Air Pollution and Its Associated Impacts on Atmosphere and Biota Health

Abstract

AbstractUnregulated humans’ activities have over-exploited the earth’s natural resources, disturbed its terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and released vast amounts of pollutants into the environment. Air pollution is typically the presence of one or more contaminants in the atmosphere and in such quantity that is injurious to animals, plants, humans, and all other man-made and natural resources. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every 9 out of 10 people are exposed to high levels of air pollutants. World over air pollution is responsible for the death of about seven million people annually. A large proportion of this affected population (about 91%) resides in the developing economies in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions. The low- to middle-income groups are the ones who are most affected by air pollutants. Scientific studies have reported that a marginal increase of 10 μg/m3 of ambient PM10 levels in Asian cities could lead to a surge in the mortality rate by 0.6%, which is significantly higher than the trends estimated for Western cities. The atmospheric CO2 concentrations have already crossed the 410 ppm mark, which has never been recorded in human history. Air pollution operates on variable time scales and at various levels, i.e., local, regional, and global; and also produce impacts such as greenhouse effect and global warming; stratospheric; ozone depletion; atmospheric deposition, and acid rain; suppression of rainfall; atmospheric visibility reduction, etc. The severity of the impacts also varies from one organism to another and from one ecosystem to another ecosystem. Impacts on biota health are generally measured in terms of their influence on the morphological, biochemical, and physiological status and the responses generated thereof. Plants exposed to air pollutants may exhibit (1) direct or visible effects, which are often linked with short-term exposures to high concentrations of air pollutants or (2) indirect or invisible from long-term exposure to pollutants. Several national and international regulatory frameworks have been established to control and manage air pollutants. Despite intergovernmental and local efforts, air pollution has continued to rise across the major urban centers of the world, especially in developing economies like India and China. Scientific understanding and timely policy interventions are crucial in combatting the problem of air pollution emissions from the developed and developing world and consequently reducing their impacts on the living and non-living world. In this chapter, we have attempted to deliberate upon the major atmospheric pollutants (sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, ground level ozone, suspended particulate matter, fluorides, and peroxyacyl nitrates), their impacts on the atmosphere (global warming, stratospheric ozone depletion, acid rain, etc.), and threats to the biota health.KeywordsAir pollutionPlantsHuman healthAir qualityAtmosphere