English lll, Group 1

Cause and effect essay on air quality in El Valle de Aburrá

Presented by:

Juan José Manco Rueda

Didier Santiago Londoño Román

Manuela López Suaza

August 2021

National University of Colombia

 Air quality in El Valle de Aburrá

El Valle de Aburrá is in department of Antioquia, Colombia. This region is composed by ten

cities (These are: Caldas, La Estrella, Sabaneta, Envigado, Itagüí in the south, Medellín in the
middle, Bello, Copacabana, Girardota and Barbosa). These cities are part of Metropolitan
Area. In 2015, Medellin city had a population increase of 6%; besides, in 2020 total
population was 4.055.296 people. If we consider the territory in question is 1157 km^2, we
can estimate that more than 60% of population occupies 1,8% of total area (Medellín cómo
vamos, 2020). This gives us a clear vision of population increase density of Metropolitan
Area.

By being settled in the central mountain range and comprised by a narrow valley with high
mountains, El Valle de Aburrá has an accumulation of low clouds and little ventilation; This
has negative effects on air quality and the storage of particulate matter (Área Metropolitana,
2021).

Metropolitan Area has been a font of industry and commerce, so in this territory many
companies carry out their activities at their factories. In the same way, the automotive park
has presented exponential increases, which for 2015 registered growth of 56% in motorcycles
and 28% in cars (Aguilar, D. Calle, J. Hernández, D. González, J. 2017). These development
systems produce particulate matter emissions, which, added to the mentioned aspects
previously, make the air quality in the Aburrá Valley undesirable.

The situation is complicated when the particles are 2.5 or less than 1 micron, as they can
enter the organism, and in addition to the lungs, they can reach the rest of the organs, such as
the heart. This would cause pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases in adults, and in children
it can cause asthma, low birth weight, leukemia and otitis (Delgado, C. 2019).

If the PM particles are larger than 2.5 microns, thanks to the nasal hairs that serve as a
protective shield, they will only cause nasal congestion. However, if the citizenry do not
change their consumption and mobility habits, by 2030 there would be 70 micrograms per
cubic meter of particulate material PM 2.5 in the environment, the most harmful for health.
At the moment in the Aburra Valley, on an ordinary day, the level of this particulate material
is 24 micrograms per cubic meter. According to Nieto (2019) in an interview with the
newspaper El Tiempo, the PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry, Maria Victoria Toro, she indicated
that for every 10 points that the concentration of PM 2.5 rises, the risk of death from
pollution ascend to 1.2 per cent. Reaching 70 micrograms per cubic meter in the next 11
years, if the necessary corrective measures or actions to improve air quality are not taken do
not work, the city would be confronted a serious public health problem (Nieto, J. 2019).

The picture on air quality and its impact on health reveals its high political and academic
priority, and that intervention for air pollution mitigation is beyond the control of people, and
requiring action by cities, as well as of the national and international regulations agencies
(Área Metropolitana, 2019). Therefore, even with future vision raised, there are optimistic
perceptions about air quality in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley if coherent
guidelines and restrictions are established in time, this is why experts such The World Health
Organization recognize the need and importance of estimating, periodically, air quality in
different cities and precisely establish its association with short-, medium- and long-term
adverse health events, focusing on high susceptibility and vulnerability groups, it which will
ensure a good quality of life for the population in the future.
 Referencias

Delgado, C. (August 22, 2019). 5 datos que no sabías sobre la contaminación del aire en
Medellín. Retrieved on 3 de August 2021, from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana:
https://www.upb.edu.co/es/central-blogs/divulgacion-cientifica/contaminacion-aire-medellin.

Medellín cómo vamos. (2020). Retrieved from:

https://www.medellincomovamos.org/territorio/area-metropolitana-del-valle-de-aburra.

Área metropolitana. (2021). Calidad de aire. Retrieved from:

https://www.metropol.gov.co/ambiental/calidad-del-aire.

Área metropolitana. (December 11, 2019). Contaminación atmosférica y sus efectos sobre la
salud de los habitantes del Valle de Aburrá. Retrieved from:
https://www.metropol.gov.co/ambiental/calidad-del-aire/Biblioteca-aire/Re-analisis/Contamin
acionAtmosferica_y_sus_Efectos_en_la_Salud-AMVA_2019.pdf

Nieto, J. (June 6, 2019). ¿Cómo será el aire de Medellín en el 2030?. El Tiempo. Retrieved
from:
https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/medellin/expertos-hablan-sobre-el-aire-de-medellin-para
-el-2030-371648

Aguilar, D. Calle, J. Hernández, D. González, J. (2017). Medellín y su calidad del aire.

Retrieved from:
https://escuela-ids.itm.edu.co/calidad-del-aire/images/Contextualizaci%C3%B3n%20Medell
%C3%ADn%20y%20su%20Calidad%20de%20Aire.pdf