review – Sitopian Pollution

Review: Air Pollution, Food Production and Food Security

Jialing Zhong the big picture November 12, 2020agriculture, air, dust, erosion, farmers, fertiliser, foodsecurity, foodwaste, health, ozone, pesticide, review, sitopia, transport 0 Comment

harvesting crops in field — Harvest season in Pesotum, Illinois, by James Baltz, 2019, Unsplash.

When it comes to food production, air pollution is arguably much more prone to being overlooked than soil and water pollution, due to how it cannot be easily identified by the naked eye.

However, another bigger issue is how we tend to only consider the impacts of air pollution from the perspectives of agriculture and public health. On the contrary, there have not been many studies performed on the wider implications of air pollution on food security. Today, our review of a journal article, Air pollution, food production and food security: A review from the perspective of food system, by Sun, Dai and Yu (2017) will focus on how air pollution brings about changes in our food system.

Review: Air Pollution from the Grain Industry

Jialing Zhong Uncategorised October 16, 2020November 1, 2020air, dust, factory, grain, health, processing, review, workers 0 Comment

A grain field in Bad Urach, Germany, by Fabian Keller, 2019, Unsplash.

Here’s a heads-up to those who are sensitive or allergic to dust, or suffer from respiratory illnesses: try to avoid getting a job at a grain mill.

Why? Because grain mills, elevators, and other similar processing plants are rich sources of point-source air pollution. Although somewhat dated, this journal article by Mclouth and Paulus (1961) gives a succinct overview of the types of air pollution that may be present in grain mills and elevators.

Review: Farming after the Fukushima Accident

Jialing Zhong Uncategorised October 7, 2020October 7, 2020agriculture, disaster, farmers, health, japan, radiation, review 0 Comment

coastal Fukushima — An empty field in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, by Rikako Matsuoka, 2020, Unsplash.

When we look back at the infamous triple disaster which struck the Tohoku region of Japan in 2011, we tend to focus on the action: the debris-filled giant tsunami waves, and the path of destruction left behind by forces of nature. But what about the aftermath? Even after the removal of debris and reconstruction of buildings, pollution still exists in forms which cannot be seen by the naked eye. Read more

Review: The Nitrogen Dilemma

Jialing Zhong Uncategorised August 30, 2020November 1, 2020agriculture, air, farmers, fertiliser, foodsecurity, health, nitrogen, review 0 Comment

Farmer applying nitrogen fertiliser to crops. — A farmer applying nitrogen fertiliser to crops in North Yorkshire, England, by Steve Allen, n.d., Stock Images.

In my last post, I gave a quick overview of how chemical fertilisers can have both positive and negative impacts on nature and humans. For today, we will delve deeper into the widespread use of nitrogen fertilisers in global agriculture by reviewing this article published in the October 2019 issue of Geographical.