I wish articles like this would give some attention to how much we've already improved. We used to drive leaded gasoline, for example. The amount of damage that caused puts NOx to shame.
Where does air pollution come from?
61–70 of 146 posts
Re: Where does air pollution come from?
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
The other striking aspect for me is how, as has often been the case, those most affected are the poorest. Levels of asthma in London are highest among kids in the vacinity of the docks where cruise and container ships and moor. They sit there running their engines for power, churning out SO2 and other pollutants. These areas are some of the poorest in London. The same was the case in industrial cities during the indu…
> those most affected are the poorest Please pardon my pedantry but this is by definition what poor is : having less means to escape material woes. Rich people are the ones that can elect to live in healthy areas.
Yes, but if the air pollution we're talking about is invisible then why would the rich elect for less exposure? Some might look at air quality data, but I suspect what is really going on is they seek out quiet. Noise pollution is the thing people really hate and avoiding that will likely lead to getting better air quality too.
Re: Where does air pollution come from?
#63One of the most striking aspects of air pollution is how invisible yet pervasive its effects are. Unlike more immediate environmental disasters, air pollution slowly chips away at public health, reducing life expectancy and quality of life, often without dramatic headlines. The comparison to starvation as a "frailty multiplier" is an interesting one; pollution doesn’t always kill directly but makes people more suscep…
The other striking aspect for me is how, as has often been the case, those most affected are the poorest. Levels of asthma in London are highest among kids in the vacinity of the docks where cruise and container ships and moor. They sit there running their engines for power, churning out SO2 and other pollutants. These areas are some of the poorest in London. The same was the case in industrial cities during the indu…
> There was a bit of an uproar a few years back about how many premiership football players were using asthma medication, a higher rate than the general population. The implication being that they were using them as performance enhacning drugs. But if you take into account that they disproportionately come from poor inner-city areas (not all, but many more), the proportion with asthma looks much more in line with the background rate.
That part can also be explained because asthma drug is used as masking agent when taking steroids and other PEDS, which is quite common at this level.
Re: Where does air pollution come from?
#64Looking at how much pollution is from energy, solar does seem to be the best thing that can happen in current timeline to humanity. Global warming AND pollution gone in a single stroke.
Solar panel price have never been so low. It's only a matter of time before 'the invisible hand of economy' makes people buying them en masse.
Re: Where does air pollution come from?
#65In 2019, ambient air pollution claimed the lives of young children at alarming rates in several countries. Here's the top 10 list of countries with the highest number of deaths per 100,000 children under 5 due to ambient air pollution:
Nigeria – 18.95
Chad – 18.10
Sierra Leone – 12.02
Mali – 10.56
Guinea – 9.90
Niger – 9.64
Cote d'Ivoire - 9.04
Central African Republic - 8.79
Cameroon - 8.69
Burkina Faso - 8.68
These numbers highlight how air pollution isn't just an urban problem — it's a public health crisis in low-income countries where children are the most vulnerable.
Source: Baselight analysis using data from Our World in Data, originally supplied by the World Health Organization (WHO). https://baselight.app/u/pjsousa/query/top-10-countries-with-...
Re: Where does air pollution come from?
#66[deleted]
Re: Where does air pollution come from?
#67Something I haven't quite figured out is why my perceptions of cities' air pollution differ dramatically from their readings as reported by air quality sites. I suspect readings are quite dependent on the specific location of the reading device. E.g. if the air quality monitor is located in a claustrophobic city street with lots of motorcycle traffic (e.g. Nha Trang), air pollution might be through the roof, but 100m…
I'd guess that a big factor is differences in the type and particle size of the pollutant.
Large particles are probably a lot more localized, but pm2.5 are going to diffuse fairly evenly over a large area.
I'd guess larger particles and certain chemicals are more odoriferous as well.
Re: Where does air pollution come from?
#68[deleted]
Re: Where does air pollution come from?
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
> those most affected are the poorest Please pardon my pedantry but this is by definition what poor is : having less means to escape material woes. Rich people are the ones that can elect to live in healthy areas.
Yes, but if the air pollution we're talking about is invisible then why would the rich elect for less exposure? Some might look at air quality data, but I suspect what is really going on is they seek out quiet . Noise pollution is the thing people really hate and avoiding that will likely lead to getting better air quality too.
Generally the pollution comes together with other indesirable effects. Stench, noise, etc.
The rich don't need to understand that roads or ships generate deadly air pollution. They don't like living next to a highway or a container terminal, full stop. They do however love living next to a park or a lake.
In fact, so do poor people. But they can't afford it.
Re: Where does air pollution come from?
#70It is easy to be 'green' and 'net-zero' when all you do is exporting your polluting production elsewhere and importing the goods while leaving the dirt on the manufacturer's books, and trade away your own pollution with nifty 'carbon credit' scams. Top marks for never curbing your consumption while claiming the superior virtue position. Extra credits for wagging a damning finger at those 'polluters' that actually mak…
The top ten countries by air pollution listed in another comment hardly produce anything the developed world uses, they mostly export natural resources.