Air is something we can’t live without. And it needs to be clean, unpolluted. So, Planetary Lifeguard, besides saving people from drowning in global warming-caused floods, be on guard to rescue people from diminished air quality that can make them feel like they’re breathing through straws.
Today we must keep our eyes peeled and noses covered from the bad air swirling around us, containing villainous particles attacking our health and wellbeing.
Today, depending on our location, the air may have carryon baggage. We’re like those old railroad porters weighed down with bags bound for trains. Only now our lungs must lug around harmful gases we’re breathing. Sometimes the pollution in the air chokes us and probably will shorten one of our trips, the one we call life.
Air is a mixture of different gases and in earth’s atmosphere is made up of approximately 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent of my personal favorite, oxygen, the most important atmospheric composition for the survival of us living beings.
Air also has small amounts of other gases, such as carbon dioxide, neon, and hydrogen and occasionally that obnoxious gate crasher, ozone.
As a Planetary Lifeguard, you need to keep your eye on him and get up to speed on air quality.
The State of the Air report by the American Lung Association lists the most aerial polluted cities in the United States based on three measures of pollution: ozone, year-round particle pollution, and short-term particle pollution.
Cities with the most ozone formed from dioxygen by action of ultraviolet (UV) light and electrical discharge, include Los Angles, San Diego, San Francisco, and my former hometown that never sleeps, New York, hopefully not because its choking!
The winners in the most year-round particle pollution are Bakersfield, CA., Phoenix, AZ and that toddlin’ town, Chicago. Short-term particle pollution winners are Oakland and Fresno, CA.
Among those with the poorest air quality worldwide are Delhi, India, Beijing, China and incredibly in the star-studded entertainment capital, Los Angeles.
As a Planetary Lifeguard, before you can save the world, you must know these facts:
- More than 18 million people live in counties that got an F for all three air pollution measures in “State of the Air” 2023.
- Breathing in particle pollution can increase the risk of lung cancer.
- Particles in air pollution can be smaller than 1/30th the diameter of a human hair, small enough to get past your body’s natural defenses.
- Climate change enhances conditions for ozone pollution to form and makes it harder to clean up communities with high ozone levels.
Now don’t be depressed, lifeguards. Stay strong and resilient as you blow the whistle on climate change and other disrupters of our environment.
Unfortunately, climate change is expected to worsen air quality in many areas of the United States, increasing the amount of ground-level ozone, which can cause respiratory problems and worsen symptoms of what I had as a kid–asthma. Fortunately, I grew out of it.
Climate change can also increase people’s exposure to allergens like pollen and decrease visibility. Excuse me, I’m allergic to that sentence and going to sneeze!
In addition, climate-driven changes in weather conditions, including temperature and precipitation, are expected to increase ground-level ozone and particulate matter, which can lead to or worsen health problems such as respiratory and heart diseases. Rising temperatures and higher carbon dioxide concentrations related to climate change lengthen pollen seasons and increase the amount of pollen produced by plants. This kind of productivity I sneeze at!
Wildfires becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, can also cause air quality issues by releasing smoke and particulate matter into the air.
Dear Planetary Lifeguards, we must find and promote ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants thereby mitigating the impacts of climate change on air quality. Regulatory initiatives, partnership programs, and individual actions all can help reduce air pollutants that harm human health, and the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
PlanetaryLifeguard founder Tom Madden is bringing his PR prowess to motivate legions of lifeguards to help solve our number 1 problem today, global warming. He is also CEO of TransMedia Group, a PR firm he started when he left NBC. When he’s not rescuing the planet, he’s writing books like his latest, WORDSHINE MAN about how to make writing inviting.
