It doesn’t take a genius or a position paper to figure out that air pollution in cities and near industrial zones is toxic to human health. But now that it’s got an officially bad status with the United Nations, up there with asbestos and 100 other killer chemicals, maybe governments and cities will listen.
According the United Nations (UN) body, the World Health Organization (WHO) the air we breath should now be classified as carcinogenic and dangerous to human life.
It is now ranked in Group 1 of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the WHO organization that tracks cancer rates around the world. Particulate matter, the dark or white dust you wipe off your window sill, is a particular concern for lung cancer. Air pollution, indoor and out, now joins the bad list of cancerous materials like asbestos (for mesothelioma), plutonium, silica dust, tobacco smoke and UV radiation.
Related: Cairo’s Black Smog Season
Air pollution is caused from a variety of sources in cities. Car and bus fumes, and particulate matter are especially toxic, as are fumes and emissions from power plants, cooking fuel, and any industry nearby that may be releasing emissions. I’ve been choked up in Bangkok but some of the worst air pollution I’ve felt in the Middle East region is in Amman, Jordan – also most recently voted as one of the ugliest cities in the world. While I’ve never been to Tehran, I am not sure I would like to: some 27 people a day die in the Iranian city from choking fumes.
The dangers vary from one region to the next but the WHO says all regions of the world are affected by poor air quality at some level.
How can we stop emissions? Riding bikes, electric buses, walking. As well as greener sources of cooking fuel and residential heating.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist and publisher that founded Green Prophet to unite a prosperous Middle East. She shows through her work that positive, inspiring dialogue creates action that impacts people, business and planet. She has published in thought-leading newspapers and magazines globally, owns an IoT tech chip patent, and is part of teams that build world-changing products to make agriculture and our planet more sustainable. Reach out directly to [email protected]
There are too many people (7.2 billion) producing too much pollution. So, safely recycle 100% of human waste materials, and peacefully reduce the human population with family planning programs; and also plant millions of trees, and family gardens. That means coal-fired power plants and jet planes need to filter 100% of their smoke and fumes or be closed down, grounded and replaced by solar and wind power and filtered trains and buses.
I’m trying their best to the world no smoke and dust , however, I need help with financing
I believe it’s a time of collaboration, a time to merge social networks – physical and virtual – to scale and help turn big ideas into reality.
I look forward to exchanging ideas and collaborating with others around the world who believe technology can be used to push dramatic change at a unique time for all of us.