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10 Problems and Solutions about Air Pollution

11 Benjamin Tujan

12 Pathway 3, ILAC

13 Bruno O’Connor

14 September 22, 2023

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26 Nowadays, global air pollution problems that pose a direct threat to human survival

27 are dramatically worsen. As industries have developed after the Industrial Revolution and

28 energy use rapidly increased, the amount of pollutants artificially have emitted also have

29 increased, making air pollution a serious social problem. According to the World Health

30 Organization, Almost the entire global population breathes air that exceeds WHO air quality

31 limits and threatens their health (World Health Organization: WHO, 2022). It is a serious

32 problem that can have a negative effect on the respiratory system and cause other diseases.

33 According to the WHO, nine out of ten people now breathe polluted air, which kills 7 million

34 people every year (WHO, n.d.). There are several factors that can be considered as the major

35 causes of air pollution in case of high levels of vehicle emissions, industrial emissions, and

36 construction dust; however, there are some solutions we all need to make to solve these

37 problems. As the World Health Organization states, “in government, business, and individual

38 – we are all accountable.” (WHO, 2019)

39 One of the significant contributors to air pollution is high levels of vehicle emissions.

40 Most people use vehicles to go to work or go to school so vehicles cannot be separated from

41 our daily lives because of their convenience. Most vehicles run on fossil fuels including

42 gasoline and diesel and when fuels combust, it emits particulate matter that contributes to air

43 pollution. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, highway vehicles release about 1.7

44 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year. (Brinson, L. C. & Guzman,

45 F., 2021). Therefore, it can cause air pollution seriously. To tackle this predicament, it is

46 advisable that authorities encourage people to use public transportation or EVs to reduce

47 emissions of fossil fuels. For these solutions, proactive implementations from the government

48 are important since these solutions are related to policies such as subsidies for EV purchases,

49 the expansion of EV charging infrastructure, and the improvement of public transportation

50 systems to make them more accessible and efficient. Many countries adopted subsidies for
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51 EV purchases in order to reduce fossil fuels and also some provinces in Canada have already

52 introduced policies to encourage citizens to buy EVs. There is a positive statistic about

53 potential emissions reductions in 2030 from electric vehicle use. According to the statistics,

54 Ontario emitted 170.2 million tons of GHGs in 2014, it will reduce by 4.1 million tons of

55 GHGs by 2030 (Montreal Economic Institute, 2017). In addition, public transportation is also

56 an effective way to reduce emissions of fossil fuels. It is advisable that governments make

57 public transportation more convenient to encourage citizens to use it.

58 Likewise, industrial emissions are the most significant cause related to air pollution.

59 Industrial processes and activities generate emissions of substances, like nitrogen oxide,

60 ammonia, mercury, and carbon dioxide which pollute air and cause damage to human health,

61 the environment, and nature. According to 2017 estimates, industrial emissions cause damage

62 totaling between €277 and 433 billion to health and the environment each year (European

63 Council, 2022). The most obvious solution is to implement stringent emission standards and

64 promote cleaner technologies. To reduce industrial emissions, governments’ proactive

65 policies are crucial since it is about the industrial field. For example, in Canada, there is an

66 emission standard named the Emissions Performance Standards program which is for

67 reducing gas emissions from industrial facilities. From this standard, businesses should pay

68 50 dollars for every ton from 2022 to minimize gas emissions in Canada (Troes, 2021). Other

69 countries should follow these standards from Canada to go greener, especially developing

70 countries. According to the statistics from the Center for Global Development, sixty-three

71 percent of annual emissions are produced by developing countries. Developing countries only

72 consider economic growth which has a dangerous side effect about emissions. Even though

73 industries are emitting gases for their business, this is not an individual business’s problem.

74 Therefore, it is critical that all countries try their best for the future.

75 One of the most serious causes of air pollution is urbanization and construction
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76 activities. Like all causes, this cause also applies to every country in the world since all

77 countries desire to grow economically. It is because people seek better facilities to live in

78 urban areas such as healthcare, education, entertainment, and so on. Consequently, with the

79 development of cities, environmental problems continue to worsen. According to the article

80 The Negative Impacts of Urbanization on Our Environment, half of the global population

81 already lives in cities, and by 2050, two-thirds of the world’s people are expected to live in

82 urban areas (Oikos Lisbon, 2021). Due to uncontrolled urbanization, degradation of the

83 environment is occurring extremely quickly. Even some politicians are beginning to speak

84 out about the growing concerns. In his opening remarks addressing a Scottish leadership

85 campus in 2011, President Biden shared the following remarks:

86 Conserving our forests and other critical ecosystems is indispensable — an

87 indispensable piece of keeping our climate goals within reach as well as many other
88 key priorities that we have together: ensuring clean water, maintaining biodiversity,
89 supporting rural and Indigenous communities, and reducing the risk of the spread of
90 disease (The White House, 2021).
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92 Such concerns are growing more and more common across the political sphere due to rising

93 pressure from below. In order to solve this problem, governments should find some ways to

94 plan and develop to lessen the impact on air pollution while still developing since everyone

95 cannot stop the trend of developing. There are some techniques to reduce air pollution such as

96 dust control measures (water sprays) at construction sites. In addition, promoting green

97 building practices that use environmentally friendly construction materials and techniques

98 can reduce the environmental impact of urbanization. Empirical studies on the ECK theory

99 argue that it is possible to reduce emissions without sacrificing long-term economic growth,

100 and environmental regulation should be implemented to push the EKC peak to the left

101 (Dogan et al., 2015). Therefore, it is important to find some properly balanced points to solve

102 this problem between urbanization and the environment.

103 In conclusion, there are several factors that can affect air pollution case as vehicle
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104 emissions, industrial emissions, and urbanization. Those three causes are from all around the

105 world; therefore, governments from all around the world, especially some world councils

106 should proactively deal with these problems and regulate strictly. For vehicle emissions,

107 encouraging electric vehicles and public transportation by using subsidies or improvement of

108 public transportation systems can be a solution. To solve industrial emissions, implementing

109 emissions standards and cleaner technologies can be a way to solve it. The last solution for

110 reducing air pollution is urbanization with greener eco-friendly measures. According to the

111 article, air pollution is one of the biggest killers all over the world and air pollution in India

112 caused approximately 1.2 million deaths in 2017 (Systems, K.R., 2021). Therefore, we need

113 to be alert and consider seriously about this problem for future generations.

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129 References

130 Are electric vehicle subsidies efficient? | Montreal Economic Institute. (2017, June

131 22). https://www.iedm.org/71215-are-electric-vehicle-subsidies-efficient/

132 Brinson, L. C., & Guzman, F. (2021). How much air pollution comes from cars?

133 HowStuffWorks. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/air-pollution-from-cars.htm

134 Developing countries are responsible for 63 percent of current carbon emissions.

135 (n.d.). Center for Global Development | Ideas to Action.

136 https://www.cgdev.org/media/developing-countries-are-responsible-63-

137 percent-current-carbon-emissions

138 Dogan, E., Seker, F., & Bulbul, S. (2015). Investigating the impacts of energy

139 consumption, real GDP, tourism and trade on CO2emissions by accounting

140 for cross-sectional dependence: A panel study of OECD countries. Current

141 Issues in Tourism, 20 (16), 1701–1719.

142 https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2015.1119103

143 European Council. (2022, April). Industrial emissions.

144 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/industrial-emissions/

145 Systems, K. R. (2021, May 31). What will Happen if the Air Pollution Continues to

146 Increase? | Future Prediction. https://www.kent.co.in/blog/what-will-happen-

147 if-the-level-of-air-pollution-continues-to-increase/

148 The negative impacts of urbanization on our environment – oikos Lisbon. (2021,

149 December 2). https://lisbon.oikos-international.org/2021/12/02/the-negative-

150 impacts-of-urbanization-on-our-environment/

151 The White House. (20221, November 2). Remarks by President Biden at the “Action

152 on Forests and Land-Use” Event. The White House.

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153 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/11/02/

154 remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-action-on-forests-and-land-use-event/

155 Troes. (2021, June 1). 3 Reasons Why Ontario Emissions Performance Standards is

156 GREAT for Canada. TROES Corp. https://troescorp.com/3-reasons-why-

157 ontario-emissions-performance-standards-is-great-for-canada/

158 World Health Organization: WHO. (2022, April 4). Billions of people still breathe

159 unhealthy air: new WHO data. World Health Organization.

160 https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-people-still-breathe-

161 unhealthy-air-new-who-data

162 World Health Organization: WHO. (2019, November 15). Health consequences of

163 air pollution on populations. World Health Organization.

164 https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-people-still-breathe-

165 unhealthy-air-new-who-data

166 World Health Organization: WHO. (n.d.) How air pollution is destroying our health.

167 https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/how-air-pollution-is-destroying-

168 our-health