Clean air is one of the most essential needs for the life of a human being but unfortunately the air is heavily polluted and it is causing a number of serious problems to the health of the people and also it is hampering the environment badly. Air pollution is a severe menace to the residents, animals and environment of the New York City. The problem has been causing health related problems to the residents of the city and recently it has been revealed that air pollution is responsible for more than six percent deaths per annum in the New York City. The state agencies responsible to look after the issue find the problem difficult enough to treat it and are making every effort to solve the quandary of air pollution in the New York City. Different rules and regulations have been introduced to tackle the situation by the authorities in this regard.
The efforts of the agencies give the impression that it has worked and the situation has been improved but still the problem persists and requires appropriate and instantaneous attention. In this report, we would look at different aspects of the air pollution problem, various kinds of air pollutants and how is it causing the various health related problems. We would also look at what are the methods to prevent it, techniques to improve the current situation and several other aspects of the problem and its effects. A number of efforts have been done by the government, residents, nongovernmental organizations, world environment agencies towards the pacification of the issue and the effect seems to make positive changes on the ground .
New York City community air service with health department Queens College conducted a test recently and found the situation alarming and also it was revealed that what are the factors that are causing the air pollution in the New York City.
These air pollutants are mainly as follows –
a. Fine particulate matter - this particular ingredient is made of very small particles with a diameter of as small as 2.5 micrometer or even less. This ingredient intrudes very deep into the threat of human beings and causes various kinds of problems like irritation in the lungs and ultimately affects the heart. A number of incidents have been reported in the hospitals of the New York City and it has enhanced the mortality rate in the city. The main sources that produce this ingredient are detected as the combustion of fuels in motor vehicles and the heating boilers.
b. Nitrogen oxide - this ingredient is also produced by the incineration of fuels in form of gas. Nitrogen oxide is formed after nitric oxide is discharged from the vehicles or other sources and affects mainly the lungs and respiratory system of the human body. Scientists say that this is also a constituent in the development of ozone layer.
c. Element carbon- this ingredient is a part of the particular matter 2.5 which emits as a result of fossil fuel combustion. The medical reports suggest that it causes the irritation in the lungs, causes asthma, causes lung cancer and affects the environment badly by creating heat.
d. Sulfur Dioxide- this ingredient is produced as a result of the combustion of the fossil fuels, mainly in industrial operations where fuel is burnt at a larger scale. Medical experts say that it is a major reason of respiratory problems in the human beings and also it causes acid rain and affects the environment badly.
e. Ozone- this ingredient is already present in the environment at higher levels naturally but due to combustion of fuels in the motor vehicles and industries, the gas enters into the air and affects the environment as well as the health of human beings.
Air pollution causes a number of problems related to the health of human beings and environmentalists as well as medical experts have been expressing their concerns over the issue. A number of researches have been done on the issue and all of them show that the air pollutants create a number of health related problems for the health of human being. According to a research report of Environmental Protection Agency 68 residents per million are at the verge of suffering from the lung cancer due the air toxins in the environment of New York however the national average is 41 residents per million.
Effects of the air pollution in the New York City: - There are mainly two types of effects of air pollution firstly, it affects the health and secondly it affects the environment.
1. Effect on the Health-
a. Respiratory problems- a number of research reports show that the air pollutants are one of the major factors that cause the problems related to respiratory system in the human beings and also in the animals. Hospitals and doctors of the new York city state that the number of people is increasing day by day who are suffering from the respiratory problems and in almost all the cases, the main reason appear as the air pollutants.
b. Lung cancer- air pollutants are one of the main reasons of the lung cancer. Doctors and medical experts have found the fossil fuel combustion as the main reason behind the problem of the lung cancer. Gases like Ozone, PM 2.5, Sulfur Dioxide, Element Carbon cause the lung cancer in the human beings.
c. Asthma- all these gases causes the asthma in the human beings and also in animals. These gases create the problem of inflammation and later on it turns into the major problem of asthma.
d. Mortality- when the abovementioned problems are aggravated, they all turn into the death of the humans and animals. A number of incidents have been reported in the hospitals of the New York City where these initial problems aggravated and caused the end of human life.
2. Effect of air pollution on the environment- environmentalists and other experts blame these gases for the decay in the ozone layer. These air pollutants cause the decay of the ozone layer and everybody is worried about its long term effects on the life of humans, animals and on the environment. The pollutants affect the environment in such a way that experts are worried about the condition and existence of the environment in the future. It affects the whole ecosystem badly because the air pollution is not affecting the humans or animals only but also the soil, trees, rivers, seas and other sources of the water on the earth. Like humans, animals are also severely affected with the negative effects of the air pollution and are suffering in their daily life.
Preventive measures:-
A number of programs are being run by the state authorities and communities. Several methods have been adopted to tackle the dwindling situation of the air pollution in the New York City. Authorities and residents both are making every effort to control the situation by their own methods and in their own capacity. A number of suggestions also have been given by the state authorities to the communities and by the citizens to the authorities. Here are some, we are going to discuss –
a. Control over the industrial and commercial activities- by controlling the activities of industrial activities, the situation can be improved in a substantial way. The industries are one of the main emitting factors of the air pollutant gases like PM2.5, Sulfur Dioxide, Element Carbon and Nitrogen Oxides. There should be a mechanism of filtration in the industries and all the poisonous gases should be filtered before discharging them in the environment. The industries should be located in the remote areas where human population is not residing. Their smokestack should be at a good height so that the released smoke could not come below a certain height.
b. Control over the vehicles- the vehicles produces a large amount of the air pollutant gases especially the vehicles that uses fossil fuels. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation suggests that pollution emitted by the vehicles is aggravating the problem. There should be a good filtration technique in the vehicles and moreover the time has come to switch over the alternate fuels to run the countless the number of vehicles. The authorities should make efforts to reduce the numbers of vehicles and there are experts, who suggest that if the government is providing a suitable alternate, people would prefer the public transport system which will help further in reducing the use of vehicles and ultimately it will contribute into reducing the air pollution.
c. Air filtration technique and use of clean air- people should use clean air and they should make every effort to ensure that they are getting clean air. The houses, offices, industries, shops should be designed in such a way that it clears the way of clean air intake. To get clean air we should avoid living at heavily industrialized places.
d. Plantation- in today’s life the humans are cutting a number of trees and thus they are encouraging the danger of the air pollution. We should plant trees in a large numbers to ensure that we are getting enough amount of oxygen and clean air. Urbanization has badly hampered the environment because it has caused a number of trees to cut. Cutting tree, if necessary is not bad but we should also plant the trees in the same amount.
The problem is a big one and no need to say that this has been created by the humans only. We have created and aggravated the problem to a larger extent and now not only we are suffering because of it but causing the danger to the environment and the whole ecosystem. The time has come to a major introspection for the residents of the New York City and to make every effort to save the environment.
The people should avoid using the products that we know are made by harming the nature. The people of the New York City should start using the most efficient energy sources that consume very less amount of energy and produce the minimum pollution. We should adopt natural products and make our habits to use them always. These products should not be producing any kind of pollution because all the pollutants are somehow interrelated to each other. If we are producing any kind of pollution, we are indirectly producing the all kinds of pollution. It is just a good civic sense and if we are following it, we can make the New York City better. We should not always look towards the government or the authorities for any positive step but also we should fulfill our own duty towards the society and the environment.
After having a close observation on the above mentioned analysis, it is clear that the condition of air pollution in the New York City is not good and more efforts and awareness is required to solve the problem. Clean air is a very fundamental necessity for the life of humans, animals as well as for the existence of the earth. If we are not paying our attention towards the problem, we are moving towards a big trouble. The efforts to improve the situation should be made by the government authorities as well as by the residents also. A number of steps have been taken by the authorities and the residents to solve the problem and undoubtedly the situation has been improved but the problem is not solved yet and efforts should be continued in the right direction.
Works Cited
Richard R. Bates and Donald Kennedy. Air pollution, the automobile, and public health. Washington: The National Academies Press, 1988.
Holgate, S. T. Air pollution and health. California: Academic Press, 1999.
Sokhi, Ranjeet S. World Atlas of Atmospheric Pollution. London: Anthem Press, 2008.
Stevens, Lise Millay. "Air Pollution and the Health of New Yorkers:The Impact of Fine Particles and Ozone." nyc. 2 December 2011
—. "The New York City Community Air Survey." nyc. 2 December 2011
"Toxic Air Pollutants." 11 August 2011. epa. 2 December 2011
