Air pollution and threats to biological survival

What is air pollution? It is actually the presence of substances in the atmosphere, which are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings or cause significant damage to the air material resources. Any change in the composition or quality of air makes it polluted, this change is actually caused by the mixing of smoke and various harmful particles. These generally include chemical fertilisers, pesticide sprays, running of fuel in factories, vehicles and power generation units, smoke from brick blasts, accumulation of waste in fields, unfortunately this air pollution is considered a major risk factor for the development of dangerous diseases.

These usually include a list of chronic diseases such as respiratory, lung disease, heart disease, COPD, stroke, skin disease and cancer. Generally, the excess of carbon dioxide produces the greenhouse effect, in which the earth’s temperature gradually increases, heavy metals and radioactive rays adversely affect aquatic life in plants, usually acid rain due to sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides occurs, resulting in irreparable damage to human health, aquatic life, farms and buildings.

In fact, the introduction of some harmful substances into the air through internal or external methods completely changes the air, due to which the air becomes polluted and we face countless problems when we breathe in this air. Not only us but all birds and aquatic creatures living in polluted air are under this deadly attack. Unfortunately, due to air pollution, the environment has become so poisoned that even a lowly life cannot be considered safe and it has become impossible to live there.

Among the complex problems of air pollution, along with the problems faced by the world health, the changes in the environment and the premature occurrence of climatic changes are the symptoms of all these dangers which have started at the global level but also in Pakistan. Unfortunately, Pakistan accounts for less than one percent of climate change in terms of greenhouse effect, due to which this country is considered to be the 5th most unsafe country in the world. Due to climate change, heavy rains and floods of 2022 were foreshadowing that we are not far from danger.

Rather, alarm bells have sounded in the country and we urgently need emergency measures. Air pollution causes many deaths, life in every region of the world is affected by this pollution, according to the recent research of the University of Chicago, the average life expectancy of Pakistanis is decreasing by 3.8 years due to air pollution alone. In addition, excessive use of some important metals including cadmium, mercury, lead, iron, chromium, copper and copper also causes many diseases.

Including especially blood cancer, leukemia, etc., not only this, but it also causes damage to crops and aquatic life, the effects of acidity, nitrogen and mercury in the aquatic ecosystem are coming to the fore. In fact, air pollution increases the acidity of lakes and increases mercury levels, making life difficult for aquatic life. The abundance of these metals usually inhibits the development of the lungs, affects its system. The main factor in the prevalence and severity of asthma in the country is air pollution, thus causing several million deaths annually, while the mortality rate of aquatic organisms that die from plastic bags alone is also very high.

Air pollution causes global warming, acid rain and ozone depletion. Every year thousands, millions of sea birds, mammals, turtles, seals and many other marine life are killed by just using plastic bags and this death is creating a vacuum in the evolutionary process. In Pakistani coasts, the number of green turtles has decreased to a surprising extent due to the increase in dolphin population due to polluted water, thus the populations of monk seals and Pacific loggerhead marine creatures have also decreased.

The current high amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere also causes asthma, bronchial symptoms, inflammation in the lungs and cancer. It is also important to note that the structure of the atmosphere in the history of the earth has not always been ideal at all times, but it changes from moment to moment, yet life evolved as it did during the evolution of the earth thousands of millions of years ago.

It was human illegal activities that became the precursor to countless problems in the atmosphere, the development of the growing population at the global level forced to increase in many sources, which was the acquisition of food grains, for which millions of acres of land were brought under cultivation and millions of Pesticides and Insecticides were sprayed on this land in order to get the best harvest, this was the starting point when the environment began to be polluted and man was caught in his own trap even if he did not want to. Many adverse effects of air pollution have also been seen on domestic animals, this pollution affects their lung system, causing various health problems in them.

Soil pollution in which chemicals are released from seeps or underground seepage and hydrocarbons increase the amount of heavy metals and chlorinated hydrocarbons in the soil, which of course affects soil fertility, as well as radiation equipment and thermal pollution have also caused great deterioration in natural water bodies due to temperature extremes.

In fact, pollution has caused many negative effects on the environment on a large scale and if natural causes are observed, the air pollution produced by ships changes the clouds, which has increased the global temperature, due to which unseasonal rains and sudden changes in weather have caused many problems.

Now the question arises that the incoming insects or other life should depend on suitable conditions for their survival and living conditions and food, usually the plants on which these insects feed, their cultivation season is different, thus causing an obstacle in the evolutionary process.

They contain high levels of carbon dioxide which is very dangerous not only for human life but also for other living beings, thus excess of hydrogen causes climate change and acid rain which creates new innumerable problems, sulfur dioxide which is very harmful for animals, now the graph of deadly diseases on the planet is increasing, volcanic eruptions include many other deadly gases as well as toxic chemicals.

To protect against the negative effects of environmental pollution, many initiatives around the world have enacted legislation to control various types of pollution as well as reduce the negative effects of pollution. Globally, new environmental agencies are playing a more active role. Ozone-depleting chemicals were banned in 1987. It also achieved some substantial results. Now the question arises that what are the procedures to reduce air pollution at the regional or country level, which should be adopted to find a suitable solution for the elimination of air pollution.

Making energy saving possible, old trees are sources of oxygen in large quantities, they are not only the source of oxygen for our breath but also responsible for eliminating many harmful effects from the environment. So their harvesting should be avoided as much as possible. Achieving Green Pakistan should be made possible. Remember, our life is possible only with the survival of this country.