University Assignment: Pollution and Climate Change in UK

This literature review examines the effects of pollution on climate change within the United Kingdom. The study investigates the adverse impacts of air pollution, highlighting its contribution to ill-health and reduced life expectancy. It explores how pollution exacerbates climate change, leading to i...Read More

Running head: EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN UK
Effect of Pollution on Climate Change in UK
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1EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN UK
Introduction
Pollution refers to introduction of the contaminants in natural environment that has
negative effect on the climate. Pollution can be in the form of the chemical substances or in the
form of energy like the noise or the heat. Pollutants are components of the pollution which can
be either the foreign substances or components that are naturally occurring (Linou et al., 2018).
The recent literature has thrown light on the impact that pollution has on the environment of
United Kingdom. The authors have evaluated the negative effect that pollution has on the
atmosphere of the place. In this literature review, we would talk about the negative effect that
pollution has on that of climate change within United Kingdom. The independent variable in the
literature review is pollution and the dependent variable is climate change in the work.
Pollution in UK
Air pollution has acted as the major contributor that has lead to ill health within United
Kingdom. It has been estimated that pollution has shortened the lives of 40,000 people living in
UK. Air pollution has undermined health of the people having heart or the lung problems. There
are major cities in UK where the safe limits pertaining to the harmful particulates are breached
on the regular basis (Bbc.com., 2019). Diesels have been found to be more polluting as
compared to the petrol cars. It has been found that the largest amount of pollution is caused
owing to road transport in UK. Private diesel cars of Greater London are responsible for causing
air pollution.
There are 2000 locations across the England that have been found to have air pollution
that exceeds the safety limits. In the year 2017, it was found that the nitrogen dioxide pollution

2EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN UK
was the worst in Kensington along with Chelsea (Theguardian., 2019). Nitrogen dioxide is a
harmful pollutant gas that irritates lungs and causes breathing difficulties for the individuals. It
was found that the annual mean pollution in the Earl Court station was thrice higher as compared
to the target level in the year 2017 that made it the worst location within London. The dire
condition of the air quality was on account of the burgeoning traffic emissions along with the
poor government control on the sources of the emissions.
Effect of Pollution on Climate Change in UK
There are various kinds of pollution like the air pollution, thermal pollution, light
pollution and the soil contamination. Climate change is indicative of changes within climate
system of the Earth which results into new kinds of the weather patterns. The climate change
can be caused by the human activities and it can also be caused on account of the natural
processes of the Earth. Air pollution can be said to be related to the climate changes. The carbon
dioxide emission and burning of the fossil fuels act as the key driver pertaining to the climate
change. Pollution has an effect on the amount of the sunlight that is received by the earth. In the
year 2003, UK along with the neighbours within mainland Europe had to undergo a significant
heat wave within the recorded history. There were thousands of people who lost their life on
account of this heat wave that was unbearable for the common people. Around the same time,
Brogdale within Kent had been inflicted with the record high temperature in UK. The pollution
amounted to a sweltering 38.5 degree Celsius in the year 2203 on the 10 th of August. According
to Robins et al. (2016), the climate scientists in UK have predicted the fact that heat waves
within UK would become normal for the summer months by the end of the year 2040. It has
been argued by Medlock and Leach (2015) that the people in UK are not prepared in a right
manner for that of the climate change and this had affected the people adversely. The people are

3EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN UK
dying on account of the heat stress and the climate change has made life uncomfortable for the
people in the homes and the hospitals.
According to Watts et al. (2015), climate change in UK creates path for the heat-related
risks that is compounded due to the fact that the hospitals along with the elder care facilities are
not designed in a manner that can help them in dealing with the extreme heat. The people having
the chronic illness become vulnerable to the extreme heat. They have to face elevated risk of the
death on account of the conditions like the heart attack along with the organ failure. It has been
stated by Doyle (2016) that the residents living within London along with Birmingham are at
greater risk of facing the heat conditions. The people living in the metro areas of UK have are at
greater risk of facing the adverse climatic conditions as compared to the rural areas. The
pollution in the place has created the way for that of urban heat island effect that makes the
temperature high in the large cities.
The temperature rising in the United Kingdom have paved the way for rainfall in various
regions of United Kingdom. Met Office in UK have pointed out to the fact that nine out of the
seventeen highest rainfall months from the year 1910 have taken place after the year 2000
(Vardoulakis et al., 2015). The greater amount of heat and the rain bears real consequences for
the place. It has been found that the global temperature is rising by that of 4 degree Celsius and
this makes the households in UK at a greater risk of flooding. The months of the year that are dry
have chances of becoming more drier that would strain the water resources of the place.
According to Millar et al. (2018), the greater amount of pollution in UK is instrumental in
reducing amount of water in environment. The climate change taking place increases demand of
the irrigation in driest months. Growing population would create the additional demand on the
limited resources in various parts of country. Climate change would create the way for the low

4EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN UK
population growth that would create the deficit pertaining to the water supply. The deficits would
deepen and it would become greater by the end of the year 2050 (Garner, Hannah & Watts,
2017). Warmer condition in UK would allow the pests along with the disease carrying insects in
breeding at a greater rate.
Figure: Conceptual Framework
Source: Created by the author
Gaps in literature
The reviewing of the literature has pointed out to the fact that there are resources that
talks about the increasing air pollution in UK. It has however been found that there exist the lack
of the resources pertaining to effect of pollution on the specific arena of climate change in UK.
The gap can be found in the literature on account of the fact that it throws light on the impact of
the pollution in the UK on areas going under water and on the living creatures. It does not
vividly depict the effect on the pollution on the specific aspect of the changes in the climate. The
Ill-health
Emission of Carbon
Dioxide
Global Warming
Effect of Pollution on
Climate Change in UK

5EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN UK
literature throws extensive light on the dwindling number of the sea birds and on the aspect of
flooding taking place in United Kingdom. The extensive literature that has been found in relation
to the topic talks about the impact that pollution has on scorched farms in South of UK. It does
not delve vividly into the specific aspects of the climate change taking place in UK. The gap
arises in the literature as it does not discuss about the various forms in relation to the climatic
variability that has impact on the place.
Research Questions
The research questions would talk about the effect of the climate change on rising sea
level of UK and on the area of the atmospheric contamination. The research questions would
deal with the effect of the climate change on level of carbon dioxide within the air.
Conclusion
Pollution is indicative of introducing contaminants within the natural environment which
bears negative effect on climate. Pollution can take place on account of chemical substances or it
can also be in form of the energy. Air pollution has been a compelling reason for a large number
of people suffering from ill-health in United Kingdom. It has reduced the life span of many
people living within the boundaries of United Kingdom. Air pollution has endangered the lives
of the people in UK who have heart or lung problem. There are around 2000 locations in
England that has air pollution exceeding safety limits. The pollution owing to nitrogen dioxide
was worst in the area of Kensington. The heat waves would become a common phenomena in
UK towards end of year 2040. The people within UK are not prepared for the climate change and
this has detrimental effect on them. Pollution has reduced amount of the water within the
environment of UK. Climate change is responsible for increasing demand of the irrigation in the

6EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN UK
driest months of United Kingdom. The growing population would put pressure on the limited
amount of the resources of UK. It would create the way for low population growth that would
bring about the shortage of the water supply. The warmer climate in UK would allow the
breeding of the insects that would prove to be harmful for the inhabitants of the Earth.

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References
Bbc.com. (2019). How bad is air pollution in the UK?. Retrieved from
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38979754
Doyle, J. (2016). Mediating climate change. Routledge.
Garner, G., Hannah, D. M., & Watts, G. (2017). Climate change and water in the UK: Recent
scientific evidence for past and future change. Progress in Physical Geography, 41(2),
154-170.
Linou, N., Beagley, J., Huikuri, S., & Renshaw, N. (2018). Air pollution moves up the global
health agenda.
Medlock, J. M., & Leach, S. A. (2015). Effect of climate change on vector-borne disease risk in
the UK. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 15(6), 721-730.
Millar, R. J., Fuglestvedt, J. S., Friedlingstein, P., Rogelj, J., Grubb, M. J., Matthews, H. D., ... &
Allen, M. R. (2018). Reply to'Interpretations of the Paris climate target'. Nature
Geoscience, 11(4), 222-222.
Robins, P. E., Skov, M. W., Lewis, M. J., Giménez, L., Davies, A. G., Malham, S. K., ... & Jago,
C. F. (2016). Impact of climate change on UK estuaries: A review of past trends and
potential projections. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 169, 119-135.
Theguardian. (2019). Pollution map reveals unsafe air quality at almost 2,000 UK sites.
Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/27/pollution-map-
reveals-unsafe-air-quality-at-almost-2000-uk-sites

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Vardoulakis, S., Dimitroulopoulou, C., Thornes, J., Lai, K. M., Taylor, J., Myers, I., ... & Davies,
M. (2015). Impact of climate change on the domestic indoor environment and associated
health risks in the UK. Environment International, 85, 299-313.
Watts, G., Battarbee, R. W., Bloomfield, J. P., Crossman, J., Daccache, A., Durance, I., ... &
Hess, T. (2015). Climate change and water in the UK–past changes and future
prospects. Progress in Physical Geography, 39(1), 6-28.