At this point, everyone understands that air pollution is very important for our future. However, developing countries struggle to do so effectively. A new York University study has found that tackling particulate pollution leads to an increase in photochemical smog, which is extremely harmful to agriculture, public health and ecosystems.
Reducing air pollution is important and difficult – scientists have found that improvements in particulate pollution lead to problems with surface ozone pollution. Image credit: Janak Bhatta via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Particulate pollution is basically smoke. It’s what comes out of cars and factories – CO2 and other harmful particles and greenhouse gases float through the air, poisoning everyone and everything. Photochemical pollution is a little different.
Photochemical smog is a surface ozone mixture, produced by the interaction between nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). They mix in the air, react with each other in the presence of sunlight, and create this smog, not quite the usual particulate pollution.
Reducing airborne particulate pollution is a long-term goal in many countries. For example, China has tried to improve its air quality by reducing particulate pollution. Burn less coal, plants are more efficient, filtration systems are better and particulate pollution is reduced.
However, the scientists noticed a decrease in particulate pollution in the air and observed that at the same time pollution of the ozone layer on the surface was increasing. Now researchers have performed computer modeling of the effects of reducing particulate pollution and have found that it can cause a 20-30% increase in ozone in some densely populated areas of the United States. India and China. And that’s a problem.
WHO estimates that 4.2 million people die prematurely every year from exposure to outdoor air pollution. However, focusing on one type of pollution leaves the other type of pollution unprotected, leading to negative impacts on everyone. Scientists say particle and ozone pollution are not separate problems, even if some policymakers view them as such for the longest time.
Professor Mathew Evans, co-author of the study, said: “For 40 years we thought ozone was dependent only on volatile organic compounds and nitrous oxide and now we’re just putting the pieces together. put it together and found this relationship with particle pollution. Policy now needs to be adapted to this new knowledge”.
We need air. The earth and its life need air. And humans are polluting too much. It is a difficult puzzle to solve, but we need to have a good overview of reducing air pollution so that we can live in a comfortable and healthy environment.
Source: York University
