AIR POLLUTION IN RELATION TO HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ECONOMY (EN INGLES)

[pic 1][pic 2][pic 3][pic 4]

AIR POLLUTION IN RELATION TO HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ECONOMY

27/02/2016

Universidad Sergio Arboleda

Víctor Manuel Mojica Campos

AIR POLLUTION IN RELATION TO HUMAN

 HEALTH AND THE ECONOMY

The overall objective of this essay is to expose the importance of air in function and development of life, analyzing the main factors that pollute the air we breathe, the different types of deadly diseases that can cause for man this contamination, taking into account, into alia, the pollution generated naturally, and more importantly, the one that day after day is generated by industrial activities or in the production of material goods. Then we will focus on some economic and political factors that may aggravate or solve the environmental problem in discussion. Finally one of the most important purposes of this paper is to generate some sort of awareness to readers, in terms of environmental responsibility is concerned. Therefore the idea is that society participates actively in the generation of positive ideas to help politically, socially and economically in the solution to this problem, leading to the maintenance and creation of an environment healthy, clean and appropriate for today's society and future generations.

Without a doubt, we know that the air found in the atmosphere is essential to life of every human being and to the surrounding ecosystem, that’s why any alteration in its natural composition, is harmful to the health of all people inhabit this planet and that need such air (oxygen) to live, pollution from the air, on the one hand, is caused naturally, which is caused when forest fires are generated, the eruption of volcanoes by the emission of ash "the magma containing 1-4% of gases unit mass and water vapor constitutes between 50 and 80% of the mass of gas"^[1], by pollen and spores of plants, bacteria and fungi, among others. Furthermore and significantly is the anthropogenic pollution, which is caused by the different activities developed by man, among which are mainly; activities of industrial, commercial, agricultural types and the ones developed with oil and its derivatives. Similarly we could determine two types of conditions or qualities of geographical type such as regions surrounded by mountains, allowing more easily the concentration of polluting particles; and the others are of urban type, which refers to the existence and generation of industrialized areas, like the housing areas and in the worst cases where industries and homes are next to each other, creating much more environmental damage in these areas and as a result to the health of people living in these places.

The consequences of air pollution are evident and generates diseases such as; lung cancer, skin cancer, conjunctivitis, bronchitis among others, increasing in this way the mortality rate, "Some 90,000 premature deaths in the Latin America and the Caribbean"^[2] and elsewhere in the plants can generate alterations in the process of photosynthesis, but in addition to these problems there are also many others effects that are reflected in the long-term at regional and global levels that are even more harmful to the planet, such as climate change, reduction of the ozone layer generating a big gray smog in the sky that significantly covers the cities , this cloud is composed generally of carbon monoxide, (expelled for vehicles) and biomass burning "always includes an insoluble component of carbon black ("black carbon", BC) which absorb radiation"^[3]., coal (caused by the incomplete burning of petroleum fuels) and sulfur oxide (generated by the chimneys in factories), these and other components are the main generators of air pollution that cause the diseases listed above. We need to take into account that the mentioned types of pollution are external, but there are also other internal types, which are generated by fuel combustion in households when we are cooking in the kitchen, when we use sprays and even when turn on the air conditioner or heating, among others; we are contributing with the pollution of the environment.

In another vein, we must consider the economy as an important determinant because if there is an economic crisis, this could greatly affect environmental health, since in an eventual crisis countries take care of its economy and would worry about their capitalist system rather than invest in solving the problems that are happening in the world at that moment, thinking more in a recovery or economic growth, in order to not lose its economic position worldwide, this would happen more specifically in countries that are classified as world powers, leading to these economies to realize a higher energy consumption, more generation of toxic waste, and as if that weren’t enough, is the kind of environmental awareness that this would generate in the culture of the people, teaching that the priorities in a crisis are generate economic benefits, increase the purchasing power and continue with consumption levels that are used, leaving aside the concern for caring and have a healthy environment, "the impact of the crisis on the environmental risks and health depend, largely, on the responses of society"^[4]. With this way of thinking the only thing that would be achieved is that the same people dig a well, deeper and deeper, which will not be able to go out, even with all the money in the world.

...