Air pollution refers to the release of pollutants into the air, which can be harmful and impose

significant health risks to the population, including increased chances of coronary and respiratory
diseases, as well as preliminary deaths. Made up of chemicals and pollutant particles, air pollution is
one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime. Read on to learn about the major causes
and effects of air pollution.

Sources of Air Pollution

1. Burning Fossil Fuels

The biggest contributors of air pollution are from industry sources and power plants to generate
power, as well as fossil fuel motor vehicles. The continuous burning of fossil fuels releases air
pollutants, emissions and chemicals into the air and atmosphere.

In 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that about 68 million tons of air pollution
were emitted into the atmosphere in the US, contributing to the “formation of ozone and particles,
the deposition of acids, and visibility impairment.”

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The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates around 91% of the world’s population lives in places
where air quality levels exceed limits. Developing and low-income countries experienced the greatest
impacts from outdoor air pollution, particularly in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions.

Climate change has an interrelated relationship with the environment and air pollution. As more air
pollutants and greenhouse gases are released, this alters the energy balance between the
atmosphere and the Earth’s surface, which leads to global warming. The global temperature increase
in turns raises the production of allergenic air pollutants such as mold and extends pollen seasons.

2. Ozone and Smog

Ozone is a gas that when it forms air pollution and reaches too close to the ground, it significantly
reduces visibility. We call this smog. This form of air pollution occurs when sunlight reacts with
nitrogen oxides released from car exhausts and coal power plants. The ozone typically forms a
protective layer in the atmosphere to protect the population from ultraviolet radiation (UV), but as it
transforms into smog, it is harmful to human health and poses higher risks of respiratory illnesses
like asthma and lung cancer.

3. Weather Conditions

Air pollution and poor air quality can be attributed to changing weather conditions. For example,
dust storms in China would carry clouds of industrial pollutants and particulate pollution across the
Gobi desert into neighbouring countries such as Korea and Japan during spring season. Likewise
during periods of high air pressure, air becomes stagnant and pollutants are more concentrated over
certain areas.

4. Heatwaves and Wildfires

Heatwaves not only lead to an increase of temperature, but are some of the causes and effects of air
pollution. Hotter, stagnant air during a heat wave increases the concentration of particle pollutants.
Extreme heat wave events also have higher risks of large-scale wildfires, which in turn, releases more
carbon emissions, smog and pollutants into the air.

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Effects of Air Pollution

Air pollution contributes to the death of 5 million every year and about 6% of the global population,
according to Our World in Data. The lethal combination of outdoor air pollution and toxic emissions
from burning fossil fuel has been one of the leading causes of chronic and often terminal health
issues including heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and lower respiratory infections.

The WHO estimates that nine out of 10 people breathe air that contains high levels of pollutants. In
2017, close to 15% of population deaths in low income countries like South and East Asia are
attributed to air pollution, while the higher income countries experience only about 2%.

The drastic difference in mortality numbers can be linked to legislations such as the Clean Air Act
implemented by high-income countries like the US. Such legislations usually establishes national air
quality standards and regulations on hazardous air pollutants. The UK in particular, saw a sharp 60%
decline in air pollutant emissions between the 1970 and 2016.

The environmental effects of air pollution are also vast, ranging from acid rain to contributing to birth
defects, reproductive failure, and diseases in wildlife animals. Agriculture is also a victim of air
pollution as increased pollutants can affect crop and forest yields, reduce growth and increased plant
susceptibility to disease from increased UV radiation caused by ozone depletion.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, air pollution has once again returned to the spotlight in
relation to its role in transmitting virus molecules. Preliminary studies have identified a positive
correlation between COVID-19-related mortalities and air pollution. China, being one of the most
polluted countries in the world, can potentially link its high death toll during the pandemic to its poor
air quality. Although, more research needs to be conducted to make any substantive correlation.
Air pollution refers to the release of pollutants into the air—pollutants that are detrimental to human
health and the planet as a whole. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), each year,
indoor and outdoor air pollution is responsible for nearly seven million deaths around the globe.
Ninety-nine percent of human beings currently breathe air that exceeds the WHO’s guideline limits
for pollutants, with those living in low- and middle-income countries suffering the most. In the
United States, the Clean Air Act, established in 1970, authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to safeguard public health by regulating the emissions of these harmful air pollutants.

What Causes Air Pollution?

“Most air pollution comes from energy use and production,” says John Walke, director of the Clean
Air team at NRDC. Driving a car on gasoline, heating a home with oil, running a power plant on
fracked gas: In each case, a fossil fuel is burned and harmful chemicals and gases are released into
the air.

“We’ve made progress over the last 50 years in improving air quality in the United States, thanks to
the Clean Air Act. But climate change will make it harder in the future to meet pollution standards,
which are designed to protect health,” says Walke.

Effects of Air Pollution

Air pollution is now the world’s fourth-largest risk factor for early death. According to the 2020 State
of Global Air report—which summarizes the latest scientific understanding of air pollution around
the world—4.5 million deaths were linked to outdoor air pollution exposures in 2019, and another
2.2 million deaths were caused by indoor air pollution. The world’s most populous countries, China
and India, continue to bear the highest burdens of disease.
“Despite improvements in reducing global average mortality rates from air pollution, this report also
serves as a sobering reminder that the climate crisis threatens to worsen air pollution problems
significantly,” explains Vijay Limaye, senior scientist in NRDC’s Science Office. Smog, for instance, is
intensified by increased heat, forming when the weather is warmer and there’s more ultraviolet
radiation. In addition, climate change increases the production of allergenic air pollutants, including
mold (thanks to damp conditions caused by extreme weather and increased flooding) and pollen
(due to a longer pollen season). “Climate change–fueled droughts and dry conditions are also setting
the stage for dangerous wildfires,” adds Limaye. “Wildfire smoke can linger for days and pollute the
air with particulate matter hundreds of miles downwind.”

The effects of air pollution on the human body vary, depending on the type of pollutant, the length
and level of exposure, and other factors, including a person’s individual health risks and the
cumulative impacts of multiple pollutants or stressors.

Smog and soot

These are the two most prevalent types of air pollution. Smog (sometimes referred to as ground-
level ozone) occurs when emissions from combusting fossil fuels react with sunlight. Soot—a type of
particulate matter—is made up of tiny particles of chemicals, soil, smoke, dust, or allergens that are
carried in the air. The sources of smog and soot are similar. “Both come from cars and trucks,
factories, power plants, incinerators, engines, generally anything that combusts fossil fuels such as
coal, gasoline, or natural gas,” Walke says.

Smog can irritate the eyes and throat and also damage the lungs, especially those of children, senior
citizens, and people who work or exercise outdoors. It’s even worse for people who have asthma or
allergies; these extra pollutants can intensify their symptoms and trigger asthma attacks. The tiniest
airborne particles in soot are especially dangerous because they can penetrate the lungs and
bloodstream and worsen bronchitis, lead to heart attacks, and even hasten death. In 2020, a report
from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health showed that COVID-19 mortality rates were higher
in areas with more particulate matter pollution than in areas with even slightly less, showing a
correlation between the virus’s deadliness and long-term exposure to air pollution.

These findings also illuminate an important environmental justice issue. Because highways and
polluting facilities have historically been sited in or next to low-income neighborhoods and
communities of color, the negative effects of this pollution have been disproportionately experienced
by the people who live in these communities.

Hazardous air pollutants

A number of air pollutants pose severe health risks and can sometimes be fatal, even in small
amounts. Almost 200 of them are regulated by law; some of the most common are mercury, lead,
dioxins, and benzene. “These are also most often emitted during gas or coal combustion,
incineration, or—in the case of benzene—found in gasoline,” Walke says. Benzene, classified as a
carcinogen by the EPA, can cause eye, skin, and lung irritation in the short term and blood disorders
in the long term. Dioxins, more typically found in food but also present in small amounts in the air, is
another carcinogen that can affect the liver in the short term and harm the immune, nervous, and
endocrine systems, as well as reproductive functions. Mercury attacks the central nervous system. In
large amounts, lead can damage children’s brains and kidneys, and even minimal exposure can affect
children’s IQ and ability to learn.

Another category of toxic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are by-products of
traffic exhaust and wildfire smoke. In large amounts, they have been linked to eye and lung irritation,
blood and liver issues, and even cancer. In one study, the children of mothers exposed to PAHs during
pregnancy showed slower brain-processing speeds and more pronounced symptoms of ADHD.

Greenhouse gases

While these climate pollutants don’t have the direct or immediate impacts on the human body
associated with other air pollutants, like smog or hazardous chemicals, they are still harmful to our
health. By trapping the earth’s heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases lead to warmer
temperatures, which in turn lead to the hallmarks of climate change: rising sea levels, more extreme
weather, heat-related deaths, and the increased transmission of infectious diseases. In 2021, carbon
dioxide accounted for roughly 79 percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and
methane made up more than 11 percent. “Carbon dioxide comes from combusting fossil fuels, and
methane comes from natural and industrial sources, including large amounts that are released
during oil and gas drilling,” Walke says. “We emit far larger amounts of carbon dioxide, but methane
is significantly more potent, so it’s also very destructive.”

Another class of greenhouse gases, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), are thousands of times more
powerful than carbon dioxide in their ability to trap heat. In October 2016, more than 140 countries
signed the Kigali Agreement to reduce the use of these chemicals—which are found in air
conditioners and refrigerators—and develop greener alternatives over time. (The United States
officially signed onto the Kigali Agreement in 2022.)

Pollen and mold

Mold and allergens from trees, weeds, and grass are also carried in the air, are exacerbated by
climate change, and can be hazardous to health. Though they aren’t regulated, they can be
considered a form of air pollution. “When homes, schools, or businesses get water damage, mold
can grow and produce allergenic airborne pollutants,” says Kim Knowlton, professor of
environmental health sciences at Columbia University and a former NRDC scientist. “Mold exposure
can precipitate asthma attacks or an allergic response, and some molds can even produce toxins that
would be dangerous for anyone to inhale.”
Pollen allergies are worsening because of climate change. “Lab and field studies are showing that
pollen-producing plants—especially ragweed—grow larger and produce more pollen when you
increase the amount of carbon dioxide that they grow in,” Knowlton says. “Climate change also
extends the pollen production season, and some studies are beginning to suggest that ragweed
pollen itself might be becoming a more potent allergen.” If so, more people will suffer runny noses,
fevers, itchy eyes, and other symptoms. “And for people with allergies and asthma, pollen peaks can
precipitate asthma attacks, which are far more serious and can be life-threatening.”