Air Pollution-A Crisis Without Borders

1.

What is Air Pollution?

2.

What is the status of air pollution globally?

3.

Why is air pollution considered a crisis without borders?

• As per the report Pollution Knows No Borders released by Pure Earth shows how toxic pollution travels from country to country, not only in the air and water, but also in the food and products we buy.
• Air pollution knows no borders because the air we breathe moves freely across regions, countries, and even continents due to atmospheric circulation.
• This movement of air is driven by wind patterns, temperature gradients, and other natural forces, which means pollutants emitted in one location can travel vast distances and affect air quality far away.
• The incredible distances that pollution can spread means that it is not contained within the boundaries of any single nation.

Determinants	Analysis
Wind and Weather Patterns	Winds can carry pollutants, such as particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide, hundreds to thousands of miles. For instance, pollution from industrial regions in East Asia can cross the Pacific Ocean, impacting air quality in North America.
Global Atmospheric Circulation	The strong winds created by atmospheric circulation are believed to have the ability to carry air pollution from one region of the planet to another. In Asia, for example, clouds of industrial pollutants are picked up by eastward air currents in China and deposited across Japan and the Korean peninsula
Transboundary Pollution	Trans boundary pollution is the pollution that originates in one country but is able to cause damage in another country’s environment, by crossing borders through pathways like water or air. It can occur through air, water, or soil contamination. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are able to travel great distances by attaching to dust particles that are blown north by the wind when there is no precipitation.
Ocean Currents and Evaporation	Oceans can also play a role, as some pollutants settle into water, travel with currents, and eventually re-enter the atmosphere through evaporation, where they can continue to spread.

4.

How India and Pakistan are divided by borders but united by smog?

• A thick toxic blanket of smog covering eastern Pakistan and entire northern India is seen in a striking satellite image released by American space agency NASA.
• It shows location pins for Lahore in Pakistan's Punjab and New Delhi, with both cities under a huge cloud of grey smog.
• While Pakistan struggles with unprecedented levels of smog, Delhi is not far behind in its battle against pollution.
• Both countries share a troubling commonality, the rapid deterioration of air quality in major urban centers.
• IQAir's data showed that at 6 am on Tuesday (12, November) Lahore's AQI was 1045, followed by Delhi's at 329.
• Wind patterns play a crucial role in transporting pollution across the 500 to 1,000 kilometers (310-620 miles) separating the two Punjabs.
• For smog to cross the border, wind speeds between 5 to 20 km/h (3-12 mph) are ideal, with westerly or north westerly directions acting as a kind of highway for airborne particles.
• When these conditions align, smog can travel from one side of the border to the other in anywhere from one to eight days, depending on wind speed:
• At 5 km/h: Particles might take 4-8 days.
• At 20 km/h: Smog could arrive in just 1-2 days.

5.

Enlist the highlights of the World Air Quality Report 2023?

• According to the World Air Quality Report 2023 by Swiss organization IQAir, Delhi has the poorest air while Bihar's Begusarai is said to be the world's most polluted metropolitan area.
• As per the World Air Quality Report 2023, India had the third worst air quality out of 134 countries in 2023 with an average annual PM2.5 concentration of 54.4 micrograms per cubic meter after Bangladesh (79.9 micrograms per cubic meter) and Pakistan (73.7 micrograms per cubic meter).
• In 2022, India was ranked as the eighth most polluted country with an average PM2.5 concentration of 53.3 micrograms per cubic meter.
• Delhi's PM2.5 levels worsened from 89.1 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022 to 92.7 micrograms per cubic meter in 2023.
• As per the report, 96 percent of India’s population faces PM2.5 levels that exceed the WHO annual guideline by more than seven times.
• As per the report, worldwide one in every nine deaths worldwide is caused by air pollution.

6.

Enlist various types of air pollutants?

The air pollutants can be classified into the following two types:

Classification of pollutant according to their existence in nature:

• Quantitative Pollutants: These occur in nature and become pollutants when their concentration reaches beyond a threshold level. E.g. carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide.
• Qualitative Pollutants: These do not occur in nature and are human-made. E.g. fungicides, herbicides, DDT etc.

7.

How Is Air Quality Measured?

• Air quality is a measure of how clean or polluted the air is.
• Air quality is measured with the Air Quality Index, or AQI.
• The AQI works like a thermometer that runs from 0 to 500 degrees.
• The AQI has six categories that communicate the level of health concern using specific colors.
• Instruments on the ground and satellites orbiting Earth collect information about what is in our air.
• For example, satellites in NOAA’s GOES-R (short for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R) Series monitor the particle pollution in our atmosphere.

8.

What are the causes of Air pollution?

Causes of air pollution	Analysis
Natural Factors	Certain natural phenomena, such as volcanoes, forest fires, and dust storms, can contribute to air pollution.
Fossil fuels	Petrol and diesel engines of cars, ships, trains and other vehicles emit pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Friction from tires and brake wear also create primary – i.e. direct – particulate matter emissions. In addition, the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and VOCs released by road vehicles also undergo photochemical reactions to form ozone (O3). In Europe, more than 40% of NOx and almost 40% of primary PM2.5 emissions are linked to road transport. In the United States, 35.8% of CO and 32.8% of NOx stem from road transport.
Agriculture	Agricultural practices contribute to air pollution through the release of ammonia, a hazardous chemical byproduct. The use of insecticides, pesticides, and fertilizers in farming introduces harmful chemicals into the air and water. A wide range of nitrogen compounds (NO, NO2, N2), including ammonia (NH3), can be attributed to fertilizer production, farm machinery, and livestock waste management in agriculture. In Europe, agricultural activities cause approximately 90% of ammonia emissions and 80% of methane emissions.
Stubble burning	Stubble burning, a common agricultural practice to clear fields for new crops, is another source of air pollution, generating hazardous pollutants during the burning process.
Industrial waste	The combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and oil in industrial processes in power plants, refineries, and factories release a variety of pollutants, the majority of which are identical to those emitted by traffic and mobility. Industrial activities release pollutants such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, organic compounds, and various chemicals into the air, adversely affecting air quality.
Indoor Pollution	Household cleaning products and painting supplies release hazardous chemicals into the air, contributing to indoor pollution. Around 2.1 billion people worldwide (around a third of the global population) cook using open fires or inefficient stoves fuelled by kerosene, biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) and coal, which generates harmful household air pollution. Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237 000 deaths of children under the age of 5. The combined effects of ambient air pollution and household air pollution are associated with 6.7 million premature deaths annually.
Livestock	Half of direct agriculture emissions come from livestock. Digestive processes in livestock release methane, a greenhouse gas, as a by-product into the atmosphere.
Wildfires	Climate change is not just increasing wildfire but also spiking air pollution. As many as 90% of the wildfires are caused by anthropogenic reasons, a small spark can turn acres of forest area into ashes. The soot and dust particles, smoke (that contains several toxic chemicals) can stay suspended in the air for days.
Open Burning of Garbage Waste	Open burning of garbage is very harmful to the environment. Open air garbage burning releases toxins such as black carbon, soot, and carcinogens. Open garbage burning causes skin irritation, aggravates asthma and other respiratory diseases and illnesses, increases the risk of heart diseases, and difficulties in breathing, nausea and headaches.
Fly ash	The ash produced mostly by thermal power plants as by-products of coal burning operations is termed Fly ash. It consists primarily of oxides of silicon, aluminum, iron and calcium. Fly ash pollutes the air as well as water.
Construction and Demolition	Construction and demolition sites are a rich source of PM and other air pollutants including VOCs, etc. People living near these sites experience various health concerns like difficulty in breathing, irritation in the eyes, nose, and throat, etc. Several construction sites and raw materials such as bricks and concrete cause haze and foul air which is hazardous for people especially, children and elderly citizens.
Smog	Smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emissions and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants. There are mainly two types of smog namely sulfurous smog and photochemical smog. Sulfurous smog: Sulfurous smog, also known as “London smog,” is caused by a high concentration of sulfur oxides in the air, which is caused by the use of sulfur-containing fossil fuels, particularly coal. Dampness and a high concentration of suspended particulate matter in the air aggravate this type of smog. Photochemical smog: Photochemical smog, also known as “Los Angeles smog,” is most prevalent in urban areas with a high concentration of automobiles. It is a mixture of pollutants that are formed when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react to sunlight, creating a brown haze above cities. It tends to occur more often in summer, because that is when there is enough sunlight.

9.

What is PM, and how does it get into the air?

• PM stands for particulate matter (also called particle pollution) and it is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air.
• Some particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye.
• Others are so small they can only be detected using an electron microscope.
• Particle pollution includes:
• PM10: inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller; and
• PM2.5: fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller.

• Most particles form in the atmosphere as a result of complex reactions of chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are pollutants emitted from power plants, industries and automobiles.
• Some are emitted directly from a source, such as construction sites, unpaved roads, fields, smokestacks or fires.
• Particulate matter contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small that they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems.

10.

Mention how weather affects the air quality?

Determinants	Analysis
Wind and temperature	Wind carries air contaminants away from their source, causing them to disperse. In general, the higher the wind speed, the more contaminants are dispersed and the lower their concentration. However, high wind can also generate dust which is a problem in dry windy rural areas. As the ground heats during daytime the air becomes more turbulent, especially in the middle of the day. Air turbulence causes polluted air to disperse as it moves away from its source. In contrast, stable conditions often occur at night when the air is cooler.
Inversion layers	Air usually cools with increasing height in the atmosphere. However, sometimes an upper air layer is warmer than a lower one. This is called an inversion.

11.

What are short-lived climate pollutants and how do they impact climate and health?

• Air pollutants, such as methane and black carbon, are powerful short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) that contribute to climate change and ill health.
• Although SLCPs persist in the atmosphere for short lifetimes, their global warming potential is often much greater than carbon dioxide (CO2).
• Black carbon, a component of fine particulate matter, is one of the largest contributors to global warming after CO2.
• Black carbon warms the earth’s atmosphere by absorbing sunlight, thereby accelerating the melting of snow and ice.
• Methane has a warming impact 86 times stronger than CO2 per unit of mass over a 20 year period
• Methane (CH4) is estimated to have a GWP of 27-30 over 100 years.
• Ozone and black carbon affect weather processes and decrease agricultural yields, thus threatening food security.

12.

What is the impact of air pollution on health?

• Air pollution poses serious health risks, including respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic bronchitis, cardiovascular conditions, and premature mortality.

• In 2021, air pollution was a major global killer, contributing to 8.1 million deaths worldwide.
• The report, published by the US-based Health Effects Institute (HEI) in partnership with UNICEF, also highlighted the devastating impact on young children.

• According to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal, 1.7 million deaths were attributable to air pollution in 2019, which is around 18% of all deaths in India.

13.

What are the Economic impacts of air pollution?

• Air pollution poses serious health risks, including respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic bronchitis, cardiovascular conditions, and premature mortality.

Impact	Analysis
Healthcare costs	The World Bank estimates that the health damage caused by air pollution costs $8.1 trillion a year, equivalent to 6.1% of global GDP.
Affects productivity	Air pollution hampers workforce productivity and economic activity and around 1.2 billion work days are lost globally every year, which could reach 3.8 billion days by 2060. In India, reduced productivity, work absences and premature deaths caused by air pollution cost the economy an estimated $95 billion or 3% of the country’s GDP in 2019. Despite the EU’s recent progress, air pollution still causes €600 billion in losses each year, or 4% of its annual GDP.
Agriculture	High air pollution affects the global crop yields. As many greenhouse gasses emission contributes to acid rains and smog it affects crop production. Ground-level ozone and Nitrogen dioxide significantly affect crop yields. A study indicates that 5% to 12% yield losses globally due to these pollutants and it resulted in around $20 billion per year loss in the economy

14.

Mention how air pollution contributes to climate change?

• Air pollutants not only severely impact public health, but also the earth’s climate and ecosystems globally.
• Air pollution contributes to climate change in several ways, including:

Impact	Analysis
Greenhouse gasses	Air pollutants like methane and black carbon are short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) that trap heat in the atmosphere, causing global warming. Methane is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas.
Ozone depletion	Ozone depletion is the thinning of the ozone layer in Earth's atmosphere, which allows more harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation to reach the planet. The main reasons for the ozone hole are chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, methyl bromide and hydrochlorofluorocarbons.

15.

Enlist global initiatives to combat air pollution?

Impact	Analysis
Global Methane Pledge	The Global Methane Pledge (GMP) is a voluntary framework supporting nations to take action to collectively reduce methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. This could eliminate over 0.2˚C of warming by 2050. The GMP was announced at COP 26 in November 2021 by the European Union and the United States. As of September 2024, over 155 countries have joined the GMP. India has opted not to sign the Global Methane Pledge.
International Clean Air Day	Since 2020, each 7th of September has been recognised as International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies (Clean Air Day). This event recognises the importance of reducing air pollution – the single greatest environmental health risk globally, and one of the main avoidable causes of death and disease globally.
BreatheLife campaign	Brea the Life is a joint campaign of the Clean Air and Climate Coalition, World Health Organisation, United Nations Environment Programme, and World Bank to mobilize cities and individuals to protect our health and our planet from the effects of air pollution.

16.

Enlist initiatives taken by India to combat air pollution?

Impact	Analysis
The Winter Action Plan 2024	Delhi government launched a 21-point winter action plan to combat air pollution, featuring real-time drone surveys and a special task force.
National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)	The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched in 2019 as a long-term, timebound, national-level strategy to tackle the country’s air pollution problem comprehensively. NCAP aims to achieve a 20-30% reduction in Particulate Matter concentrations by 2024, keeping 2017 as the base year for comparing concentrations.
New Commission for Air Quality Management	The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) was established as a statutory body by the government in August 2021 as an overarching body to carry out air quality management in Delhi NCR.
BS-VI Norms	BSVI, or Bharat Stage Emission Standard 6, is a set of regulations that control the amount of pollutants emitted by vehicles in India. The government of India introduced BSVI in April 2020 to replace BS4 and reduce pollution levels. BS6-compliant engines use modern technology like Lean NOx traps (LNTs), selective catalytic reduction (SCR) units, and diesel particulate filters (DPFs) to meet the emission targets.
Graded Response Action Plan	The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is a set of measures that are implemented to reduce air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) of India. The plan is based on the National Air Quality Index (AQI) and is activated when the air quality reaches a certain level.
National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP)	Under NEMMP 2020, the Government has launched Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) scheme to promote manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology.
(R&D) initiatives	Wind Augmentation and Air Purifying Unit (WAYU): A device developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and CSIRNEERI that can reduce air pollution in industrial complexes, residential areas, and schools. This device uses wind generators to dilute pollutants and filters to remove them. Air Pollution Control Division (APCD): A division of CSIR-NEERI that conducts research on air quality management, including monitoring, prediction, and simulation. The APCD also uses emission inventories and dispersion modeling to identify impacts.

17.

What could be the possible way ahead?

Way ahead	Analysis
Psychological Nudging	New research by the University of Kent has found that using low-cost psychological interventions can reduce vehicle engine idling and in turn improve air quality, especially when there is increased traffic volume at railway level crossings. Convincing individuals to shift from personal vehicles to public transport or carpooling necessitates a major shift in behavior
Enforcement of Regulations	Implementing and enforcing regulations against forest fires, smoking in public spaces, and the use of firecrackers during fe stivals require a robust legal framework and e ffective law enforcement.
Community Engagement	Engaging local champions and communities in clean air initiatives requires sustained efforts in awareness building and community p articipation. Building a sense of responsibility and ownership among residents can be a game changer in combating air pollution.
Integrated Urban Planning:	Develop and implement comprehensive urban planning that integrates sustainable transportation, waste management, and green spaces. Prioritize mixed-use developments to reduce commuting distances and promote walkability.
Government Policies and Incentives:	Formulate and enforce policies that promote clean transportation, energy efficiency, and waste reduction. Provide financial incentives for businesses and individuals adopting eco-friendly practices and technologies.

What is the relevance of the topic for UPSC CSE?

For Prelims: Air pollution, Solid Waste Management, National Green Tribunal, National Clean Air Programme, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) Portal, New Commission for Air Quality Management, Graded Response Action Plan

For Mains: Major Driving Factors of Air Pollution, Reasons for Persistent Air Pollution in India Despite Significant Initiatives

Some Previous Years Prelims Questions