Air quality crash course
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The document addresses air quality issues, including key pollutants such as PM2.5 and PM10, nitrogen oxides, ground-level ozone, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide, all of which pose significant health risks and are primarily sourced from transportation and industrial processes. While air quality has improved in many cities due to various initiatives, urban areas still grapple with pollution challenges that call for citizen engagement and evidence-based policy solutions. The text encourages individual actions, community collaboration, and participation in 'citizen science' projects to enhance awareness and drive sustainability efforts.
Air quality crash course
- 1. ECOLOGY (Air quality) Critical Approach to Social Issues
- 2. Air pollution: What’s it? acid rain global warming ozone depletion health effects habitat loss transport greenhouse gasses traffic air quality air toxics
- 3. Air pollution: What’s it? In most cities air quality has improved (substantially) over the past decades. The visible and noticeable air pollution (smoke, dust, smog) has disappeared from many cities due to local, national and European initiatives. However, still air quality poses an immediate threat in almost all major cities. • On the one side, due to industrial incidents or pollution episodes; • But also due to the main ground pollutants (e.g., fossil fuel-based mobility).
- 4. Air pollution: What’s it? Airborne particulate matter varies widely in its physical and chemical composition, source and particle size: • PM10 particles (the fraction of particulates in air of very small size (<10 µm)) and PM2.5 particles (<2.5 µm) are of major current concern, as they are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and so potentially pose significant health risks. The principal source of airborne PM10 and PM2.5 matter in European cities is road traffic emissions, particularly from diesel vehicles. Greenhouse gasses: Particulate matter
- 5. Air pollution: What’s it? NOx is a term used to describe a mixture of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). • They are inorganic gases formed by combination of oxygen with nitrogen from the air. NO is produced in much greater quantities than NO2, but oxidises to NO2 in the atmosphere. NO2 causes detrimental effects to the bronchial system. NOx is emitted when fuel is being burned e.g. in transport, industrial processes and power generation. Greenhouse gasses: Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
- 6. Air pollution: What’s it? Ground-level ozone (O3), unlike other pollutants mentioned, is not emitted directly into the atmosphere. • It is a secondary pollutant produced by reaction between nitrogen dioxide (NO2), hydrocarbons and sunlight. Ozone levels are not as high in urban areas (where high levels of NO are emitted from vehicles) as in rural areas. Sunlight provides the energy to initiate ozone formation; consequently, high levels of ozone are generally observed during hot, still sunny, summertime weather. Greenhouse gasses: Ozone (O3)
- 7. Air pollution: What’s it? Fossil fuels contain traces of sulphur compounds, and SO2 is produced when they are burnt. • The majority of the SO2 emitted to the air is from power generation, and the contribution from transport sources is small (shipping being an exception). Exposure to SO2 can damage health by its action on the bronchial system. Sulphuric acid generated from atmospheric reactions of SO2 is the main constituent of acid rain, and ammonium sulphate particles are the most abundant secondary particles found in air. Greenhouse gasses: Sulphur dioxide (SO2)
- 8. Air pollution: What’s it? CO is an odourless, tasteless and colourless gas produced by the incomplete burning of materials which contain carbon (also by their evaporation), including most transport fuels. • CO is toxic, acting by reaction with haemoglobin and reducing its capacity for oxygen transport in the blood. Even in busy urban centres, CO concentrations rarely exceed health related standards. Greenhouse gasses: Carbon monoxide (CO)
- 9. What is in it for me (health and environmental effects)?
- 10. PM 2,5 & PM10 NO2 O3 SO2 CO Current situation in Spain?
- 11. PM 2,5 & PM10 NO2 O3 SO2 CO Current situation in EU? Source: https://www.airqualitynow.eu/
- 12. PM 2,5 & PM10 NO2 O3 SO2 CO Current situation in EU? Source: https://www.eea.europa.eu/
- 13. How do these pollutants impact me? neurological effects respiratory disease birth outcomes health effects cancer cardiovascular
- 14. Do pollutants affect everyone equally?
- 15. What can I do? Solutions?
- 16. What can I do? Solutions?
- 17. What can I do? Solutions?
- 18. What can I do? Solutions?
- 19. What can I do? Solutions?
- 20. Can I push policy-makers to take action? Acting for sustainability is all about: • Raising political agency: To navigate the political system, identify political responsibility and accountability for unsustainable behaviour, and demand effective policies for sustainability. • Promoting collective action: To act for change in collaboration with others. • Doing individual initiatives: To identify own potential for sustainability and to actively contribute to improving prospects for the community and the planet
- 21. Can I push policy-makers or relevant stakeholders to take action? Source: https://www.mcmasterforum.org/networks/evidence-commission/report/english Evidence-based policy (EBP) is an idea in public policy proposing that policy decisions should be based on, or informed by, rigorously established objective evidence. The implied contrast is with policymaking based on ideology, 'common sense,' anecdotes, and intuitions.
- 22. Can I push policy-makers or relevant stakeholders to take action? Source: https://www.mcmasterforum.org/networks/evidence-commission/report/english
- 23. The rise of Citizen Science
- 24. The rise of Citizen Science
- 25. The rise of Citizen Science
- 26. The rise of Citizen Science: Roadmap for participation
- 27. The rise of Citizen Science: Principles Involve citizens in scientific endeavour Participate in multiple stages of the scientific process Greater public engagement and democratisation of science Data and metadata are made openly publicly available Have a genuine science outcome
- 28. The rise of Citizen Science: Is this for me?
- 29. The rise of Citizen Science: Examples (AQ)
- 30. The rise of Citizen Science: Examples (AQ)
- 31. The rise of Citizen Science: Examples (AQ) Procedures Guidelines Criteria Instruments Materials
- 32. Bibliography and resources consulted • https://cshl.libguides.com/c.php?g=474068&p=3243840 • https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/climate/air-pollution-minorities.html • https://www3.epa.gov/region1/airquality/reducepollution.html • https://who.canto.global/v/LOJV1PH4GO/album/LFSA6 • https://www.who.int/news/item/22-09-2021-new-who-global-air-quality-guidelines-aim-to-save-millions-of-lives-from-air-pollution • https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00357-0/fulltext • https://www.airqualitynow.eu/ • https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/poquer-contaminantes-aire-son-sustancias-toxicas-respiramos_1_7959559.html • https://pixabay.com/ • https://www.bi.team/blogs/the-rise-of-evidence-based-policymaking/ • https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/-in-california-extreme-heat-and-ozone-pollution-hit-poor-communities-hardest • https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/air-pollution • https://www.eea.europa.eu/media/newsreleases/many-europeans-still-exposed-to-air-pollution-2015/premature-deaths-attributable-to-air-poll ution • https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/16/ella-kissi-debrah-mother-fight-justice-air-pollution-death • https://vigilantesdelaire.ibercivis.es/el-proyecto/ • https://civity.nl/en/data-management-platform-cip/cip-iot/sniffer-bike/ • https://www.scivil.be/en/guides-and-manuals • https://eu-citizen.science/
- 33. YOUR TURN! • You will conduct a ‘Kind-of’ citizen science project. • You are responsible for starting an introspection process about your carbon footprint. This process will help you to create awareness about your everyday impacts on the environment. • You will share your results with your team and collectively share which are the areas of improvement. • You will be provided with a diary to daily, during two weeks, annotate and report on your daily actions with an impact on the environment where you live. The objective is to think twice about methodologies and strategies to change some habits or behaviours. • You will share your findings (data) with your peers and again detect if you have lowered the impact through the calculator. • You will be asked to design and ideally run a campaign to raise collective air quality awareness in campus. How many people are you able to recruit? What is the different level of commitment? What are the obstacles that you have encountered? • Finally, you and your team will be asked to create a set of 10 proposals to the University of DEUSTO’s sustainability team to improve the air quality on campus putting special emphasis on those actions and activities that students and teachers can do in their daily routine at college.