With the air becoming more dangerous nowadays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you may want to keep your indoor air clean, but what are the natural causes of air pollution and what are the ways to minimize them?
In this article, we cover the different causes of air pollution and what we can do against them. As we mentioned above, the pandemic could make it worse, and this is why keeping a clean indoor air can help prevent the spread of sickness.
Times are tough nowadays and the virus spread could be worsened if we have unclean air. Whether there’s a pandemic or not, breathing clean air also helps us to stay protected against illnesses so we can live a more productive and happier life.
What are the top 5 causes of air pollution?
Air pollution is a serious topic, and thus, we care a lot about the quality of the air you breathe. Here are the most common causes of air pollution:
| 1. Vehicle smoke | Vehicle smoke is a top contributor when it comes down to air pollution. Think about it: how many vehicles do we see on highways each day? How much fuel emissions do we get?
There’s a reason why urban areas tend to have more pollution and that’s because more people there have cars and other vehicles. |
| 2. Factories and industrialization | As we mentioned above, urbanization is a big player when it comes to air pollution problems.
If you live near factories that still use coal as fuel, that would make the air you breathe unhealthy due to amounts of carbon. Some factories also emit certain amounts of chemicals that could also be harmful to your lungs. |
| 3. Cutting down trees |
You may find it weird: how does cutting down trees contribute to air pollution?
It works this way: when you cut down trees, there will be fewer trees to absorb carbon dioxide, which can be harmful to the environment and the air your breathe. |
| 4. Tobacco smoke | Whether you’re a smoker or not, everyone gets affected by tobacco smoke because it can be easily passed as secondhand smoke outdoors.
Nicotine and other harmful substances could find their way into our lungs. That’s why even those who don’t have a history of smoking could have lung cancer. |
| 5. VOCs | VOCs or volatile organic compounds come from different sources, such as household chemicals, pesticides, and even fertilizers. They can be harmful to your health if you breathe them in large amounts. |
What is the main cause of air pollution?
On a worldwide scale, the major cause of air pollution is burning fossil fuels. These come from primitive sources and needed to be mined underground, but they are in limited quality, and not all countries have them.
They are not only dangerous to our lungs when we breathe them but they are also non-renewable, which means if they’re gone, we’re stuck with a shortage of fuel and energy supply. This is why constant research for better forms of renewable energy should be emphasized by governing bodies.
How can we protect our environment?
We can protect our environment by using different methods of controlling air pollution. For instance, we’d suggest the following:
- Lessen the use of motorized vehicles. The moment you start using the bicycle or walking to your destination instead of using the car and fill it up with gas is the moment you can make even a small difference to our environment in a good way.
If you need to go to work in a car, you can do some carpooling with co-workers to reduce emissions on the streets. The reduced use of fuels can help reduce air pollution that’s found on the highway.
- Conserve energy. Did you know that by using energy-efficient home appliances or reducing your use of such appliances can help conserve the environment?
Saving electricity is crucial nowadays because we are on the verge of losing our non-renewable sources of energy and modern science is still short on an energy source that’s just as powerful as fossil fuels but isn’t harmful to the environment and our health.
- Consider growing organic gardens. Going organic reduces the use of fertilizers that might contain VOCs that could cause pollution to our environment. If you don’t have space for a garden then you can at least support organic farmers by buying produce from them straight.
- Quit smoking. We know how difficult this can be, but you’re not only saving your lungs (and people’s lungs) but you’re also doing a good part to the environment because you’re reducing the spread of nicotine and other chemicals in the air.
- Support eco-friendly alternative fuels and power sources. You can try going for solar panels on some parts of your home to help reduce the load of your electricity provider.
Why do we need to protect our environment?
There is a need to keep our air clean because there are devastating effects of pollution on humans, animals, plants, and the environment. Here are the reasons why:
- Our future descendants would suffer. They might suffer from health problems due to pollution or global warmings such as extreme temperatures and disasters. The actions we do today could reflect what happens tomorrow.
- We won’t have enough resources in the future. Our biggest power source would be fossil fuel, which isn’t exactly renewable so if we keep using it, we wouldn’t have anything left in the future. If we keep cutting down trees, it also contributes to global warming because there won’t be enough trees to absorb carbon dioxide and give oxygen to us.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, air pollution is a terrible problem that we’re being plagued at the moment, but there are many ways we can combat it.
By reducing our use of items that have VOCs and cutting down on fossil fuels and coal burning, we can help keep air pollution at bay.
If you want to find out more, check out this article about solutions to air pollution in China.
