Air Pollution: Causes, Impacts, and Mitigation Techniques

This essay discusses the major causes and reasons for the emergence of air pollution, its impacts on human beings, agriculture, and biodiversity, and the possible mitigation techniques. The concepts of globalization and urbanization are also discussed along with their impact on air pollution.

Running head: ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
Environment and society
Name of the student
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Author note

1ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
Introduction
In the recent time, there are number of issues related to environment are being emerged in
the recent time. This is mainly due to the unsustainable way of lifestyle in the current time and
over exploitation of natural resources. One of the major environmental issues in the recent time
is air pollution. The rapid increase in the rate of air pollution is causing adverse impacts on the
global scenario. In addition, with the increase in population, level of air pollution is also
increasing at same rate (Boubel et al. 2013). The major consequences of air pollution are health
issues with the human beings, change in climatic conditions and change in biodiversity and
ecosystem. Due to the emergence of air pollution, human beings are having respiratory problem
as well as other health issues due to inhalation of harmful substances. On the other hand, it is
identified that global warming is caused mainly due to the air pollution and this is leading to
average increase in temperature. Thus, agricultural production is getting affected due to the
increase in temperature.
Thus, due to the emergence of air pollution, the entire species of flora and fauna are
getting affected and some of them are being on the verge of extinction. One of the groups that
are mostly affected by air pollution is the vulnerable animals. Some of these species are not
being able to cope up with the change in the climate and weather condition. In different cases, it
is seen that many animal species are changing or evolving in becoming more immune to the
change in the environmental factors. This essay will discuss about major causes and reasons for
the emergence of air pollution. In addition, the major impacts of the air pollution will also be
discussed in this essay. Some of the major mitigation techniques will also be identified as well.

2ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
Causes of the problem
One of the major causes of reasons for air pollution is urbanization. This is due to the
reason that in the current time, majority of the social cultures around the world are inclined
towards more urban approach. Developed countries as well as the developing countries are
mainly facing this issue of urbanization due to the reason that economy is rapidly growing with
time. According to Han, Zhou, Li and Li (2014), China is the prime example about how the
concept of urbanization is leading to increase in air pollution. This is due to the reason that with
the emergence of urbanization, the green areas are getting lowered and getting replaced by
habitats. In addition, the authors have also stated that the more will be the urbanization, the more
will be the use of vehicles in the particular location that will further contribute in air pollution.
On the other hand, with the initiation urbanization, the demand for natural resources will further
get increased and rate of exploitation will also get increased. Thus, according to the authors,
consumption of natural resources such as fossil fuel will lead to increase in air pollution.
Another major reason for air pollution is increase in population. Increase in population is
the major contributor of all types of pollution in the current time. In the case of air pollution,
population plays the role of major source of generating harmful substances. According to Van
Bavel (2013), population explosion can be termed as the major contributor in the air pollution.
This is due to the reason that the more will be the level of population, the more will be the
exploitation of the natural resources. In this article, the authors have stated about the use of fossil
fuels by the average population in the current. Increase in the level of population is also leading
to the increase in energy demand that is further creating increased demand of fossil fuel. Thus,
with the increase in burning of fossil fuels for more energy needs, air pollution is increasing.

3ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
On the other hand, Schlenker and Walker (2015) stated that another major point of
intersection of population and air pollution is transportation sector. This is due to the reason that
the more will be the level of population, the more will be their use of transportation. In this
article, the authors have given the example of air transport due to the fact that airplanes are the
highest contributor of air pollutants among the different transportation modes. According to the
authors, with the increase in level of population, the usage of air transport is increasing that is
further increasing the possibility of air pollution. Thus, it can be concluded that population can
be considered as the major source of air pollution and it is mainly having negative impact.
Impact of air pollution
The major impact of air pollution is health issues with the human beings. As per Guan,
Zheng, Chung and Zhong (2016), air pollution is causing chronic diseases among the human
beings. This is due to the reason that human beings are the most exposed species to the air
pollution and they are inhaling the most portions of the pollutants that is causing health
disorders. The authors have also stated that this is cyclical process due to the reason that level of
air pollution is increasing by the human beings and they are getting most affected by this. They
have also stated that apart from chronic disorders, there are other health issues can also get
emerged for the human beings.
Tai, Marti and Heald (2014) stated that emergence of air pollution is leading to climate
change, which is further affecting the agricultural production. This is due to the reason that
increases in the average temperature by means of air pollution and global warming is reducing
the immunity of the crop species and they are not being able to cope up with climate change.
Thus, the production is getting hampered. In addition, the authors have also stated that air

4ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
pollution is also influencing the rapid change weather condition. As per Conway and Pretty
(2013), rapid and frequent change in weather condition such as raining at the time of winter is
causing adverse impact on the food production. Crop species are not being able to cop up with
the frequent change in weather.
According to Sicard et al. (2016), biodiversity and ecosystems are also getting affected
due to air pollution. This is due to the reason that air pollution is affecting the flora and fauna by
means of change in climate and temperature. The authors have given the example of aquatic
animals. Due to the emergence of air pollution and global warming, average temperature of
water bodies is increasing and this is causing difficulty for the aquatic animals to survive. Thus,
as per the authors, if the aquatic animals cannot survive, then the ecosystem related to them will
also get affected in the long term.
Relevancy of globalization
As discussed in the earlier section, air pollution is having direct impact on the human
population. However, this issue is getting bigger due to the concept of globalization. This is due
to the reason that globalization is reducing the geographical distances around the world and
natural resources and getting more accessed. According to Lim, Menaldo and Prakash (2015),
prior to the initiation of globalization, larger amount of natural resources was untapped, which is
not in the case after the initiation of globalization. Thus, globalization is causing exploitation of
the resources in larger manner and the impact on the human health is becoming more holistic.
Probable solutions
Currently, the initiatives taken in countering the issue of air pollution are in small scale
and not having effectiveness in long term. For example, introduction of more fuel efficient

5ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
airplanes in the market is reducing the air pollution in negligible amount (Soler et al. 2016).
Thus, it can be concluded that even though the current strategies are working but they are
working in small scale, which is not enough. One of the most effective solutions in dealing with
this issue is usage of renewable source of energy (Kiran, Kumar and Deshmukh 2014). This will
reduce the emission as well as exploitation of natural resources. Sustainable business process can
also be beneficial in solving the issue of air pollution.
However, it should be noted that the current players in the oil and gas sector will be badly
affected due to the reason that the more will be the use of renewable source of energy, the less
will be the demand for conventional energy mediums. Thus, their business may get affected by
this change. However, in order to tap the renewable source of energy, it is important to change
the existing infrastructure and implement the new process (Tyagi and Lo 2013). For example,
more wind mill, hydro power projects and solar projects should be initiated in order to have
larger generation of renewable energy sources.
Conclusion
Thus this essay concludes that air pollution is one of the major environmental issues in
the recent time with having number of negative consequences. In this essay, different impacts of
air pollution are being discussed and evaluated. It is identified that human beings, agriculture and
biodiversity are the major affected areas from air pollution. In this essay, the concepts of
globalization and urbanization are being discussed along with their impact on air pollution. It is
concluded that the current mitigation steps are not enough and more sustainable steps should be
taken.

6ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
Reference
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