INCREASING AIR POLLUTION ALL OVER THE WORLD.
Air pollution is perceived as a modern-day curse: a by-product of increasing
urbanization and industrialization. It does, however, have a long and evolving
history with interesting transitions in line with economic, technological and
political change. This entry presents a global-level overview of air pollution:
trends in emissions from historical through to the present day, the health
and mortality burden and risk from air pollution, and discussion of some of
the key correlations and determinants of the severity of pollution and its
impacts.
Air pollution occurs in indoor (e.g. household) contexts and outdoor
environments—this data entry focuses on ambient outdoor pollution.
The data entry for indoor pollution can be found here.
Air pollution can be dened as the emission of harmful substances to the
atmosphere. This broad denition therefore encapsulates a number of
pollutants, including:
sulphur dioxide (SO2),
nitrogen oxides (NOx),
ozone (O3),
particulate matter
carbon monoxide (CO)
and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).