Welcome to my final blog entry of this semester! Much has been discussed throughout the past 11 weeks, and I thought that it would be good to wrap things up with a review of my blogging journey thus far in today’s entry.
After kick-starting the blog with a brief introduction to modern day air pollution, we immediately explored the various reasons for air pollution, which are notably segregated into natural and anthropogenic causes. Among a wide spectrum of causes, the combustion of fossil fuels unfortunately continues to be of greatest detriment to global air quality (Academy of Science South Africa et al., 2019). According to Perera (2017), the sheer reliance on fossil fuels as energy sources renders even the most developed countries and richest of communities vulnerable to the implications of fossil fuel combustion. Until affordable, efficient, and sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels are developed, the emission of toxic air pollutants to fuel our world’s needs will likely remain a harsh reality.
What followed was an extensive discussion on the negative manifestations of air pollution, which run the gamut from adverse health outcomes to economic consequences and environmental damage. Instead of relatively common and well-known impacts such as respiratory diseases, I attempted to share some unique and quite possibly less ubiquitous aspects of air pollution. For example, “Going mental from breathing” draws a connection between air pollution and another highly pertinent social issue – mental health. Mental health deterioration is often attributed to factors such as stress; who would have thought that by simply breathing we could very well be harming ourselves mentally? Another post I wish to specifically highlight would be “Sleeping poorly? Maybe because you are breathing poorly”. For readers out there who regularly struggle with sleep like me, perhaps that post will incentivize you to begin making efforts towards improving the quality of air you breathe! Personally, the biggest evil of air pollution has got to be its links with the rapid climate change and global warming we are experiencing today. The impacts of air pollution in other aspects pale in comparison to these global-scale environmental repercussions that spell trouble not just for us, but also future generations (The Straits Times, 2019)
In the last 3 entries, I shed some light on ongoing innovative approaches towards redressing air pollution. Green infrastructure and electrostatic precipitators are efficient solutions to mitigate human exposure to air pollution, while congestion charges prove to be a form of deterrence that fundamentally reduce private commute and vehicular emissions. Nonetheless, no solution is perfect – each has its respective limitations and tradeoffs that must be carefully considered during implementation. Having already opened Pandora’s box, it is now a race against time for humanity to work collectively in devising a proper cure for the problem at hand.
Finally, I wish to end by sharing some thoughts on how things might change in future. As we continue moving forward, more and more threats of air pollution will be recognized and studied. It will be important for governments, communities, and individuals to keep people out of harm’s reach. Thankfully, air pollution monitoring has become more sophisticated to the credit of significant technological advancements. Subramaniam (2022) and Mani et al. (2021) highlight how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have already been integrated into the arsenal of tools to mitigate air pollution. Hence, among the swarm of negativity and pessimism surrounding air pollution, it is slightly relieving to know that we at least have this going for us.
That concludes this final blog entry! It has been an extremely insightful journey for me throughout these 3 months and I hope that you have learnt as much as I did.
Till we meet again, breathe safe and be safe!
References
Academy of Science South Africa, A. of S. S. A., Brazilian Academy of Sciences, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, U. S. National Academy of Medicine, & U. S. National Academy of Sciences. (2019). Air Pollution and Health – a science-policy initiative. Annals of Global Health, 85(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.2656
Climate change exposes future generations to lifelong health harm, study finds. The Straits Times. (2019). Retrieved April 11, 2023, from https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/climate-change-exposes-future-generations-to-life-long-health-harm
Mani, G., Viswanadhapalli, J. K., & Sriramalakshmi, P. (2021). AI powered IOT based real-time air pollution monitoring and forecasting. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2115(1), 012016. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2115/1/012016
Perera, F. (2017). Pollution from fossil-fuel combustion is the leading environmental threat to Global Pediatric Health and Equity: Solutions Exist. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15010016
Subramaniam, S., Raju, N., Ganesan, A., Rajavel, N., Chenniappan, M., Prakash, C., Pramanik, A., Basak, A. K., & Dixit, S. (2022). Artificial Intelligence Technologies for forecasting air pollution and human health: A narrative review. Sustainability, 14(16), 9951. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14169951