The global air pollution crisis is killing more than 6
million people a year. Air quality has been identified as the fourth-largest
threat to human health, after high blood pressure, poor diet and smoking. Eight
in 10 of the cities around the world that monitor the problem exceed the levels
at which harm is caused.
The energy industry is a leading source of pollution –
including sulphur and nitrogen compounds – that cause breathing difficulties in
vulnerable people, including children and older people, and can lead to
premature death. Energy production and use account for about 85% of particulate
matter and almost all of the sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides.
Another key problem is that about 2.7 billion people around
the world are still dependent on wood and waste fires that cause indoor air
pollution, affecting women and young children the most.
Air pollution from agriculture should be a concern for
governments, as fertilisers used on intensively farmed fields can cause
problems both for air pollution and agriculture. Nitrous oxide and ammonia,
arising from fertilisers, are more powerful than carbon in terms of trapping
heat in the atmosphere, and can combine with other emissions to form more
harmful gases.
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