Madrid.- Factors such as heat waves or suspended dust contribute to pollution and worsen the quality of the air that the population breathes, a problem with consequences for health and the environment that the United Nations wants to draw attention to with the International Day of Clean Air a blue Heaven.
This year’s theme of a day celebrated every year on September 7 since the UN designated it as such in 2019 is “Together for Clean Air,” promoting the idea of “strengthening alliances, multiplying investments and sharing responsibilities “. Air pollution,” according to this organization.
The United Nations reminds on its website of the “transboundary” nature of air pollution and calls for joint efforts “beyond borders, barriers, sectors and silos” to address what it considers a “twin problem.”
On the one hand, it affects human health because “the tiny, invisible pollutant particles” penetrate “deep” into the lungs, bloodstream and body and, according to them, caused the premature death of 6.5 million people in 2016 alone.
On the other hand, short-lived climate pollutants can “remain in the atmosphere for a few days or up to several decades.”
In Spain
In the specific case of Spain, the latest annual report on air quality published by Ecologistas en Acción states that up to 7.6 million people were affected by pollution in 2022 – more than 2 million more than the previous year.
This results in one in six Spaniards breathing polluted air “above recommended levels” in 2022 and about 25,000 people dying prematurely every year, “fifteen times more than road accidents”.
Although pollution in the air is usually associated with the burning of fossil fuels in transport, the factors behind this pollution are varied and haze and suspended dust also compound the challenge, as happened this week in Murcia, where suspended dust particles were present in the air Atmosphere have exceeded 640 micrograms per cubic meter, while the maximum recommended to avoid risk is 50.
Haze, heat waves, heating, air conditioning…
The haze is a natural phenomenon that transports suspended dust from dry regions to other peripheral areas, as is the case in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands compared to North Africa, but recently “it has been worsened by the effects of climate change.” and is becoming more and more common,” he assured EFE. Miguel Angel CeballosAir quality spokesperson for Ecologistas en Acción.
“The prolongation of heat waves and the extension of summer dry periods to other seasons where they do not coincide” contribute to the deterioration of the environment and also, in the case of cities, do so due to the increasing use of air conditioning and heating.
“Indirectly, the increased consumption of air conditioning contributes to a deterioration in air quality in summer, but not so much where it is used, but where the electricity is generated: in the cities where thermal power plants are located,” says Ceballos .
In addition, “it is important to know that pollution moves” and, when it occurs in summer, “is converted into ozone by solar radiation and can spread up to 200 kilometers,” for which large urban centers “have a major impact.” . in the quality of the air” not only of its residents, but also of the population, which is sometimes very far away.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has pointed out in its recent reports that Italy and Spain are the two European countries most damaged by ozone pollution in agriculture, and has indicated that two thirds of the Spanish cultivated area is affected by this type of pollution. EFVerde.
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