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Outdoor Air pollution in Lahore
Pakistan's second-largest and most polluted city Urbanization and industrialization are both expanding, which has led to a decline in the city's air quality. Smog, which is harmful to health, is causing a rapid rise in several health issues and growing concerns about its long-term harmful impact on public health. Pakistan is the most urbanized country in South Asia. Lahore, the second-largest city in the country, is regarded as the most polluted due to its 4% annual growth rate. In Asia, haze is a common problem in urban areas, and Lahore is no exception. Following a similar trend to last year, Lahore has once again been covered in an unsettlingly thick layer of smog that has shrouded the entire city and hurt people's health. Over time, the frightening situation has been exacerbated by the exorbitant rise in automobiles, unmanaged deforestation, rapid urbanization, and uninterrupted industrial growth. Smog is to blame for an unexpected increase in fatal health Hello Pakistan! November 27th, 2022 Hello Pakistan, On December 2, 2022, conditions such as asthma attacks, allergic reactions, eye infections, respiratory tract infections, and cardiac disorders will cause premature death. Regarding this circumstance, Sughis et al. found alarming evidence, noting noticeably higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure in Lahore schoolchildren exposed to high levels of air pollution. This concerning discovery underscores the long-term negative effects on the general public's health. Lahore consistently ranks first in the world's major cities' live pollution rankings by IQAir AirVisual due to its severe air pollution problems. Pollution didn't, however, become a major public concern until Pakistan issued the country's first actionable air quality data in early 2017. A network of citizen-operated sensors began monitoring this microscopic particulate matter, or PM2.5, and reporting data in real time due to a lack of publicly accessible government data. The information shocked the people and became a topic of discussion in the media by exposing the severe air pollution in Lahore. As a result of the attention, a public interest suit was filed to review the government's response to the pollution crisis, and in December 2017, it was heard in Lahore's High Court. Until the authorities can publish hourly reports, as the non-government monitors do, the authorities must publish daily pollution updates, according to the court's decision. The Punjab Environment Protection Council created an Air Quality Index (AQI) categorization system and authorized a Smog Action Plan in response to the court decision in 2017. Air quality advocates, however, have criticized the AQI for being overly lenient and understating the severity of the pollution. The AQI in Punjab is "satisfactory," with the caveat that it "may cause moderate breathing discomfort to sensitive people," but the AQI in the United States classified an air PM2.5 concentration of 60 micrograms per submeter as "high." "Unhealthy." Due to this discrepancy, three kids sought a judge's order to deem the Punjab AQI "illegal and arbitrary" in November 2019. The Pakistani government has yet to provide any information on the PM2.5 air quality in real-time as of November 2019. The U.S. State Department and non-government sensors provide all of the data. In the first half of 2019, the United States Embassy in Islamabad, as well as the three United States Consulates in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar, began tracking and publishing real-time PM2.5 data online. When farmers in the broader Punjab province burn crop residues during the winter months of October to February, the air quality in Lahore frequently deteriorates. Smoke from this burning adds to the smog. However, weather variations cause contaminants to stay in the air for a longer period. On IQAir AirVisual's live rankings of significant worldwide cities in November 2019, during the height of Pakistan's "smog season," Lahore frequently came in second place to Delhi and occasionally even passed the Indian metropolis as the most polluted city in the world. IQAir AirVisual ranked Lahore 10th in its 2018 World Air Quality Report.
What causes Outdoor Air Pollution in Lahore?
The burning of agricultural leftovers and other waste products, industrial emissions from vehicles, brick kiln smoke, construction site dust, and crop residue all contribute to the air pollution of Lahore. Large-scale tree removal for the construction of new roads and buildings is one of the other sources of air pollution .Temperature inversions make winter air pollution worse by preventing a warmer air layer from ascending and trapping pollutants in the atmosphere. Photochemical pollution is the main problem that cities like Lahore are dealing with. Smog mostly occurs in the winter when there is an excess of particulate matter and sulfur dioxide. The level of contaminants in a city's air remains rather constant throughout the year. Vehicle and industrial emissions are the same throughout the summer and winter seasons. For instance, in Lahore, the only notable variation between summer and winter is the burning of crops in October and November, which adds to smog. However, throughout the winter, when the air becomes colder and denser, it rises above the surface more slowly. In essence, the city's ventilation is lost. Think of it this way: Even with the exhaust fan running in a small room with 10 individuals smoking, the smoke still poses a threat to anyone nearby who is not a smoker. If you turn the fan off, the hot box you'll have will be considerably more harmful to you. Which is what occurs with Lahore. As the air gets denser and heavier, it can no longer carry the polluting particles with it, which causes sheets of smog to linger over the entire city. Where are these contaminants coming from, and what have we done so far to address them? Saleem Ali, a member of the International Resource Panel for the United Nations, stated that "the pollution in Lahore is generated by a convergence of metrological and anthropogenic elements." The reason for this is that temperature inversion traps pollution in the atmosphere, which when combined with seasonal crop burning on the Indian-Pakistani border and other year-round sources of fog and pollution results in a rise in pollution and winter smog. the causes of the city's constantly decreasing air quality there are several like Lahore. Waste burning, fossil fuel-fired power plants, industrial pollution, automobile emissions, and the coal used in the province's thousands of brick kilns are all major issues. But even these justifications have been politicized. Several government ministers have asserted that Indian farmers burning crops across the border are a significant contributor to the haze in Lahore during the administrations of various political parties. In actuality, the seasons for burning crops are from late October to early November, and the smog is at its worst in December and January. The pollutants from cars and industries are the real causes. 20% of all pollutants are caused by crop burning related to agriculture, while 43% are caused by transportation, with the other pollutants coming from industry and power. Lahore is not only a sprawling disaster with no walkability and a crazy reliance on automobiles and bikes for transportation, but these vehicles also use cheap fuel that is terrible for the air and does not adhere to international standards. The lack of vehicle emissions testing, together with the usage of gasoline of inferior quality, has made the city's air pollution problem worse. The federal government's intentions to transition to fuel that complies with Euro 5 have failed as a result of ongoing economic issues, notably growing prices.
How may Lahore's air pollution be reduced?
All users must first have access to more detailed real-time air quality data. People are better able to protect themselves and organize actions to combat air pollution when they are aware of how much pollution they are breathing in. Improving air quality also depends on reducing emissions from vehicles and industry. The fact of the matter is that we are aware of the problem's underlying source. Many cars in the city emit harmful gases. It is close to unregulated industrial zones, and perhaps worst of all, it has historically gone unaddressed because the problem disappears during the summer. There are two approaches to dealing with this issue. Starting, there are quick fixes that steps must be taken to offer prompt assistance. There are some things the government can do in the interim while a bigger plan of action is being developed. Some of the more extreme solutions have included pulling half the vehicles off the roads, lowering speed limits, and restricting parking in many European nations. Most cities use the argument that air pollution from traffic is a significant cause, so any measures taken must assist. Independent scientific assessments are typically only conducted in the largest cities. Although these actions may seem unfathomable, there is a chance that they will succeed. The Punjab government additionally approved a law directing businesses to tell their staff to work remotely to alleviate traffic. Additionally, schools were closed. There ought to be more of these actions. People can lower their emissions in their daily lives by carpooling, using public transportation, actively converting to greener fuel options, and more. The effects of pollution shorten life expectancy for Pakistanis by two years on average and for Lahore residents by five years. The current WHO 24-hour air quality recommendation value for PM2. 5 concentration in Lahore is 15.7 times higher than the recommended level.