Detailed notes from the documentary Earthshot prize from the further study and research of an A grade a level environmental science student. Detailed information on air pollution and how this may be reduced based on the pollution module
The clean Earthshot Prize: Clean our Air
The WHO calls air pollution the ‘global killer’
90% of the global population breathe unclean air every day.
Air pollution has proven to shorten life expectancy
One of the 5 goals of the Earth shot prize is to ‘clean our air’ – each year until 2030, an
£1,000 prize will be awarded for a project helping to achieve this.
Why clean our air?
The air in our atmosphere is fundamental to life – it is only supply of oxygen
The air is a finite resource, which is the product of billions of years of evolution
Over the last 200 years as humankind entered the industrial age, polluting levels has
threatened the stability of the air quality.
o Every year, we emit up to 100 times the carbon dioxide released by all the
volcanoes on earth.
Causes of air pollution
Polluting domestic fuel – Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia:
Ulaanbaatar has regularly ranked as one of the world’s most polluted cities.
In recent years, the migration of nomadic people from the countryside to cities for
better education, employment opportunities, health care provision, has increased.
This has increased the number of people setting up traditional houses, called Gers, on
the outskirts of the city.
In winter, temperatures drop below -40 degrees centigrade, and coal is one of the few
fuels which the residents can use to heat their homes.
o Burning of coal releases large amounts of the toxic gas sulphur dioxide and
particulates commonly associated with soot – causes smog, which, when inhaled
causes inflammation in the body and health conditions such as lung diseases, heart
conditions, and cancer.
In Ulaanbaatar, 600,000 tones of coal is burned each winter to heat homes across the
city
For many, the only source of employment is in in the coal industry, mining the resource
from open pit mines at the edge of the city.
Efforts have been made to replace raw coal with more expensive but less polluting
refined coal
o However, even at a subsidised price, low-income families struggle to heat their
homes safely
o Studies have shown that coal and other cheap polluting fuels are used as a domestic
fuel by more than 2 billion people around the world.
Air Polluting Transport – London, UK:
Many people in London have asthma.
Inquest into the death of a schoolgirl with severe asthma, have identified patterns
which linked illegal levels of air pollution with the severity of her asthma attacks.
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