Every breath we take carries a hidden load of deadly contaminants and essential oxygen. While we’ve known for years that air pollution is damaging our future, along with our wildlife, the research is indicating that it’s impacting our current health drastically.

Air pollution is environmental contamination caused by toxic chemicals in the air. More specifically, air pollution is caused by devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities, forest fires, etcetera. Toxic pollutants like carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide are released into the air when air pollution happens. Five billion metric tons of human-produced carbon is in the atmosphere yearly. Additionally, more than 15 billion trees are lost yearly. Deforestation is the action of clearing trees, which causes air pollution. Trees are full of carbon, and without enough carbon in the air, the air becomes toxic. Moreover, factories produce smoke and chemical vapor. A lot of construction factories cause the most air pollution. They produce 6.9 billion tons of greenhouse gas each year. 

Climate change also drastically affects wildlife. If animals are exposed to dangerous air pollutants like air contaminants, they may develop health issues. Animals exposed to these harmful substances may develop infections, have issues with reproduction, or have birth defects. These substances can build up in the environment and even end up in the bodies of animals that are at the top of the food chain which can also decrease the animal population. As humans who have been eating animals for thousands of years, we need to be mindful that we are damaging our primary food source. 

As we have been hearing for decades, air pollution is bad. We know that it impacts the future, as well as creates current issues like deforestation and compromised food, but we now realize it’s impacting current humans more than we thought.

Lung cancer, airway and lung inflammation, and asthma are just a few of the major health issues that can be brought on by air pollutants like diesel exhaust. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was utilized to examine brain activity before and after each of the 25 healthy participants in the study was exposed to diesel exhaust and filtered air in a monitored laboratory environment. According to the study, individuals showed less functional connection in different parts of their brains after being exposed to diesel exhaust instead of filtered air. This implies that even a brief two-hour exposure to diesel exhaust can impair the flow of information among various brain regions. Further research on the long-term consequences of air pollution on brain activity is necessary, and strategies to lower air pollution levels should be taken into consideration for the benefit of public health.

We must take action due to this reality. We can become a stronger healthier future by reading awareness, implementing stronger rules, and encouraging a commitment as a group to cleaner air. We’ve always known that pollution impacts things we rarely see daily, but now we know it’s hurting us too.