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Nature reflects our nature
The time is not now,
the time was yesterday
Before you turn the page and neglect this article, let
me tell you something. Did you know that each year,
about seven million premature deaths occur due to
air pollution? Nearly 90 per cent of these deaths oc-
cur in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). Air
pollution is the biggest environmental health threat,
being the culprit behind 1 in 8 deaths around the
world.
Air pollution and climate change are closely inter-
linked. The energy, transport, industry, agriculture,
waste management and land use sectors emit the
majority of greenhouse gases. These sectors are also
the main sources of fine particulate matter (PM2.5),
and short-lived climate pollutants like black carbon
and ground-level ozone. PM2.5 particles penetrate
deep into lung passageways when inhaled and can
cross into the bloodstream to cause serious heart dis-
eases and respiratory effects. Noncommunicable dis-
eases such as stroke, cancer and heart disease are
the leading cause of death in the world. After tobacco,
air pollution is the greatest cause of noncommunica-
ble diseases.
trations in urban areas is around 75.69 micrograms
per meter cube, one of the worsts in the world.
For about half of humanity, access to hot meals, light,
and warm shelter is one electrical switch away. But
for the remaining 3 billion and more who depend on
burning wood, dung, coal and other polluting fuels to
meet their daily needs, the resulting smoke is a major
health threat. Exposure to smoke produced by cook-
ing fires kills 3.8 million people each year. Women,
owing to their greater involvement in daily cooking
and other domestic activities, are at a higher risk.
The work done in order to survive is in turn impacting
their health. In Nepal, 74 per cent of the households
are primarily dependent on polluting fuels. Clean
household energy is thus necessary to reduce the
heavy burden of diseases.
In the First Global Conference on Air Pollution and
Health which took place at the WHO Headquarters in
Geneva from 30 October to 1 November 2018, a goal
of reducing the number of deaths due to air pollution
by two thirds by 2030 has been targeted. The enor-
mity of the problem is real, and it is what should drive
Ambient air pollution was responsible for an estimat- us to fix it. We need to breathe life back into our cities,
ed 4.2 million premature deaths in 2016. The WHO and if you ask “when’s the time to do so?” That time
air quality guideline for PM2.5 is a value of 10 micro- was yesterday.
grams per cubic meter as an annual mean concentra-
tion of ambient air. Globally, 93% of all children live in
Bisrantee Wagle
environments with air pollution levels exceeding the
B.Sc. Environment Science
WHO guidelines. In Nepal, the annual mean concen-
3rd year (Batch-2016)
Amazing Facts about Albatrosses
1. Albatrosses are massive seabirds that belong to the
Diomedeidae biological family.
2. They spend 80% of their entire life at sea, visiting land
only when they have to breed.
3. They can live up to 60 years, depending on what spe-
cies they are.
4. Most albatrosses are found in the southern Hemisphere,
in places like Antarctica, Australia, South Africa and South
America. However, there are three albatross species are
found only in the north Pacific, such as Hawaii, Japan,
California and Alaska.
5. The oldest recorded albatross is a Laysan albatross Source:https://cf.ydcdn.net/latest/images/main/A5wanderingalbatross.jpg
called Wisdom. She was found in 1956 as a mature adult and hatched another chick in February, 2017, which
makes her at least 66 years old.
6. The wandering albatross has the longest wingspan of any other birds. It ranges from 2.51 meters to 3.5
Nature and Social Concern Society
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