What causes air pollution?
Air pollution and climate change are, perhaps, the two most complex and dangerous problems the world will have to deal with in the next hundred years.
We can already see the damage caused by global warming, and when it comes to air pollution, it keeps getting worse as well.
Millions of people around the world die every year as a result of air pollution, and about 2,000 among these people are in Israel. In 2019, the World Health Organization declared air pollution the greatest environmental threat of our time.
The main causes of air pollution can be separated into 2 categories:
1. Pollution caused by people, such as industry, power plants, vehicles, gases, burning garbage dumps, etc.
2. Pollution caused by natural phenomena such as fires, volcanic eruptions, gases produced due to animal digestion (methane produced by sheep, for example), etc.
How does air pollution harm our health?
Over the years, many studies have been conducted to evaluate the health damage caused to people who live in areas with heavily polluted air. The findings were different, but clear and undeniable. Most of the studies demonstrated a link between air pollution and lung cancer and other types of cancer. Also, a significant increase in heart diseases was recorded among people who live in areas with polluted air. Research from recent years showed a link between air pollution and dementia.
Children also suffer from polluted air. Studies in children who live in areas with polluted air recorded more respiratory tract infections affecting throat, ears, lungs, asthma, and other symptoms.
How to deal with air pollution?
Obviously, the best way to deal with air pollution is to move to another place, but this is not always possible. If you must live in a polluted area, there are several ways that may make it easier for you to cope and give your body the opportunity to resist the impact of pollution.
- Wearing a mask – This might be not the most fashionable solution, but, as we’ve already learned from the Coronavirus period – the mask is an effective tool to stop and prevent infection and diseases. In industrialized and polluted cities, especially in the Far East, there are citizens who wear masks all the time.
- Using food supplements – Since your respiratory system has to withstand pollution, it needs to be helped or strengthened. Herbal-based supplements, such as black elderberry and even white pine, are known to help treat respiratory problems. Wise consumption of supplements (after consulting a doctor) that include these herbs may improve how you feel.
- Stop smoking!- We live in a modern environment with pollution penetrating our lungs on a daily basis. Why would you want to harm your body even more? The destructive combination of air pollution and smoking can cause heart rhythm disorders, heart failure and even heart attacks.
