scholarly journals Status of Air Pollution in Botswana and Significance to Air Quality and Human Health

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. 8-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Modise Wiston
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Vehicular Emissions ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
The World

Background. Air pollution is an important issue in developed and industrialized countries. The most common sources of air pollution are anthropogenic activities such as construction dust, vehicular emissions and mining. For low- and middle-income countries, biomass burning and indoor heating are the leading sources of air pollution. As more of the world undergoes development and human populations increase, industrialization is also increasing, along with the potential for air pollution. Objectives. This article reviews the status of air pollution to raise awareness of air quality and human health in Botswana. Discussion. Since independence, Botswana has experienced one of the highest economic development growth rates in the world. These changes have occurred as a result of economic growth and resource utilization associated with increased industrialization. However, there is growing worldwide concern about the effect and impact of pollution due to industrial growth. Botswana is ranked amongst the most polluted countries with serious air pollution, despite a population of just over 2 million. Conclusions. Rapid development and increased urbanization have had a major environmental impact around the world. This increased growth has the potential to lead to air quality degradation. Significant health threats are posed by industrial and vehicular emissions, especially in urban and peri-urban areas where the population is most concentrated. It is important that the linkage between air pollution and health effects is fully examined across all scales of life, especially in developing countries. In addition, programs should be devised to educate the public about the pollution impacts on health. Competing Interests: The authors declare no financial competing interests.

scholarly journals Ambient air quality in an urban area and its effects on plants and human beings: a case study of Tiruchirappalli, India

1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirajuddin M Horaginamani ◽  
M Ravichandran
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Ambient Air Quality

Though water and land pollution is very dangerous, air pollution has its own peculiarities, due to its transboundary dispersion of pollutants over the entire world. In any well planned urban set up, industrial pollution takes a back seat and vehicular emissions take precedence as the major cause of urban air pollution. Air pollution is one of the serious problems faced by the people globally, especially in urban areas of developing countries like India. All these in turn lead to an increase in the air pollution levels and have adverse effects on the health of people and plants. Western countries have conducted several studies in this area, but there are only a few studies in developing countries like India. A study on ambient air quality in Tiruchirappalli urban area and its possible effects selected plants and human health has been undertaken, which may be helpful to bring out possible control measures. Keywords: ambient air quality; respiratory disorders; APTI; human health DOI: 10.3126/kuset.v6i2.4007Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Vol.6. No II, November, 2010, pp.13-19

Success Measures for Transforming Into Car-Free Cities

2020 ◽  
pp. 231-267
Author(s):  
Rahma M. Doheim ◽  
Alshimaa Aboelmakarem Farag ◽  
Samaa Badawi
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
Car Accidents ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
The World ◽  
Free Model

Private cars contribute heavily to air pollution and significantly lower air quality in cities. The number of deaths because of pollution and car accidents is increasing on a global level; therefore, achieving sustainable mobility in urban areas is essential. Hence, the transformation into a car-free model is not a marginal issue but rather a crucial need that should be a global trend. The biggest challenge in this transforming process is to minimize the dependency on private cars. This chapter reviews thoroughly some global practices of inspiring models of transforming into car-free cities around the world. This review aims to identify the success measures for the transformation of a car-free city through investigating the challenges that affected the adoption of the transformation process. This would potentially guide governments and policymakers to select the approach that copes effectively with the cultural, social, geographical, and economic characteristics of their countries.

scholarly journals The Historical Trend of Air Pollution and Its Impact on Human Health in Campania Region (Italy)

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 553
Author(s):  
Domenico Toscano ◽  
Fabio Murena
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Average Concentration ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Limit Values ◽  
Campania Region ◽  
The Impact

The Campania region covers an area of about 13,590 km2 with 5.8 million residents. The area suffers from several environmental issues due to urbanization, the presence of industries, wastewater treatment, and solid waste management concerns. Air pollution is one of the most relevant environmental troubles in the Campania region, frequently exceeding the limit values established by European directives. In this paper, airborne pollutant concentration data measured by the regional air quality network from 2003 to 2019 are collected to individuate the historical trends of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), coarse and fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 10 μm (PM10) and 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and ozone (O3) through the analysis of the number of exceedances of limit values per year and the annual average concentration. Information on spatial variability and the effect of the receptor category is obtained by lumping together data belonging to the same province or category. To obtain information on the general air quality rather than on single pollutants, the European Air Quality Index (EU-AQI) is also evaluated. A special focus is dedicated to the effect of deep street canyons on air quality, since they are very common in the urban areas in Campania. Finally, the impact of air pollution from 2003 to 2019 on human health is also analyzed using the software AIRQ+.

scholarly journals The effect of COVID-19 on the air pollution in urban areas of Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-150
Author(s):  
Afed Ullah Khan ◽  
Jehanzeb Khan ◽  
Fayaz Ahmad Khan ◽  
Rooman Khan ◽  
Raza Ullah Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Hotspot Analysis ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Fossil Fuel Burning ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Evidence Based Care

Background: The impacts of lockdown on air pollution have been examined in various parts of the world. The concentration of main air pollutants has been decreased owing to a decline in anthropogenic activities like fossil fuel burning, etc. The main aim of this research was to assess the impacts of lockdown on air pollution of the main urban areas of Pakistan. Methods: The present study was conducted to assess the air quality index (AQI) of the main urban areas of Pakistan based on the pre- and post-lockdown effects and mortality rate due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Hotspot analysis was conducted to assess the most vulnerable spots at the country level. Results: The AQI greatly improved in all the main cities of Pakistan which ranges from 51 to 87. The pre- and post-lockdown AQI were categorized from unhealthy for sensitive groups to hazardous and moderate, respectively. There are noticeable hotspots in the vicinity of Lahore and Karachi. The level of nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ) dropped 45%, 49%, 20%, 35%, and 56% in Peshawar, Lahore, Multan, Karachi, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi, respectively. Conclusion: Nature healed due to lockdown, which is the only good face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The temporary lockdown greatly improved air quality which may stimulate the policymakers, researchers, and governments for the smart use of resources to minimize emissions to heal the nature. The present study also suggests the application of hotspot analysis in different contexts for the evidence-based care services decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reschedule Your Travel Plans: Human Health and Air Pollution

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 1408-1410
Author(s):  
Jing Sun ◽  
Jinping Mei ◽  
Hu Li ◽  
Jinlian Shi
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Tourist Attractions ◽  
Pollution Management

Air pollution is one of the biggest challenges for human health, and this is especially true for PM2.5 pollution in developing countries like China. Much of the PM2.5 research has been conducted in urban areas, but most tourist attractions are outdoors and outside cities and have been left out of related studies, leaving tourists unaware of the deadly air. To fill this gap, we investigated monthly PM2.5 concentrations in all of China’s outdoor tourist attractions. Our results indicated that summer is the healthiest time to travel in the Northeast, South, Southwest, and Northwest of China. Without air pollution management, our results also indicated that more than one third of the outdoor attractions would become unhealthy throughout the year. Thus, our work provides medical information to suggest that all tourists schedule China travel during periods of healthy air quality and also calls for instant air pollution management in China and beyond.

scholarly journals Air pollution sources in Ahvaz city from Iran

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Velayatzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Suspended Particles ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Environmental Threat ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Clean Air

Human needs clean and healthy air. Clean air is more important than food and water. Industries and industrial activities produce a lot of gases and particles that pollute the air. Air pollution, as one of the concerns of the present age, in addition to environmental degradation and economic damage, poses serious risks to human health. Continuous monitoring of air quality to identify pollut- ants and identify sources of their emissions is also one of the basic strategies for controlling air pollution. Unhealthy air quality causes a lot of damage to humans and the environment and various health effects. Air pollution is a major environmental threat to human health in many developed or develop- ing cities around the world. The level of air pollution is usually determined by the concentration of air pollutants such as dioxide hydrogen, sulfur di- oxide, carbon monoxide, ozone and suspended particles. In recent years, air quality has been a major factor in the emergence of quality of life in urban areas, especially in densely populated and industrial areas. Air pollution with a wide range of suspended particles has effects on human health, including the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, as well as mortality. In this article, the effects of air pollution on the environment and sources and the source of pollution in Ahvaz city are introduced.

scholarly journals Air Quality during Covid-19 Lockdown

Encyclopedia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-526
Author(s):  
Gabriele Donzelli ◽  
Lorenzo Cioni ◽  
Mariagrazia Cancellieri ◽  
Agustin Llopis-Morales ◽  
María Morales-Suárez-Varela
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Chronic Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
The World ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
The Impact

Air pollution exposure is one of the greatest risks to health worldwide. It is estimated to be responsible for about 4.2 million deaths around the world every year owing to many serious diseases such as heart disease, stroke, acute and chronic respiratory diseases, and lung cancer. The WHO guideline limits are exceeded in several areas around the world, and it is estimated that about 90% of the world’s population is exposed to high air pollution levels, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments to implement severe mobility restriction measures to limit the spread of the virus. This represented a unique opportunity to study the impact of mobility on urban air quality. Several studies which have investigated the relations between the quality of the air and such containment measures have shown the significant reduction of the main pollutants in the urban environment so to encourage the adoption of new approaches for the improvement of the quality of air in the cities. The aims of this entry are both a brief analysis and a discussion of the results presented in several papers to understand the relationships between COVID-19 containment measures and air quality in urban areas.

Improving the Protection of Children Against Air Pollution Threats in Romania � The RokidAIR Project Approach and Future Perspectives

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 841-846
Author(s):  
Hai-Ying Liu ◽  
Daniel Dunea ◽  
Mihaela Oprea ◽  
Tom Savu ◽  
Stefania Iordache
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Personal Exposure ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Quality Maps

This paper presents the approach used to develop the information chain required to reach the objectives of the EEA Grants� RokidAIR project in two Romanian cities i.e., Targoviste and Ploiesti. It describes the PM2.5 monitoring infrastructure and architecture to the web-based GIS platform, the early warning system and the decision support system, and finally, the linking of air pollution to health effects in children. In addition, it shows the analysis performance of the designed system to process the collected time series from various data sources using the benzene concentrations monitored in Ploiesti. Moreover, this paper suggests that biomarkers, mobile technologies, and Citizens� Observatories are potential perspectives to improve data coverage by the provision of near-real-time air quality maps, and provide personal exposure and health assessment results, enabling the citizens� engagement and behavioural change. This paper also addresses new fields in nature-based solutions to improve air quality, and studies on air pollution and its mental health effects in the urban areas of Romania.

scholarly journals Morpho-Physio-Biochemical Attributes of Roadside Trees as Potential Tools for Biomonitoring of Air Quality and Environmental Health in Urban Areas

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Ha Na You ◽  
Myeong Ja Kwak ◽  
Sun Mi Je ◽  
Jong Kyu Lee ◽  
Yea Ji Lim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Biochemical Parameters ◽  
Lipid Peroxide ◽  
Platanus Occidentalis ◽  
Physiological Variables ◽  
Sources Of Pollution ◽  
Species Specific

Environmental pollution is an important issue in metropolitan areas, and roadside trees are directly affected by various sources of pollution to which they exhibit numerous responses. The aim of the present study was to identify morpho-physio-biochemical attributes of maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba L.) and American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis L.) growing under two different air quality conditions (roadside with high air pollution, RH and roadside with low air pollution, RL) and to assess the possibility of using their physiological and biochemical parameters as biomonitoring tools in urban areas. The results showed that the photosynthetic rate, photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiencies, and photochromic contents were generally low in RH in both G. biloba and P. occidentalis. However, water-use efficiency and leaf temperature showed high values in RH trees. Among biochemical parameters, in G. biloba, the lipid peroxide content was higher in RH than in RL trees, but in P. occidentalis, this content was lower in RH than in RL trees. In both species, physiological activities were low in trees planted in areas with high levels of air pollution, whereas their biochemical and morphological variables showed different responses to air pollution. Thus, we concluded that it is possible to determine species-specific physiological variables affected by regional differences of air pollution in urban areas, and these findings may be helpful for monitoring air quality and environmental health using trees.

scholarly journals Highlighting the compound risk of COVID-19 and environmental pollutants using geospatial technology

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ram Kumar Singh ◽  
Martin Drews ◽  
Manuel De la Sen ◽  
Prashant Kumar Srivastava ◽  
Bambang H. Trisasongko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Environmental Pollutants ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutants ◽  
Geospatial Technology ◽  
The World ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
Global Threat

AbstractThe new COVID-19 coronavirus disease has emerged as a global threat and not just to human health but also the global economy. Due to the pandemic, most countries affected have therefore imposed periods of full or partial lockdowns to restrict community transmission. This has had the welcome but unexpected side effect that existing levels of atmospheric pollutants, particularly in cities, have temporarily declined. As found by several authors, air quality can inherently exacerbate the risks linked to respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. In this study, we explore patterns of air pollution for ten of the most affected countries in the world, in the context of the 2020 development of the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that the concentrations of some of the principal atmospheric pollutants were temporarily reduced during the extensive lockdowns in the spring. Secondly, we show that the seasonality of the atmospheric pollutants is not significantly affected by these temporary changes, indicating that observed variations in COVID-19 conditions are likely to be linked to air quality. On this background, we confirm that air pollution may be a good predictor for the local and national severity of COVID-19 infections.

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