Air Pollution
Most people died from lung cancer because of their unhealthy habits; however, nowadays more people suffer from this malignant disease regardless of their lifestyle. This is due to the widespread of environmental problems, especially air pollution, which is produced by pollutants including sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and particulate matters (such as PM2.5 and PM10). “Each 10-µg/m3 of pollutants was associated with approximately ... 8% increased risk of lung cancer mortality. ”(Lung Cancer, Cardiopulmonary Mortality, and Long-term Exposure to Fine Particulate Air Pollution, 2002) And according to Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, there is at least 40ug/m3 pollutants in the air which …show more content…
These 2.5-micrometer particles are always composed as a net that can adsorb incredible amount of substances. They have been discharged every time and everywhere from factories to residential houses, and from airplanes to vehicles. The result of our activities is that there are big amounts of PM2.5 floating in the air. “The exposure-effects relationship between short-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 and mortality of residents were found, as the concentration of PM2.5 increased by a certain degree (10ug/m3), the daily mortality of residents in China, US and Europe increased by 0.31%, 1.26% and 1.65%.”(Meta-analysis of Association between Air Fine Particular and Daily Mortality of Residents, 2012). The people who are exposed to the ambient PM2.5 will have higher mortality related to lung damage. In October 2014, Jing Chai, a famous reporter in China, made an appointment with the professors in Tsinghua University to analyze the substances adsorbed on PM2.5 in Beijing. The result was shocking. In the final report, it showed that there were more than 125 kinds of carcinogens(Picture 5 in Appendix), especially benzo[a]pyrene which has very high rates to cause cancers. From the data mentioned above, PM2.5 is even more harmful than other pollutants conforming to its absorption property. If we cannot slow down our speed of manufacturing PM2.5, it would be a serious threat to human …show more content…
For instance, China is one of the most serious polluted developing countries. In Beijing, according to the air quality graph of Beijing in 2014(Appendix 6), the city was extremely polluted in 45 days and was clear in only 93 days. And from Countries with the worst air pollution ranked by the World Health Organization, Pakistan, Qatar, ..., Bahrain, 10 of 10 are third-world countries. However, if we look at NASA’s New Map Offers a Global View of Health-Sapping Air Pollution(Appendix 7), it’s surprising to find the USA is also a country that has large air pollution in the world. It indicates that air pollution is a problem that persecutes not only developing countries but also developed countries. Since air pollution is an alarming global issue, we need immediate solutions to solve this.
As Aldo Leopold says in Wilderness as a Form of Land Use,”We have a much larger population, we have more potent destructive technology, ...Fortunately, we also differ from the Maya in that we know their fate, and they did not. Perhaps we can learn.” We had encountered major environmental catastrophes which kept us learning solutions to avoid these
Most people died from lung cancer because of their unhealthy habits; however, nowadays more people suffer from this malignant disease regardless of their lifestyle. This is due to the widespread of environmental problems, especially air pollution, which is produced by pollutants including sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and particulate matters (such as PM2.5 and PM10). “Each 10-µg/m3 of pollutants was associated with approximately ... 8% increased risk of lung cancer mortality. ”(Lung Cancer, Cardiopulmonary Mortality, and Long-term Exposure to Fine Particulate Air Pollution, 2002) And according to Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, there is at least 40ug/m3 pollutants in the air which …show more content…
These 2.5-micrometer particles are always composed as a net that can adsorb incredible amount of substances. They have been discharged every time and everywhere from factories to residential houses, and from airplanes to vehicles. The result of our activities is that there are big amounts of PM2.5 floating in the air. “The exposure-effects relationship between short-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 and mortality of residents were found, as the concentration of PM2.5 increased by a certain degree (10ug/m3), the daily mortality of residents in China, US and Europe increased by 0.31%, 1.26% and 1.65%.”(Meta-analysis of Association between Air Fine Particular and Daily Mortality of Residents, 2012). The people who are exposed to the ambient PM2.5 will have higher mortality related to lung damage. In October 2014, Jing Chai, a famous reporter in China, made an appointment with the professors in Tsinghua University to analyze the substances adsorbed on PM2.5 in Beijing. The result was shocking. In the final report, it showed that there were more than 125 kinds of carcinogens(Picture 5 in Appendix), especially benzo[a]pyrene which has very high rates to cause cancers. From the data mentioned above, PM2.5 is even more harmful than other pollutants conforming to its absorption property. If we cannot slow down our speed of manufacturing PM2.5, it would be a serious threat to human …show more content…
For instance, China is one of the most serious polluted developing countries. In Beijing, according to the air quality graph of Beijing in 2014(Appendix 6), the city was extremely polluted in 45 days and was clear in only 93 days. And from Countries with the worst air pollution ranked by the World Health Organization, Pakistan, Qatar, ..., Bahrain, 10 of 10 are third-world countries. However, if we look at NASA’s New Map Offers a Global View of Health-Sapping Air Pollution(Appendix 7), it’s surprising to find the USA is also a country that has large air pollution in the world. It indicates that air pollution is a problem that persecutes not only developing countries but also developed countries. Since air pollution is an alarming global issue, we need immediate solutions to solve this.
As Aldo Leopold says in Wilderness as a Form of Land Use,”We have a much larger population, we have more potent destructive technology, ...Fortunately, we also differ from the Maya in that we know their fate, and they did not. Perhaps we can learn.” We had encountered major environmental catastrophes which kept us learning solutions to avoid these