{"id":34403,"date":"2018-10-30T17:24:26","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T11:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=34403"},"modified":"2018-10-30T17:24:26","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T11:54:26","slug":"how-to-clean-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/how-to-clean-air\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Clean Air:\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/opinion\/columns\/how-to-clean-air-pollution-global-burden-of-lung-diseases-premature-deaths-health-issues-4901787\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How To Clean Air<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Context:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Air pollution affects all stages of life, starting from preconception to old age.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A combination of festivals, post-harvest crop burning, firing of bricks kilns and reduced wind speed will soon increase the level of particulate air pollution in India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the <\/span><b>Global Burden of Disease study<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> estimates, in India, ambient air pollution is responsible for premature deaths every day.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Pollution in \u00a0India: <\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Half of the top 20 polluted cities in the world are in India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has seen the steepest increase in air pollution since 2010.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although China achieved global notoriety some years ago, it is India that has experienced a nearly 150 per cent increase in <\/span><b>ozone-attributable deaths<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> over the past 25 years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In comparison, the number of people who died due to diseases caused by pollution in China did not increase much in the same period.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>The Lancet Commission on pollution and health.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recent Reports of the Lancet Commission on pollution and health concluded that deaths in India occur mostly because of pollution<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With 2.51 million deaths in 2015, <\/span><b>India has been ranked No. 1 in pollution related deaths<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, according to a report by<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India accounted for about <\/span><b>28 per cent<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of an estimated nine million pollution linked deaths worldwide in 2015.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the case of air pollution, the number of deaths in India from ambient <\/span><b>air \u00a0pollution is at the first place i.e. 1.09 million<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health is a <\/span><b>two-year project<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that has involved more than 40 international health and environmental authors.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Functions:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lancet Commission on pollution and health addresses the health and economic costs of air, water, and soil pollution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through analyses of existing and emerging data, the Commission reveals pollution\u2019s severe and underreported contribution to the Global Burden of Disease.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It uncovers the economic costs of pollution to low-income and middle-income countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Commission informs key decision makers around the world about the burden that pollution places on health and economic development, and about available cost-effective pollution control solutions and strategies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Effects of air pollution:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>On Human health:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost all air pollution-related deaths were thought to be due to lung diseases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It causes diseases like heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cancer.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The studies have shown that ultrafine particulate matter, which accounts for over 90 per cent of the particles emitted by road traffic, rapidly enters the bloodstream after being inhaled.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These particles then interfere with the normal reactivity of blood vessels, and are distributed to many organs including the kidneys.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The air pollution reduces the number of years lived in full health by aggravating asthma attacks, eye and skin disorders, and increasing the risk of development of high blood pressure, obesity, Parkinson\u2019s and Alzheimer\u2019s disease, psychiatric disorder and frailty.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Exposure of a mother while pregnant causes abnormalities that increase the lifetime risk of chronic diseases in the baby.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deaths from air pollution were a result of diseases such as <\/span><b>heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pollution has been responsible for the most <\/span><b>non-communicable disease deaths<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Positive side<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the positive side, remedial measures have shown reduction in the number of individuals with adverse outcomes, including improved life expectancy in several parts of the world.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Policy interventions before the Beijing Olympics in China led to significant reduction in pollution. This is reflected in significant improvement in people\u2019s physiology.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the recent steps taken by government to reduce pollution in India?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>The National Green Tribunal <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has been established on 18.10.2010 under the <\/span><b>National Green Tribunal Act 2010<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Namami Gange Project:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Under the project, the Government is planning to make the areas around the river Open Defecation Free and to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge into the river.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT project:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Under these, the Government is planning to achieve 100 per cent sewage collection and its treatment before being discharged in river.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promotion of renewable energy, enforcement of Renewable Purchase Obligations and Renewable Generation Obligations to increase the share of renewable energy in total generation capacity.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Government has decided to enforce Bharat Stage VI norms from 2020.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Furthermore, the Ministry of Roadways has undertaken the project to plant trees along the all major highways.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are measures to be taken?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This Lancet Commission should <\/span><b>inform policy makers and serve as a timely call<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to action.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The country <\/span><b>must prioritize pollution as an issue<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that affects all.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Integrating pollution <\/span><b>into health planning, and increasing funding to allow more research into pollution, such as monitoring pollution and its effects, and developing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are some of the other ways to control pollution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Human activities, including industrialisation, urbanisation, and globalisation, are all drivers of pollution. Thus, <\/span><b>strict legal<\/b> <b>initiatives<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> actions are to be taken.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is also need for better urban planning starting with proper land-use assessment, reducing major transport activity close to communities, relocating traffic sources from crowded areas, avoiding the mixing of industrial and residential areas, making better roads, reducing uncovered areas \u00a0in cities by planting more grass and plants, improving transport technologies, and increasing awareness of the societal burden imposed by air pollution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interdisciplinary academic groups like experts in toxicology, environmental health, analytical chemistry, applied physics, healthcare researchers, economist and social scientists should evaluate the full range of impacts of air pollution on human health.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How To Clean Air:\u00a0 Context: Air pollution affects all stages of life, starting from preconception to old age. Introduction: A combination of festivals, post-harvest crop burning, firing of bricks kilns and reduced wind speed will soon increase the level of particulate air pollution in India. According to the Global Burden of Disease study estimates, in&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/how-to-clean-air\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">How To Clean Air:\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704913612},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}