Air Pollution Essay on India
Question
Task: Write a research essay based on a problem and solution essay model structure.
Topic: Choose a topic of interest that is related to your further studies at university. Your teacher will help you with this. Please see the EAP2 ‘Sample topics’ guide for some ideas.
Answer
Introduction
Pollution is a major problem that is adversely affecting the health of people all around the globe. In India, the quality of the environment has deteriorated from bad to worse. The World Health Organization (WHO) has ranked the capital city of India as the most polluted city across the globe in terms of quality of air that people inhale (Bildung, 2018).
In the former times, China was known for having extremely high levels of air pollution in its cities which adversely affected the health outcome of its citizens. But currently, India’s environmental health, especially the quality of the air has gone for a toss. According to Michael Greenstone, when the impact of the poor quality of air is measured in terms of the life expectancy, 200 million Indians living in the Indian cities could lose an average of 3.3 years of their life due to air pollution(Greenstone & Pande, 2014). The Indian environmental problem needs to be resolved urgently so that the future generations can sustainably survive. This air pollution essay mainly discuss about the worse atmosphere pollution in India. A comprehensive approach is taken in this air pollution essay to determine the problems faced because of the degrading condition of the environment.
Pollution – A major problem of the current times
India as a nation has been facing the pollution problem for a long time. The entire population of the nation especially the people that live in cities breathe the air which exceeds ‘National Air Quality Standards’. According to research, the improvement in the quality of air can naturally increase the life expectancy of Indians by approximately 3.2 years on an average. The cost associated with air pollution and other forms of pollution is extremely high in India and it leads to premature death and adverse health outcome of people. Some of the economic costs of pollution in India include the rise in the healthcare expenditure and reduction in the capacity of the Indian workforce. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the ambient air pollution alone may cost India more than 0.5 trillion dollars per year (Greenstone et al., 2017, p 1).
The air pollution in India has not only affected the outdoor air but it has also had a major impact on the indoor air which people inhale. According to the study by Kankaria and Nongkynrih, the quality of the indoor air in India is still worse than the outdoor air due to the presence of toxic chemicals and other harmful materials(Kankaria, Nongkynrih & Gupta, 2014). The main sources of the air pollution in the indoor setting in India include combustion, bioaerosols and building materials.
The straightforward quote by Robert Orbet “There’s so much population in the air now that if it weren’t for our lungs there’d be no place to put it all.” (Briggs, 2003). It highlights the magnanimity of the air pollution that is enveloping mankind in the current times. WHO has given Delhi, the capital of India the admirable tag for all the wrong reasons? Presently, it is the worst city in terms of air pollution.
The impact of pollution on the air quality in India
The major impacts of pollution on the air quality in India have been highlighted. The air pollution basically affects the health outcome of the people, the financial health of the nation along with various other life forms including plants and animals.
The burden of diseases
The exposure to air pollution can adversely affect the health and wellbeing of people and animals. The poor quality of air is a major health risk all around the globe including India. Some of the other national issues such as poverty, the limited level of investment in advanced technology and poor environmental legislations further make it difficult to manage the quality of air that people breathe. The inhalation of poor quality of air can not only lead to premature deaths but it can also lead to disability which can negatively affect the health conditions of the people (Briggs, 2003).
Adverse impact on the ecosystem in India
The poor quality of air opens the door to various other issues that affect India at the national level. Due to the high level of the air pollutants emission, the entire ecosystem close to the industrial areas gets affected. A major effect of the poor quality of air in India includes acid rain. It is the natural occurrence that takes place during a thunderstorm and leads to the further degradation of the environment. The various suspended pollutants in the air dissolve with the rain water and get into the soil due to acid rain. It further affects the agricultural outcome at the national level (Puste & Das, 2001, p 2).
Damage to flora and fauna
The high increase in the air pollution in the past years in India has affected the Indian agriculture as well as the animals that reside in the forests. Due to air pollution and the rising carbon emissions, there has been a sudden rise in the atmospheric temperature. This has adversely affected the crop yields in the developing nation and increased the challenges of the Indian farmers. The damage to the flora and fauna is just the problem that appears on the surface but the poor quality of Indian air increases the gap between the rich and the poor (farmers) and thus intensifies the poverty problem (Burney & Ramanathan, 2014).
Possible solutions to tackle the pollution problem
In order to curb the air pollution problem in India, a number of solutions have been presented here which could help to improve the environmental health of the nation by reducing the poor quality of the air.
Use of the renewable source of energy
The most feasible option that can be used is to increase the application of the renewable source of energy and minimize the use of the non-renewable sources of energy. Such an approach can minimize the level of carbon emission that adversely impacts the air quality. India needs to diversify the sources for the energy generation process so that the future generations can get the chance to live in a healthy environmental setting (Zhu, 2005, p 2)
Application of stricter laws and regulations
India can introduce stringent laws and standards relating to the quality of air so that the industry participants can consciously perform their activities thus minimizing the impact on the environment. The legal regime must be backed by robust and effective enforcement at the local level and the national level so that the business firms can function as responsible corporate citizens that can have a complete control over their carbon footprint (Zhu, 2005, p 8).
Change in the transportation model
The large number of automobiles and vehicles increases the pollutants in the air deteriorating its quality. Thus one of the most feasible solutions that can be introduced is to use the low Sulphur fuel so that the engine emissions can be controlled effectively. Such a technique can play a vital role to minimize the pollutants that are emitted due to the transportation and commutation that takes place throughout the nation. In addition to this, the old vehicles that run on the roads must be eliminated as they increase the level of pollution significantly. These solutions can help to improve the quality of air in India and positively influence its environmental health (Zhu, 2005).
Conclusion
In this air pollution essay impact of air pollution will not be felt by the people that live today but it will also have a severe implication on the future generations and their overall health outcomes. This air pollution essay highlights the major issues associated with air pollution in India and the probable solutions that could be introduced at the national level in order to enhance the quality of the air that the Indians breathe. It is found in this air pollution essay that the quality of air affects life in general, it is necessary to carefully introduce solutions at the individual, local and national level so that people can consciously act to play their role to enhance the health of the environment and the quality of the air.
References
Bildung, B. (2018). India's pollution challenges | bpb. Retrieved from http://www.bpb.de/internationales/asien/indien/190209/india-s-pollution-challenges
Burney, J., & Ramanathan, V. (2014). Recent climate and air pollution impacts on Indian agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(46), 16319-16324.
Briggs, D. (2003). Environmental pollution and the global burden of disease. British medical bulletin, 68(1), 1-24.
Greenstone, M., & Pande, R. (2014). India’s particulate problem. New York Times.
Greenstone, M., Harish, S., Pande, R., & Sudarshan, A. (2017). The Solvable Challenge of Air Pollution in India.
Kankaria, A., Nongkynrih, B., & Gupta, S. K. (2014). Indoor air pollution in India: Implications on health and its control. Indian journal of community medicine: official publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine, 39(4), 203.
Puste, A. M., & Das, D. K. (2001). Impact of air pollutant emissions on the ecosystems in the vicinity of industrial areas of indian sub-tropics. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 130(1-4), 843-848.
Zhu, Z. (2005). Political economy of China and India: dealing with air pollution in the two booming economies. Historia Actual Online, (7), 123-132.
