya Vecci, et al. “Decreased fertility in mice exposed to environmental air pollution in the city of Sao Paulo.”  Environmental research  98.2 (2005): 196-202.
• Bednaršek, N., et al. “Limacina helicina shell dissolution as an indicator of declining habitat suitability owing to ocean acidification in the California Current Ecosystem.”  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1785 (2014): 20140123.
• De Lange, Hendrika J., and Paul L. Van Reeuwijk. “Negative effects of UVB‐irradiated phytoplankton on life history traits and fitness of Daphnia magna.”  Freshwater Biology  48.4 (2003): 678-686.
• Fuentes, Jose D., et al. “Air pollutants degrade floral scents and increase insect foraging times.”  Atmospheric Environment 141 (2016): 361-374.
• Campbell, Stuart A., and Dena M. Vallano. “Plant defences mediate interactions between herbivory and the direct foliar uptake of atmospheric reactive nitrogen.”  Nature communications  9.1 (2018): 4743.

Rob Wreglesworth

Rob is the head writer at Innovate Eco sharing knowledge and passion cultivated over 10 years working in the Environmental Sector. He is on a mission to build a community of people that are passionate about solving environmental problems.

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air pollution , release into the atmosphere of various gases , finely divided solids, or finely dispersed liquid aerosols at rates that exceed the natural capacity of the environment to dissipate and dilute or absorb them. These substances may reach concentrations in the air that cause undesirable health, economic, or aesthetic effects.

Major air pollutants

Criteria pollutants.

Clean, dry air consists primarily of nitrogen and oxygen —78 percent and 21 percent respectively, by volume. The remaining 1 percent is a mixture of other gases, mostly argon (0.9 percent), along with trace (very small) amounts of carbon dioxide , methane , hydrogen , helium , and more. Water vapour is also a normal, though quite variable, component of the atmosphere, normally ranging from 0.01 to 4 percent by volume; under very humid conditions the moisture content of air may be as high as 5 percent.

There are six major air pollutants that have been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “criteria” pollutants — criteria meaning that the concentrations of these pollutants in the atmosphere are useful as indicators of overall air quality. The sources, acceptable concentrations, and effects of the criteria pollutants are summarized in the table.

The gaseous criteria air pollutants of primary concern in urban settings include sulfur dioxide , nitrogen dioxide , and carbon monoxide ; these are emitted directly into the air from fossil fuels such as fuel oil , gasoline , and natural gas that are burned in power plants, automobiles, and other combustion sources. Ozone (a key component of smog ) is also a gaseous pollutant; it forms in the atmosphere via complex chemical reactions occurring between nitrogen dioxide and various volatile organic compounds (e.g., gasoline vapours).

Airborne suspensions of extremely small solid or liquid particles called “particulates” (e.g., soot, dust, smokes, fumes, mists), especially those less than 10 micrometres (μm; millionths of a metre) in size, are significant air pollutants because of their very harmful effects on human health. They are emitted by various industrial processes, coal- or oil-burning power plants, residential heating systems, and automobiles. Lead fumes (airborne particulates less than 0.5 μm in size) are particularly toxic and are an important pollutant of many diesel fuels .

Except for lead, criteria pollutants are emitted in industrialized countries at very high rates, typically measured in millions of tons per year. All except ozone are discharged directly into the atmosphere from a wide variety of sources. They are regulated primarily by establishing ambient air quality standards, which are maximum acceptable concentrations of each criteria pollutant in the atmosphere, regardless of its origin. The six criteria pollutants are described in turn below.

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Effects of air pollution on animal health

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Dr.Shashidhar thhatikkonda

In the present study, an effort has been made to study the air quality at Warangal city. The air quality was measured in the places such as Teachers Colony, Kazipet Over Bridge, NIT Warangal, Hanamkonda Chowrastha, Warangal Chowrastha and Ram Adlabs of Warangal city in terms of the concentrations of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter, Sulphur dioxide and Nitrogen oxides. Out of the 7 stations monitored, except at Teachers Colony all the others recorded values of RSPM which are above the permissible limits which is a great concern and hence quality of air in the city need to be addressed. The rapid increase in the number of vehicles along with other increasing human activities and their effect on the levels of RSPM are also analysed. The above mentioned stations were set up covering the entire Warangal city and grey areas were marked which exceed the standard levels as prescribed by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board. The results of the study show that the above mentioned locations in the city are polluted and need attention by the pollution control board. Various methods which could reduce the concentrations of RSPM are also suggested.The concentrations of RSPM obtained were in the range of 200 μg/m3 to 300 μg/m3 at the Hanamkonda Chowrastha, which is twice as high as the permissible limits.. The other stations also recorded values in the same ranges as mentioned above. The Teachers Colony which comes under the residential zone recorded values in the range of 50 μg/m3 to 100 μg/m3 , which also is high compared to the standards for residential zones. With all the above facts Warangal city needs ambient air quality management to reduce the air pollution levels.

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Effects of air pollution: on human health, animals and atmosphere.

Effects of Air Pollution: on Human Health, Animals and Atmosphere!

Air pollution has now become a worldwide phenomenon and every individual in one way or the other is facing problems caused by it. Its impact can be seen locally, at regional level as well as at global level.

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At local and regional levels its manifestations are in the form of alterations in (i) visibility, (ii) intensity of sunshine, (iii) precipitation amount, and (iv) acid rain. Its global effects are. (i) Change in natural climate by rise of temperature, melting of snow, (ii) increase in carbon dioxide, (iii) increase in particulates, (iv) holes in ozone layer, etc. Several aspects of air pollution, such as effects on the ozone layer, greenhouse effect, smog and acid rain have already been discussed.

The effects of air pollution can be grouped under the following heads:

(i) Effects on human health,

(ii) Effects on animals and plants,

(iii) Effects on atmosphere, and

(iv) Other effects.

1. Effects on Human Health:

Some environmental poisons can cause acute illness and even death. Others may be harmful, but the disease may take years or even decades to appear. Air pollution mainly affects the respiratory system.

Bronchitis, emphysema, asthma and lung cancer are some of the chronic diseases caused due to exposure to polluted air. It is feared that lung cancer is caused mainly due to polluted air because carcinogens are found in it. Its mortality rate is higher in urban areas.

Figure 7.1 shows the various effects of air pollution on the human body. Sulfur dioxide is the most serious and widespread air pollutant. Its lower concentration is a cause of spasms in the smooth muscle of bronchioles and its higher concentration induces increased mucus production.

Sulfur dioxide is also considered to cause cough, shortness of breath, spasm of the larynx and acute irritation to the membranes of the eyes. It also acts as an allergenic agent. When it reacts with some compounds, sulfuric acid is formed which may damage lungs.

Carbon monoxide often affects the oxygen carrying capacity of blood. Nitric oxide is reported to be a pulmonary irritant and its excess concentration may cause pulmonary haemorrhage.

Hydrogen sulfide is also toxic. Lead emitted from automobile exhausts is a cumulative poison and is dangerous particularly to children and may cause brain damage.

The particulate pollutants such as asbestos, silica, carbon, beryllium, lead, etc., are capable of exerting a noxious (fibrotic) local action in the interstitial areas of the lungs. Radioactive elements are also harmful to man and other living organisms. As described earlier, smog has a killer effect, which is also the result of air pollution. The death toll by smog varies from few persons to thousands.

In December 1952, about 4,000 persons died in London due to smog. Similar cases have been reported from London itself in 1956, 1957 and 1962 in which the death toll was between 700 and 1,000 persons. In other countries also smog deaths have been reported. In fact, the growing air pollution has now become a health hazard for man.

2. Effects on Animals and Plants:

The impact of air pollution on animals is more or less similar to that on man. Chronic poisoning results from the ingestion of forage contaminated with atmospheric pollutants. Among the metallic contaminants, arsenic, lead and molybdenum are important. Fluoride is another pollutant, which causes fluorosis among animals.

A number of livestock have been poisoned by fluorides and arsenic in North America. Bone lesions in animals due to excessive fluorides have also been reported.

Air pollution has caused widespread damage to trees, fruits, vegetables, flowers and in general, vegetation as a whole. The total annual cost of plant damage caused by air pollution in USA alone has been estimated to be in the range of 1 to 2 billion dollars. The most dramatic early instances of plant damage were seen in the total destruction of vegetation by sulfur dioxide in the areas surrounding smelters.

When the absorption of sulfur dioxide exceeds a particular level, the cells become inactive and are killed, resulting in tissue collapse and drying of leaves. Cotton, wheat, barley and apple are more sensitive to this pollutant.

Fluorides are responsible for various types of injuries to plants. The leaves of apple, apricot, fig, peach and prune are more suscep­tible to air borne fluorides. Fluorides seem to interfere with the photosynthesis and respiration of plants. Smog also causes injury to plants. Similar impact of ozone can be seen in the lesions to plants. Chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, etc., are also harmful to vegetation.

3. Effects on Atmosphere:

Some of the effects of air pollution on atmospheric conditions, such as effect on ozone layer, greenhouse effect, etc., have already been discussed. There is an increase in the carbon dioxide concentration in the air due to increased combustion of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide absorbs heat strongly and the radiative cooling effect of the earth is thus decreased.

The rising of temperatures and ozone holes are some of the problems which have attracted the attention of the scientists all over the world. These problems are not related to any region or a country but are the global problems and their impact on world climate may be hazardous to the whole world.

The local weather conditions are highly susceptible to air pollution. Its impact on temperature, humidity, rainfall and clouds is apparent. The ‘smog dom’ on large urban centres is the result of air pollution. Due to air pollution, visibility also reduces.

4. Other Effects:

Air pollution can also cause damage to property and materials. The smoke, grit, dust and oxides of sulphur have harmful effects on structures.

In 1972, when an oil refinery at Mathura was opened, its impact on Taj Mahal became a major issue. Sulfur dioxide is the most damaging of gaseous pollutants. Aluminum alloys, copper and copper alloys, iron and steel are corroded when exposed to contam­inated air.

Hydrogen sulfide reacts with lead paints to form lead sulfide thereby producing a brown to black discolouration. The damage caused by air pollution to structures is not serious but from an aesthetic point of view, it is not desirable.

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• Toxic Effects of Heavy Metals on Human Health and Plants | Industries
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Air Pollution

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Impact of air pollution on plants and animals

We have seen different aspects of air pollution in this website. In this article, we will go in-depth into the detailed study of how plants and animals are affected due to air pollution . How pollution becomes a killer was one of our topics, in which we saw how dangerous it is on humans. Here we will swiftly go through the causes of air pollution naturally and man-made, shall discuss about the major pollutants and then walk in to the impact on animals and also plants.

In the article of air pollution- a silent killer; we discussed about an aspect on pollutants entering indirectly our body through plants and animals. Hence it is very clear that air pollution is not only affecting humans, but also plants and animals. Air pollution means the contamination of the pure air that encumbers the normal consumption of air by the living beings and affect their welfare and comfort.

Table of Contents

What are the natural causes of air pollution?

Air pollution is being done naturally also. In spite of being it a surprising fact, it is a big bold truth. The society has an outlook that air pollution is only man-made which is not true. Let’s see what are the natural causes of air pollution.

• Volcanic eruption : it is one of the important natural air polluting factors. It releases tremendous volume of ashes, sulfur and chlorine to the atmosphere. It spreads very widely by wind and get dispersed over a large area.
• Wild fire : wildfires occur naturally due to the excess sunlight in dry wooden area. This can happen when there is lack of precipitation. The wildfires have ended up killing many animals. Moreover, it releases smoke and carbon monoxide to the atmosphere heavily.
• Wind : isn’t it shocking that wind is a natural air pollution factor? Unfortunately, being it a source of energy , it is also an air pollution factor. Wind carries away all kind of pollutants with them and spread it very widely. How ever it also creates a lot of dust in dry dusty areas.
• Natural calamities : when talking about natural calamities, we need to keep in mind that volcanic eruption and wild fires themselves are natural calamities. The other calamities like flood, earth quake etc adds to the air pollution as it spreads out the waste widely.
• Radioactive decaying : it is too common that there is presence of radioactive materials in the atmosphere or environment. These materials tend to release hazardous ionizing radiation when they start decaying. The emission of gamma, beta and alpha rays in the environment cause pollution to a very great extent.
• Microbial decaying : decaying is a natural process that happens with the help of micro-organisms present in the environment. This decaying is very essential for the natural life-cycle to occur. Landfills are one of the examples for this. The decaying releases gases like methane to the environment causing air pollution.
• Increase in temperature : the natural phenomenon of increase in temperature enables the increase in vaporizing the contaminated water to the air that naturally contaminates the air.

These are the natural causes of air pollution .

What are the man-made causes of air pollution?

• Burning of fossil fuels : Man burns the fossil fuels for transportation and electricity on a large scale. It not only cause pollution but also its depletion of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels burning releases a large amount of carbon monoxide to the environment.
• Landfills : waste disposition has become a great headache for all authorities across the World. The huge waste dumps on the isolated land start decaying with the help of the micro-organisms and produce hectic amount of methane to the atmosphere there by polluting the air.
• Agriculture : agriculture done by man is a main source of pollution. The pesticides and fertilizers used for enhancing the growth of crops are one of the biggest air pollutants in the world. The smell of these pesticides and fertilizers spread through air by polluting it.
• Industrial emission : the industries emit such a lot of pollutants like sulphur oxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter 2.5 and 10. We will be discussing how these pollutants are affecting us in the next section. The industrial areas are the most polluted areas than what we see.
• Transportation : the number of vehicles on road is directly proportional to the air pollution. We have witnessed the fact that the sale of vehicles is on the rise and obviously they are on the road. The burning of gasoline of the vehicle releases harmful gases to the atmosphere and that is the reason why the pollution is more on to the urban side.
• Indoor air pollution : use of toxic cleaning components, scarce ventilation, irregular humidity and temperature causes indoor air pollution which affect the air. Using wood as stove and heaters inappropriately also affects the air inside and disturbs health of a person within no time.

What are the main pollutants in air and how it affects

There are enormous pollutants found in air, but we are discussing about the main and dangerous pollutants found in air. (Please see “Main pollutants in ‘Air pollution: The silent Killer'”) Even though we are discussing about effects of pollutants on plants and animals, we will just put across the health issues caused to humans. This is for a comparative study to know how worse it can be on plants and animals if it so bad on human.

• Carbon monoxide : inhaling air with carbon monoxide reduces the ability of heart to pump and thus oxygen supply to the body reduces.
• Ground level ozone : inhaling the ground level ozone activates congestion, chest pain, throat itching, cough etc and it is more than enough to accelerate bronchitis, asthma etc. it also affects functioning of the lungs and permanently leave marks on tissues.
• Sulphur dioxide : this may cause irritation to nose, throat and eyes. It also develops dry cough, choking, flu and burning eyes etc.
• Particle pollution : when these particles enter our body, it damages our heart health causing heart attacks, cardiac arrhythmias. It also triggers asthma attacks and other lung diseases. The capacity of lungs is also affected.
• Nitrogen dioxide : nitrogen dioxide when entered inside may cause genetic mutations resulting in genetic diseases in children. It also affects the oxygen carrying capacity of blood followed by fatigue, dizziness, headache etc. It may also bring blueish color to the skin and lips.

Effect of air pollution on plants

Plants are the foremost ones that get exposed to air pollution, which is very apparent. The leaves absorb the pollutants in the atmosphere very quickly, resulting in releasing of reactive oxygen species along with free radicals. This can damage the whole of the plant at any point of time.

The Ozone also enters the plant and cause damage. It can hinder the growth of the plants and completely decay the plant at once. It affects the respiratory aid, stomata and there by affecting growth of the plant leading to its death. Acid rain, exposure to particulate pollution, sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxides restricts the nutrients and mineral absorption of plants. When coming to the agriculture side, it will end up in reduced yield. Thus, in a way pollution affects the economical growth of the country.

The main direct effects of pollution on plants are:

• It affects the absorption of nutrients and minerals
• Chlorophyll ruining
• The health of the plant as a whole due to insufficient minerals.

Acid rain is said to be damage the nutrients in the soil, impairs the roots and stems of the plant arresting its growth and hence death of it. Acid rain affects the Ph level which cannot be tolerated by certain plants and chances are high that they extinct forever from Earth. The percentage of plant species extinction is really frightening. Around 40% of the plant species have extinct due to pollution according to the global surveys conducted. Ozone holes have a commendable role in the extinction of many plants.

Effects of air pollution on animals

We saw the effects of air pollution on plants and now let us see the effects of it on animals. The impact may not be evident when we see them but it can be easily made out with the fact study. We have seen the health issues caused to humans when exposed to air pollution. The animals also have the respiratory system and the tolerance level is different from each species.

The exposure to the air pollutants or the pollutants entering the body of animals can consequently change the behaviour of the animals. They can act weird than usual when they are affected by the pollutants. The particulate pollution, nitrogen oxide etc have proved that they change the public behavior as well as the breeding activities of animals.

The exposure to pollutants has increased the diseases in animals. The habitual exposure has paved way to the death of the whole species and there by making them extinct. A species being extinct directly affects the ecosystem and food chain system of the nature. The air pollution has affected the reproductive ability, endocrine functioning, immune system, interna organ health etc.

Thus, summing up the effects of air pollution on animals:

• The health of the animals as a whole, its reproduction and weakness to diseases are the highlighted ones.
• Death of the animals at a higher rate due to diseases or illness.
• Threat of the extinction of the species which directly affects the ecosystem of nature
• The food chain system being affected as a whole as one species being extinct naturally ends in the increase in the species, which was a food for the extinct species.

Birds are the most affected category among animals due to air pollution. Since they have the most efficient respiratory system than any other animal species. This is one of the reasons and the other one is they are the ones those get exposed to air pollution to the most because they fly all over the cities, industrial areas, landfills etc. unlike all other animals they don’t remain at a short area.

Disturbance to the bird community by air pollution is hefty. Inhaling of O3 and nitrogen oxides damages the lungs of the birds directly. It also affects the reproductive system resulting in the decline of its total number. Damage to the immune system, lung failure etc are the other consequences of air pollution on birds.

Conclusion Air pollution is a monster which is powerful enough to pause the life on Earth. Animals and human depend on plants to live. Plants are considered to be the air purifier. But what happens when the plants themselves cannot survive due to air pollution. Human depend on animals too for their food. And what if they too become extinct. These are the questions raised to ourselves as well because man-made pollution is the major contributor to the air pollution rather than the natural causes. We have the obligation to cut down the proportion of pollution made to the environment. Else it is very apparent that the plants get extinct or its growth retards by the end of this century.

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Pollution's Effects on Animals Essay Sample

Animals die every day because of pollution. Do you pollute? Do you want animals to die? John Therry Catholic College has rubbish everywhere and has nowhere near as many bins that there should be. Things need to change. There needs to be more bins around the school. There are many animals around the school such as birds, cats and reptiles that have easy access to the rubbish which could possibly kill them. Not only is it about animals but the air that students breathe in can be polluted and the school just looks dirty and unclean with rubbish everywhere which can give the school a bad reputation which is terrible considering John Therry is such a beautiful place. It is important as a Catholic school to keep our environment clean because that is what God/Jesus wanted us to do when he told Adam and Eve to look after his land. As a school community it is important to keep our environment clean which is why we should have more bins around the school and people at lunch picking up rubbish that doesn't end up in the bin. It's disgusting the amount of garbage left around John Therry which is affecting both humans and animals. It is really not that hard to pick up rubbish and put it in the bin. Plastic usage is a big challenge that needs to be overcome.

Plastic kills animals on land and in water. Plastic usage is a terrible problem that needs to stop or at least be reduced. It is slowly building up in the Ocean as well as on land which is horrible for both animals and humans. Data shows that around 100,000 mammals die every year because of plastic and 4.2 million people die a year because of air pollution. There are different types of pollution such as air pollution, water pollution, and land pollution. All of these different types of pollution can be caused because of plastic. Air pollution causes a mountain of problems such as making hole appear in the ozone layer which causes climate change and can give people sicknesses from the air they breathe in. Water pollution kills animals because they think plastic is food, water pollution can also cause sicknesses because the water is dirty. Land pollution can cause lack of crop growth because of the bad soil and chemical air, and again causes animals to die and people get sick. There are many different graphs, tables and evidence about plastic usage.

Would you reduce your plastic usage to save the environment? Would you reduce your plastic usage to save animals? Would you reduce your plastic usage to save future generations of humans? Plastic usage needs to be reduced. There are many ways you can stop using a large amount of plastic, for example you can avoid single use plastic straws, bring a reusable/cloth bag when you go shopping, buy more items in bulk to reduce the amount of plastic packaging, reduce plastic containers, use a reusable drink bottle/coffee cup, don't use plastic cutlery if possible and use refillable bottles and packaging. John Therry will benefit from reducing plastic waste because it will be better for the environment, animals and humans health and better for the school's reputation and cleanliness. My examples of ways to reduce plastic waste fit in with our Catholic school beliefs and identity because reducing waste will better the school's environment and help take care of the environment more which is what God/Jesus wanted and told us to do. All of these examples put together should be more than a good reason to better John Therry.

Therefore, it is evident that pollution at John Therry Catholic College has to reduce the amount of rubbish around the place. Reducing the amount of plastic at school and putting more bins around the school is an extremely good idea and a very good way to get students to follow in the Catholic footsteps and beliefs of our school. Everyone knows that pollution is a huge environmental issue that needs to be talked about and acted on more. That is why my ideas should be acted on or at least talked more about. If you had the choice to help the environment would you Mr. Marshall?

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• DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.124.323673
• Corpus ID: 269385362

Understanding the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health Effects of Air Pollution in the Context of Cumulative Exposomic Impacts

• Haitham Khraishah , Zhuo Chen , Sanjay Rajagopalan
• Published in Circulation Research 26 April 2024
• Environmental Science, Medicine

Figures from this paper

One Citation

Environmental impacts on cardiovascular health and biology: an overview, 133 references, ambient air pollution and atherosclerosis: insights into dose, time, and mechanisms., air pollution and cardiovascular disease: jacc state-of-the-art review., air pollution exposure and cardiometabolic risk..

• Highly Influential

Noise and Air Pollution as Risk Factors for Hypertension: Part II-Pathophysiologic Insight.

Noise and air pollution as risk factors for hypertension: part i-epidemiology., the indoor-outdoor air-pollution continuum and the burden of cardiovascular disease: an opportunity for improving global health., ambient air pollution and atherosclerosis: recent updates, cardiopulmonary impact of particulate air pollution in high-risk populations: jacc state-of-the-art review., air pollution and temperature: a systematic review of ubiquitous environmental exposures and sudden cardiac death, the global threat of outdoor ambient air pollution to cardiovascular health: time for intervention., related papers.

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Published in Circulation Research 2024

Haitham Khraishah Zhuo Chen Sanjay Rajagopalan

Deadly and growing impact of air pollution laid bare in new UNICEF-backed report

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The State of Global Air (SoGA) report published in partnership with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns on Wednesday that air pollution is increasingly impacting human health - and is now the second leading global risk factor for premature death.

The fifth edition of the report, released by the Health Effects Institute (HEI), revealed that air pollution caused 8.1 million deaths worldwide in 2021 and many millions are dealing with debilitating chronic diseases , leaving healthcare systems, economies, and societies.

Further, it found that children under five are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, leaving over 700,000 in this age group dead in 2021.

‘Accurate predictor’

The SoGA report found that pollutants like outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) - which comes from burning fossil fuels and biomass in sectors like transportation, residential homes, wildfires, and more - caused more than 90 per cent of global air pollution deaths and were found to be the “most consistent and accurate predictor of poor health outcomes around the world .”

Other pollutants like household air pollution, ozone (O3), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) - which can be found in traffic exhaust - also contribute to the global deterioration of human health.

 HEI President Dr. Elena Craft said she hopes the information in the report will inspire change.

 “Air pollution has enormous implications for health. We know that improving air quality and global public health is practical and achievable ,” she said.

 In addition to affecting people’s health, pollutants like PM2.5 add to greenhouse gases that are warming the planet. As the earth warms, regions with high levels of NO2 will experience great levels of ozone, which can result in greater health effects.

 Dr. Pallavi Pant, HEI’s Head of Global Health said, “This new report offers a stark reminder of the significant impacts air pollution has on human health, with far too much of the burden borne by young children, older populations, and low- and middle-income countries .”

 She continued, “This points sharply at an opportunity for cities and countries to consider air quality and air pollution as high-risk factors when developing health policies and other noncommunicable disease prevention and control programmes.”

Children ‘uniquely vulnerable’

The report reveals that children are “uniquely vulnerable” to air pollution and effects can begin in the womb . It states that young children’s exposure to air pollution has resulted in one in five deaths globally, pneumonia and asthma and affects children with inequities more than it does those in high-income countries.

UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Kitty van der Heijden said that nearly 2,000 children under five die every day due to the effects of air pollution .

‘The global urgency is undeniable ,” she said. “It is imperative governments and businesses consider these estimates and locally available data and use it to inform meaningful, child-focused action to reduce air pollution and protect children’s health.”

Progress made

In addition to sharing details on the negative effects of air pollution on human health, the SoGA report also claims that there has been better awareness about the harms of being exposed to household air pollution and a 53 per cent decrease in the death rate of children under five since 2000 due to increased access to clean energy for cooking.

Also, regions experiencing the highest levels of air pollution have begun to address the issue by installing air pollution monitoring networks, implementing stricter air quality policies and more - particularly in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

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How environmental regulation affects pollution reduction and carbon reduction synergies—an empirical analysis based on chinese provincial data.

1. Introduction

2. theoretical mechanisms, 2.1. synergistic effects of environmental regulation on pollution and carbon reduction, 2.2. the mechanism of the synergistic effect of environmental regulation, 3. methods and data, 3.1. methods, 3.1.1. spatial autocorrelation test, 3.1.2. construction of a spatial metrology model, 3.1.3. construction of a mediating-effects model, 3.2. variable measures and data sources, 3.2.1. explained variables, 3.2.2. core explanatory variables, 3.2.3. other variables, 3.2.4. data sources, 4. empirical analysis, 4.1. an empirical test of the synergistic effect of environmental regulation on pollution reduction and carbon reduction, 4.1.1. spatial autocorrelation test, global spatial autocorrelation test, local spatial autocorrelation test, 4.1.2. model test, lagrange multiplier test (lm test), hausman test, 4.1.3. baseline results analysis, 4.1.4. robustness test, 4.2. mechanism analysis, 4.2.1. technological innovation mechanism test, 4.2.2. industrial structure upgrading mechanism test, 4.2.3. foreign direct investment mechanism test, 5. conclusions and policy implications, 5.1. conclusions, 5.2. policy recommendations, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest, nomenclature.

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Shi, W.; Wang, W.; Tang, W.; Qiao, F.; Zhang, G.; Pei, R.; Zhang, L. How Environmental Regulation Affects Pollution Reduction and Carbon Reduction Synergies—An Empirical Analysis Based on Chinese Provincial Data. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 5331. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135331

Shi W, Wang W, Tang W, Qiao F, Zhang G, Pei R, Zhang L. How Environmental Regulation Affects Pollution Reduction and Carbon Reduction Synergies—An Empirical Analysis Based on Chinese Provincial Data. Sustainability . 2024; 16(13):5331. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135331

Shi, Wei, Weijuan Wang, Wenwen Tang, Fuwei Qiao, Guowei Zhang, Runzhu Pei, and Luyao Zhang. 2024. "How Environmental Regulation Affects Pollution Reduction and Carbon Reduction Synergies—An Empirical Analysis Based on Chinese Provincial Data" Sustainability 16, no. 13: 5331. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135331

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