Article Review: Air Pollution and Global Atmospheric Changes

Part I: Summary of Article

Climate change during the twenty-first century will cause higher levels of pollution in the air and will result in a spike in premature adult deaths throughout the world. Scientists working at Stanford have applied various models for studying the health of the atmosphere, including and chemistry-climate model in which they studied air quality in relation to statistics on people's health worldwide. They concluded that greater environmental protections and emission controls must be put in place in order to stem the pace of climate change and protect human health.

Climate change directly damages people's health in a plethora of ways such as negatively impacting the production of food, rising sea levels, and spawning natural disasters such as floods or droughts that inflict often fatal injuries. Furthermore, it exacerbates the already concentrated levels of air pollution and thus increases the presence of pollutants such as nitrate and surface ozone. These substances increase the risks of lung cancer and other respiratory conditions that result in higher rates of premature deaths.

Areas around the world that will be most affected include locations where air pollution is already highly concentrated, which implies that highly populated regions such as North America and East Asia will suffer the most. Particulate matter and surface ozone constitute the most harmful substances for human health, and future climate change will greatly increase their presence in these densely populated and highly polluted locales.

Based on statistics provided by the World Health Organization, the Stanford scientists calculated the number of premature deaths as a result of climate change-induced air pollution to about 100,000 per year. These scientists urge for the need to protect the quality of air worldwide in order to mitigate a drastic increase in pre-mature human fatalities. The need to promote, pass, and enforce measures, they insist, that reduce the emission of air pollutants and greenhouse gases is vital for people living in the twenty-first century.

This article was published on the ScienceDaily, a forum and online magazine for news on science research via Springer Science+ Business Media. Thus, its target audience is members of the scientific community as well as science students studying about the environment not only in the United States but throughout the world.

Part 2: Critical Evaluation

On the heels of the deadly typhoon in the Philippines, Yeb Sano, the primary delegate for the Philippines, asserted at the U.N. climate negotiations in 2013: "Typhoons such as Haiyan and its impacts represent a sobering reminder to the international community that we cannot afford to procrastinate on climate action" (Sobel and Oreskes, 2013). Many people like Sano point to climate change as a major cause of premature human death while other scientists attribute such events as nature taking its course. Scientists almost universally believe that the emission of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere results in rising temperatures (Miller 2005, p. 464). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the international body created by the United Nations to compile data about climate change (ipcc.org) has recently begun making public the data it has collected over the years regarding this politically divisive issue. The evidence prompted the Panel to release this statement: “Global warming of the climate is unequivocal...and of the changes are unprecedented over decades or millennia" (Horton). However, some well-known scientists continue to deny the disastrous effects of climate change.

One major effect of climate change is the exacerbation of air pollution, especially in densely populated and polluted locales. The increase in surface ozone poses a threat to human health because it is a major cause of respiratory problems that could prove fatal. Ozone is the primary component in industrial and photochemical smog (Miller 2005, p. 438). Warmer temperatures translate into higher levels of ozone, which not only irritates people’s respiratory tracts but also damages trees and crops (p. 439). Thus, it is obvious that strict controls on emissions of greenhouse gases and other harmful particulate matter are important to protect human health in an increasingly industrialized world marked by polluted air.

Governments have adopted both political and economic strategies to curb climate change and lessen air pollution. Reducing the threats posed by climate change and air pollution can be reduced by governments taxing greenhouse gas emissions while rewarding those who conserve and use forms of clean energy. The article encourages such policies in order to protect human health and preserve clean air. Placing a tax on units of carbon dioxide output has become one "politically acceptable" strategy governments have employed to reduce its emission (Miller 2005, p. 479). Granting government subsidies for renewable, non-carbon-based energy technology and energy efficiency has also been an adopted strategy (p. 479). An economic approach to diminishing the rate of global warming is to come to a consensus both nationally and globally for the limits on emissions and enforcing these standards. As a result, companies would be encouraged to find alternative ways and technologies to reap profits without emitting harmful substances into the atmosphere (p. 480). While the article emphasizes the necessity of such a program, historically getting countries to reduce their greenhouse emissions has proven quite difficult. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol ordered thirty-nine developed countries most responsible for air pollution to reduce greenhouse emissions significantly by 2012; it did not make developing countries such as India and China, which both emit high levels of greenhouse gasses, comply. By 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush withdrew the U.S. from the protocol because he believed it was both expensive and futile since developing countries were not included (p. 481). Therefore, a much more inclusive and well-thought-out international agreement must be produced for serious progress to be made.

This article is predicated on a study done by environmental scientists who fervently believe that government action can slow down the rate of climate change, decrease levels of air pollution, and thus save human lives from premature death. However, international consensus will be difficult as seen through history. A concrete and politically acceptable and economically viable solution must be devised in order to make sure that the results of increased air pollution discussed in this article do not come to fruition.

References

IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (n.d.). IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Retrieved March 21, 2014, from http://www.ipcc.ch/organization/organization.shtml

Miller, G. T. (2005). Living in the environment: An introduction to environmental science (14th ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Pub. Co.

Horton, B. (2014, March 20). Bill Nye responds to 7 real arguments made by climate change deniers. PolicyMic. Retrieved March 21, 2014, from http://www.policymic.com/articles/84887/bill-nye-responds-to-7-real-arguments-made-by-climate-change-deniers

Sobel, A., & Oreskes, N. (2013, November 15). Monitoring a climate epidemic. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 21, 2014, from http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-oreskes-typhoon-climate-change-20131115,0,5815422.story#axzz2wcGMyF

Springer Science+Business Media. (2013, September 4). Air pollution worsened by climate change set to be more potent killer in the 21st century. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130904105145.htm