Observed annually on September 7, the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies is a global call to ensure everyone, everywhere can enjoy their right to breathe clean air.
It aims to raise awareness and mobilise global action to address air pollution, which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently described as a “global emergency”.
While we are not all breathing the same air, 99% of the world’s population is taking in unsafe air. Exposure at any level can have health implications that harm the quality of life.
Martina Otto, the head of the secretariat of the UN Environment Programme-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition helps find out ways to counter the fallout from air pollution.
Understanding The Importance Of Clean Air Day
Observed each year on September 7, the Day raises awareness and brings together governments, researchers, businesses and individuals to address air pollution.
Exposure to airborne contaminants significantly increases the risk of cancer, strokes, and heart and lung disease, causing over 6.7 million premature deaths annually.
While reducing the exposure is key to improving health, it’s also the key to countering the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and waste, and nature and biodiversity loss.
While we have the solutions to tackle the raging problem, we all need to come together and work across levels of jurisdiction in order to implement the solutions at scale.
It is an intrinsically transboundary problem. While air pollution is known to harm the areas near its source significantly, wind facilitates its travel over thousands of kilometres in the atmosphere.
Addressing the problem in a meaningful manner, therefore, means looking for transboundary solutions and enabling cooperation between cities and their surrounding areas.
How Does Air Pollution Impact Human Health?
While airborne contaminants can have natural sources, such as dust storms and volcanic eruptions, human activities are the major sources.
Concerns have been raised over the impact of PM2.5, which is invisible to the human eye and can penetrate deep into our lungs and even pass into our bloodstream.
While heart disease, strokes and cancers are counted among long-term impacts, air pollution in the short term can cause irritation of the eyes and throat, coughs and asthma attacks.
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It impacts all age groups but those with higher vulnerability suffer the most. The world must realize no one solution fits all. Multiple solutions across different sectors are the key.
