Module 3 Blog Post:
Part 1:
According to America’s Health Rankings Air Pollution
report in the United States, the healthiest state is Wyoming, and the least
healthy state is California. In 2011, air pollution created by fine particular
matter produced by human activity was responsible for 107,000 premature deaths
in the United States, and it had a negative effect on the economy, estimating a
cost of $886 billion (America’s Health Rankings United Health Foundation,
2021). Fine particle air pollution and wildfires (more often nowadays) cause
decreased lung function, asthma, irregular heartbeat, heart attacks, and early
death for many suffering from heart and lung diseases.
Goodkind et al. show on the graph below the amount of money, premature mortality by pollution, and the levels of emissions measured in 2011. Air pollution has a very high cost on our health, lives, economy, and resources (Goodkind et al., 2019b).
(Goodkind et al., 2019)
Dallas, TX is ranked #16 for high ozone days “out of 226 metropolitan areas, #24 for “24-hour particle pollution out of 221 metropolitan areas”, and #48 for “annual particle pollution out of 202 metropolitan areas”. Unfortunately, our children, pregnant women, people of color, and people suffering from respiratory, cardiovascular, and lung diseases are more at risk of being affected by air pollution (American Lung Association. Texas: Dallas, 2022). In addition, in April 2022, the American Lung Association released and “State of the Air” report stating that the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s air quality is worse for some of the most damaging air polluters such as particle pollution and ozone (American Lung Association. State of the Air 2022, 2022). So even if Air pollution has been improving in the country, it seems challenging for Dallas, TX, to improve air quality.
References
America’s Health Rankings United Health Foundation.
(2021). Public Health Impact: Air
Pollution.
www.americashealthrankings.org. Retrieved July 24, 2022, from
https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/air/state/ALL
American Lung Association. Texas: Dallas. (2022).
Texas: Dallas. www.lung.org. Retrieved July
24,
2022, from https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/states/texas/dallas
American Lung Association. State of the Air 2022. (2022). Texas: Dallas. www.lung.org.
Retrieved July 24, 2022, from https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-
rankings/states/texas/dallas
Goodkind, A., Tessum, C., Coggins, J., & Marshall, J. (2019, April 8). Damages by Economic
Sector [Graph]. Fine-Scale Damage Estimates of Particulate Matter Air Pollution Reveal
Opportunities for Location-Specific Mitigation of Emissions.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1816102116#supplementary-materials
Goodkind, A., Tessum, C., Coggins, J., & Marshall, J. (2019b, April 8). Fine-scale damage
estimates of particulate matter air pollution reveal opportunities for location-specific
mitigation of emissions. Https://Www.Pnas.Org/Doi/Full/10.1073/Pnas.1816102116.
Retrieved July 29,
2022, from https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1816102116
Part 2:
In this video, Dr. Maria Neira from the World Health Organization explains the seriousness of air pollution and how it is also affecting the current COVID situation, and how we can take action.
World Health Organization (WHO) [YouTube].
(2022, February 11). WHO’s Science in 5 : Air
pollution, a public health
emergency [Video]. YouTube.
Hello Paola, I hope you are keeping cool in the heat. The video is great topic, I am surprised to see that chronic exposures to pollution will render an individual more prone to complication in a COVID infection. But it does seem very logical since long-term exposure to harmful chemicals is bound to have adverse affects on health. It is hard for me to imagine if we can move towards a more sustainable lifestyle which will reduce the co2 omissions. People have become dependent on these fossil fuels to the point that it has become ingrained in our day to day activities.
ReplyDeleteHello Sumera,
DeleteThank you for taking the time to read my blog. Yes, the lack of quality air can worsen matters for people with COVID, which is not good. COVID can be lethal and even worse when the environment is contaminated. Lungs do not have the fresh air and oxygen they need to recover. Any respiratory disease is at higher risk of worsening if air pollution is high.
Hello Paola, The video is very informative and related to the writing. Dallas has some of the worst air pollution of any city in Texas, and it is now the fourth worst city in the US. In terms of pollution, Fort Worth's air quality is among the top 5. The World Health Organization, 2018 recommends that the yearly PM 2.5 exposure not exceed 10 milligrams per cubic meter. However, the findings from the WHO 2019 report don't provide Dallas residents any encouraging news. Dallas Fort Worth is home to a sizable number of vehicles, and this number is rising daily. In addition, a small number of poorly regulated industries are using the gaps in the regulations to go beyond them. Dallas-Fort Worth has grown unfit for sensitive groups and crowded as a result of all this poor management.
ReplyDeleteReference:
1. https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-people-still-breathe-unhealthy-air-new-who-data
Hello Anil,
DeleteThank you for taking the time to read my information posted.
I am afraid that you are correct, Dallas is declining in air quality more and more, and it is becoming an unhealthy place to live for people with underlying medical conditions. The EPA agency is doing its part at a federal level, but there are not enough efficient regulations at the state level. I wonder if this is the reason why many companies want to move to Texas. Is it because Texas is not as regulatory or strict as it should be? This is not sustainable.
Also, the massive population moving to this area is contributing to high levels of fuel emissions and high use of natural resources that are not helping to control air pollution. There must be a stopping point before sustaining a healthy environment becomes almost impossible.