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City air: The invisible threat?
Poor air quality affects 80 percent of people in cities. One death in every nine is caused by air pollution, according to the World Health Organization.
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A hazy view of Jakarta. For Asia’s population, renewable energy will be essential to meeting growing demand while tackling climate change and air pollution. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he world’s cities occupy just 3 percent of the earth’s surface, yet they consume 60-80 percent of global energy. They also produce 75 percent of the world’s carbon emissions and consequently contribute significantly to global warming.
But if an uncertain climatic future seems far away to you, consider the state of your nearest city, and in particular, the quality of the air in its streets. Poor air quality affects 80 percent of people in cities. One death in every nine is caused by air pollution, according to the World Health Organization.
It’s an invisible threat that contributes to heart disease and the incidence of strokes, which by the way is the number one killer in Indonesia.
Most of us have no idea of the extent of this hidden danger, let alone any notion of the measures being taken to manage the consequences.
Every day our basic life needs include about 1.5 kilograms of food, ideally 2 to 3 liters of water and as much as 11,000 liters of air.
Considering there are 7 billion of us with life needs it should not come as a surprise that all too often the sparks of human conflict result from competition for the available energy, food and water, among dwindling forests, scarce agricultural land and disputed seas. We accept there is a cost attached to food and water, but who would expect to pay for the air we breathe? Last time I checked, air was free.
Good or bad, air is our most shared resource. Data gathered across 1,600 cities reveals the threat to air quality is equally felt in Europe, North America and Africa as it is in Asia. Cities from each of these continents feature high on the polluter lists. Jakarta’s annual mean for outdoor air pollution is double the WHO guideline limit.
