Greta Jimenez
Air pollution is a serious health and environmental issue worldwide, causing a range of respiratory and other diseases. It has been a problem since the earliest human ancestors, but grossly contaminated water and air are much less common today than 50 years ago. In recent decades, death rates from total air pollution have declined, with a near halving since 1990. However, air pollution levels rose in the US between 2016 and 2018, after a long period of improvement. Globally, it seems that air pollution has probably passed its peak, with a general decline in emissions since 1970.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of raised pollution numbers | 2016 |
| Cause of raised pollution numbers | Increase in driving and the burning of natural gas |
| Decrease in pollution numbers | Between 1990 and 2017, emissions of air toxics declined by 74% |
| Effects of pollution | Air pollution is a risk factor for many of the leading causes of death, including heart disease, stroke, lower respiratory infections, lung cancer, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) |
| Country-specific data | In 2024, more than half of the electricity produced in the Netherlands came from renewable sources |
| Global data | 9 out of 10 people around the world breathe air that does not meet WHO's recommended air quality standards |
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What You'll Learn
Air pollution and health
Air pollution is a major threat to global health and prosperity. It is the presence of one or more contaminants in the atmosphere, such as dust, fumes, gas, mist, odour, smoke or vapour, in quantities that can be harmful to human health. It is a familiar environmental hazard, from the brown haze that settles over a city to the exhaust from a busy highway.
Air pollution has been a problem for centuries, but it is safe to say that it has worsened with increasing human populations. During the Middle Ages, diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever broke out across Europe due to unsanitary conditions caused by human and animal waste. In the 19th century, episodes of "smog" (a combination of smoke and fog) in cities like New York and London resulted in many deaths.
In the 20th century, water and air pollution in US urban areas continued to increase. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, became so polluted that it erupted into flames several times between 1936 and 1969. The last fire in 1969 helped spur grassroots activism that resulted in a wave of federal legislation devoted to taking serious action against pollution. The Clean Water Act of 1972 was one such legislation, providing money to improve sewage treatment plants and setting limits on what industries and treatment plants could discharge into the water.
Since then, clean air legislation has been revised and strengthened. The Clean Air Act of 1990 set limits on the discharge of air pollutants from industrial facilities and motor vehicles, and addressed acid rain and ozone depletion. In 1993, researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) published the landmark Six Cities Study, which established an association between fine particulate matter and mortality.
Air pollution, in all forms, is responsible for more than 6.5 million deaths each year globally, a number that has increased over the past two decades. Research has shown that air pollution exposure is associated with oxidative stress and inflammation in human cells, which may lay the foundation for chronic diseases and cancer. Other health effects include respiratory diseases, asthma, cardiac problems, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and reproductive, neurological, and immune system disorders.
While global emissions of local air pollutants have probably passed their peak, with total emissions of the six principal air pollutants dropping by 78% between 1970 and 2023, air pollution continues to be a serious issue. In 2023, about 66 million tons of pollution were emitted into the atmosphere in the United States.
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Pollution in the US
Pollution in the United States has been a problem since the country's early history. During the Middle Ages, diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever broke out across Europe due to unsanitary conditions caused by human and animal waste.
In the 19th century, episodes of "smog" (a combination of smoke and fog) in cities like New York resulted in many deaths. Air pollution continued to be a significant issue through the middle of the 20th century. In October 1948, severe air pollution over Donora, Pennsylvania, caused 20 people to be asphyxiated and more than 7,000 to become seriously ill.
Water pollution also plagued the country. From 1936 to 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire several times due to the concentration of debris and oil on its surface. The 1969 blaze occurred at a time of increasing environmental awareness and symbolized years of neglect. This incident helped spur the creation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (1972), commonly called the Clean Water Act, which provides funding to improve sewage treatment plants and sets limits on what industries and treatment plants can discharge into the water.
Since then, the US has made significant progress in improving air quality. From 1990 to 2017, emissions of air toxics declined by 74%, largely due to federal and state regulations and technological advancements. The Clean Air Act of 1990 also set limits on the discharge of air pollutants from industrial facilities and motor vehicles and addressed acid rain and ozone depletion.
However, pollution remains a serious issue, and in recent years, air quality has worsened. In 2019, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that fine particulate pollution increased by 5.5% on average across the country between 2016 and 2018, after decreasing by nearly 25% in the previous seven years. This increase has been linked to rising natural gas use, increased driving, and wildfires, particularly in California.
The health effects of air pollution are significant. Air pollution has been linked to respiratory infections, cancer, asthma, respiratory inflammation, lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and miscarriages. Young children and racial minorities are especially vulnerable to the health impacts of air pollution.
Despite the challenges, there is ongoing work to address pollution in the US. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed national programs that will achieve significant reductions in air emissions when fully implemented. Additionally, environmental health education can play a crucial role in raising public awareness and empowering communities to address environmental challenges.
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Pollution in the UK
Air pollution is the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK, causing up to 40,000 premature deaths each year. It is also estimated to cost the UK economy upwards of £20 billion (US $25 billion) annually. The UK's air quality levels regularly exceed legal limits, which has led to lawsuits against the government for exceeding these targets, particularly for nitrogen dioxide. The UK government has been found to be ""systematically and persistently" breaching air pollution limits, and ministers have been ordered to provide air quality plans.
The three largest sources of primary PM2.5 in the UK are the domestic burning of wood and other fuels, road transport, and industrial processes and product use. Transport is a significant contributor to air pollution in the UK, as seen during the COVID-19 lockdown when reduced traffic coincided with improved air quality. Other major sources of air pollution include emissions from power generation, particularly fossil fuels, and farming, which contributes 88% of the UK's ammonia emissions.
Air pollution in the UK has been a concern since the late 19th century, with scientists and campaigners raising awareness and advocating for change. The UK's policy on air pollution has strengthened since 2000, with regulation taking the form of legally binding limits for concentrations of major air pollutants. However, the country continues to struggle with meeting these targets, and air pollution remains a significant health issue, causing various diseases such as asthma, lung disease, stroke, cancer, and heart disease.
In recent years, various initiatives and campaigns have emerged to address air pollution in the UK. For example, Breathe London, a world-first monitoring network, raised awareness of air pollution across London and influenced policy change. Additionally, grassroots activism, public health awareness events, legal work, and traditional campaigning by environmental groups are all part of the current landscape of British air pollution campaigning.
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Water pollution
By the 1800s, the link between unsanitary living conditions, water contamination, and disease was understood, and cities began to implement waste control measures. Chicago, for example, built the first major sewage system in the United States in the mid-1850s, and other cities soon followed suit. However, as cities became more populated and industrialised towards the end of the 19th century, a new kind of pollution emerged from factories and industries.
The Industrial Revolution marked a significant intensification of water pollution, as factories began releasing pollutants directly into rivers and streams. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio became a symbol of this environmental neglect, catching fire several times between 1936 and 1969 due to the debris and oil on its surface. The 1969 blaze occurred at a time of increasing environmental awareness and led to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (1972), commonly known as the Clean Water Act. This legislation provided funding for sewage treatment plants and set limits on industrial and treatment plant discharge.
Despite these efforts, water pollution remains a critical issue. Oceans absorb a significant amount of man-made carbon emissions, contributing to ocean acidification, which makes it harder for shellfish and coral to survive. Additionally, contaminants such as chemicals, nutrients, and heavy metals are carried from farms, factories, and cities into our waterways, and marine debris, particularly plastic, continues to be a problem. Water pollution has severe implications for human health, causing approximately 1.8 million deaths in 2015, according to a study published in The Lancet. It is estimated that unsafe water sickens about 1 billion people annually, and diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water quality are a leading cause of illness and death, especially in young children.
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Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, which was initially enacted in 1963 and amended several times thereafter. It is one of the country's first and most influential modern environmental laws. The Clean Air Act is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in coordination with state, local, and tribal governments.
The Clean Air Act is the comprehensive federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. The Act authorises the EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants. The setting of these pollutant standards was coupled with directing the states to develop state implementation plans (SIPs), applicable to appropriate industrial sources in the state, in order to achieve these standards.
The 1977 CAA Amendments required the EPA to conduct a "new source review" process to determine whether maintenance and other activities rise to the level of modification requiring the application of NSPS. The 1990 CAA Amendments created a new title to address the issue of acid rain, particularly nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emissions from electric power plants powered by fossil fuels and other industrial sources. The Acid Rain Program (ARP), established under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, was the first cap-and-trade emissions program in the United States, aimed at reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions, the primary contributors to acid rain. The program set a national cap on total emissions of these pollutants from power plants, which was gradually reduced over time.
The Clean Air Act also includes the CAA ozone program, a technology transition program intended to phase out the use of chemicals that harm the ozone layer. The 1990 CAA Amendments also mandated regulations regarding the use and production of chemicals that harm Earth's stratospheric ozone layer. The Act calls for states and the EPA to solve multiple air pollution problems through programs based on the latest science and technology information. Under the Act, the EPA seeks to provide industry with flexibility on ways to control emissions while maintaining accountability for achieving reductions.
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Frequently asked questions
In 2020, a study by the New York Times revealed that the US had seen an increase in pollution since 2016, reversing a decade-long trend of cleaner air.
Researchers identified an increase in driving and the burning of natural gas as likely contributors to the rise in unhealthy air. A decrease in the enforcement of the Clean Air Act may have also played a role.
Air pollution is linked to a range of health issues, including asthma, respiratory inflammation, lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and an increased risk of miscarriage. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills 7 million people every year.
