Air Pollution

During the global lockdown of April 2020, something astonishing occurred.  Air pollution cleared to such an extent that for the first time in thirty years, people in India could view the Himalayas.
A resident described the sight as “just amazing”.

It is no secret that air pollution poses one of our major challenges in the 21st century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that greenhouse gases are at an all-time high, both in their atmospheric concentration and emissions volume. Since 1990, carbon dioxide emissions have nearly doubled. That is a staggering increase, which is resulting in the rise of the global temperature. Furthermore, emissions have accelerated since the year 2000.

One of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals calls for action on climate change. Whilst there has been an encouraging decline in household air pollution, this progress has been canceled out by population-generated pollution in the form of pesticides and other toxic chemicals, motor vehicles, expanding metropolises, and globalization.

The World Health Organization is concerned with atmospheric air pollution, particularly pollution of fine particles. This type of pollution is generated by households, vehicles, and manufacturing industries, and it plays a deadly role in increasing rates of disease.  

For example, in some countries, lung cancer is partially attributable to hazardous levels of fine particles polluting the air. These pollutants also contribute to other respiratory diseases such as asthma, bronchiolitis, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
 
The costs associated with air pollution tend to go unnoticed because the effects are long-lasting and occur at the population level. The contribution of air pollution to rising rates of disease, in turn, increases the medical costs to treat these diseases.

Not to mention the cost to the environment, which results from unsustainable use of natural resources.

This paints a somewhat gloomy picture. However, the clearing of the Himalayan view during lockdown demonstrates that air pollution can be reduced. Of course, it is clearly evident that in order for air pollution to be reduced in the long term, it requires “courageous leadership, substantial new resources from the international community and sweeping societal changes".