"Contrast the causes and effects of air pollution for two named urban areas."
According to Simon Kuznets’s theory applying to an environmental aspect, a country needs to achieve a considerable average income before attitudes toward pollution change escalate. However, most of the time the desire to pollution change does not correlate with necessary policy and economic change effectively. The level and types of pollution due to the variation of industries and physical geographical conditions also differ. Therefore, this essay will contrast the different causes and effects of air pollution in two named urban areas: London and Delhi.
The causes of air pollution partly vary in the urban areas, London and Delhii, each ranks 22th and 1st respectively in the global air pollution index published by World Health Organization. Surprisingly, the level of air pollution in London has exceeded Beijing in January of 2017; the level of air pollution in London has again declined even with the presence of The Clean Air Act, which was brought into practice after the Great Smog of 1952. As a result to London’s cold and humid environment, pollution particulates are largely trapped close to human activities in the troposphere. The main sources of air pollution are vehicles and factories, which are linked to approximately 40,000 deaths every year. Diesel engines are the most polluting source in terms of vehicles, which are responsible for 40% of the total nitrogen oxide and 16% of the particulate PM10 emissions of the city. According to King’s College’s modelling, the amount of diesel vehicles needs to be phased out to 5% of total transportation to bring the majority of London to the scope of legal emissions; however, this is a challenging task because 90% of the TXL busses are still run on diesel, and there is a lack of alternative power source for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs). The second highest NO2 pollutant source is petrol engines, which combust two thirds of the amount from that of diesel engines and are responsible for 16% of the city’s total PM10 emission. Another source of outdoor air pollution in London is indoor pollution, which is mainly the burning of woods/fuels to cook and keep warm. More than one million households in London possess a wood burning stove, of which the amount is being increased by the installation of 175,000 new ones per year.
On the other hand, air pollution in Delhi is comprised of the effects of meteorological conditions and human activities. As in London but only for winter, the cool winds traps air pollution close to the ground. Additionally, the air flow patterns pick up emissions from Punjab and Haryana (Afghanistan and Pakistan) and bring them into Delhi. Pre-monsoon period also brings dust storms that bring pollution. In terms of human activities, the city generates 10,000 tons of municipal solid waste, from the burning of which particulate matter is widespread over the city. Moreover, from 2002 to 2012, the number of vehicles increased by 97%. Delhi has 7.4 million vehicles on its roads per day, creating a dome of pollution exposure over the urban area. Many policies and regulations in Delhi indirectly promote diesel other than cleaner gasses, such as compressed natural gas (CNG). The gap of cost between diesel and CNG overtime is skewed to diesel as a cheaper source. The percentage of diesel cars in total new car sales has increased from 4% to over 50% from 2000 to present days. Also, car use in Delhi is boosted because they are taxed lower than the busses, and the subsidies for parking at a lower price is provided. Another main source of pollution is the coal-fired power plants, which make India’s emission of sulfur oxide the second highest in the world after China, according to NASA.
The effects of air pollution in
London and Delhi have a lot in common in terms of health issues relevant to air pollution, such as respiratory problems and associated morbidity. However, the level of health impacts is much greater in Delhi. While the population size of London is half of that of Delhi, 4,000 deaths/year are linked with air pollution in London, while that in Delhi is 1.2 million. As the result of being the most populated city in a LEDC, Delhi suffers from insufficient medical service and other forms of pollution. Moreover, the focus of the Indian government has not yet been moved to reducing pollution, hence the policies that continuously worsen the situation.
To conclude, while the sources of air pollution partly vary due to geographical and meteorological factors, they share similarities in the aspect of human activities. To achieve sustainability for the society, both authorities ought to implement efficient policies to reduce the use of harmful power sources and increase the awareness of issues from a local to global scale among citizens. Especially in Delhi, a priority would be a to carry out a foundational change required to improve the quality of live, such as reducing wealth gap and providing sufficient food and clean water supplies.