Health problems caused by air pollution!

Exposure to unclean air quality has been associated with hospital admissions and several serious health effects, including premature death. People with asthma, cardiovascular or lung disease, as well as children and elderly people, are considered to be the most sensitive to the effects of bad air quality. Adverse health effects have been associated with exposure to fine particulate matter over both short periods (such as a day) and longer periods (a year or more). Bad air quality is also responsible for environmental effects such as corrosion, soiling, damage to vegetation and reduced visibility.

Danger indoors!

Modern buildings are constructed so tightly that odors and pollutants are trapped inside. Nature’s own cleansing process, which uses both activated oxygen and negative ions are left outside.Dust, pollen, molds, mildew, bacteria and viruses can fill the air in our living spaces. These can cause odors, irritation and allergic response. Fumes from paints, cleansers, carpets, pressed board, fabrics and other chemicals are also breathed in daily by you and your family.

Cases of death caused by increased air pollution

Urban areas already suffering from pollution will be affected most.Yet because it does not affect respiration directly, CO2 is not considered a classic air pollutant. Noting that increasing levels of CO2 cause temperature and water vapor content to rise, Jacobson uses photochemistry to determine that these factors independently feed back to increase ground-level ozone concentrations.This can harm lung function and irritate the respiratory system. Using a high-resolution model that correlates pollution levels to human health, the scientist finds that each one degree Celsius rise in temperature may increase U.S. annual air pollution deaths by about 1000.About 40 percent of these deaths may result from elevated ground-level ozone concentrations. The rest are likely from particles, which would increase due to CO2-enhanced stability, humidity, and biogenic feedbacks.The author notes that many of these deaths would occur in urban populations subject to smog, as are residents of some areas of California. Extrapolating U.S. deaths to global population yields will be about 22,000 excess deaths expected worldwide if air pollution continues.

What did singapore do?

Introduction of singapore's gas emission

Measures taken by NEA

NEA monitors the ambient air quality through the Telemetric Air Quality Monitoring and Management System. The system comprises remote air monitoring stations linked to a Central Control System via dial-up telephone lines, provides an efficient means of obtaining air quality data.The monitoring stations monitor both ambient and roadside air quality. The automatic analysers and equipment at the stations measure the concentrations of major pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, ozone, hydrocarbons and respirable suspended particles (PM10).

locations of air quality monitoring stations

New policy adopted by NEA

The present project aims at developing a state-of-the-art three dimensional, non-hydrostatic mesoscale computer model for air pollutant dispersion and transport analysis. The model will cover a wider range of problems typical for tropical air dispersion conditions in Singapore. The computational air dispersion model will include complicated physics of flow, mass, momentum, energy transport and chemical transformation over a large computational domain. Fundamental physical understanding, meaningful air quality prediction and reliable parameter estimations will be verified with the air quality and meteorology data available from the National Environment Agency (NEA). Advanced computational technologies, such as high accuracy algorithm, parallel processing will be employed in the model, to achieve high computational efficiency. The developed air pollutant dispersion model will enhance NEA's capability in real time air quality analysis, environmental evaluation, management planning, emergence response, and policy making support.

Air pollution in indonesia!

In September - October 1997, fires in Indonesia were some of the most wide - spread polluting fires ever recorded. Basically forest fires were one of the main culprit, of which generates ash and smoke particles into the Earth’s atmosphere. Normally, such fires would die out with the monsoon rains at the end of September.But due to dry weather, fires continue to burn.

Human activity and regular dry periods, together with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), are now forming a "hot mix" which has led to devastating forest fires.



Causes of air pollution in Indonesia



Factories emitting waste and solid particles, motor vehicles emitting nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides and hydrogen carbon also contributed to the large scale air pollution in Indonesia.


Carbon monoxide (CO). An odorless gas emitted from vehicles, particularly those without a catalytic converter. Some emissions result from industrial fossil fuel burning.
Lead. Emitted in particulate form by vehicles burning leaded gasoline, or from lead smelting and other metal processes.
Ozone. Created under certain weather conditions (sunny, still days) by VOCs and nitrogen oxides. Unlike the protective layer of ozone found in the earth’s stratosphere, ozone in the troposphere—where most plants and animals live—creates a photochemical smog and is highly toxic.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Include hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, and ethers. VOCs play a role in ozone formation and are emitted by industrial processes and vehicles.















Due to consistent winds, haze from forest fires in Indonesia travelled to Singapore. This caused an unhealthy haze index, obstructing the daily lives of Singaporeans, and threatening us in many ways.Smog harms the human bodies which causes illnesses such as headaches,Asthma, and stinging eyes.Haze would contaminate water supplies, disrupt air flights, and daily lives of Singaporeans.Air pollution also causes ozone depletion which results in greenhouse effect. This increases the emission of the carbon dioxide which results in global warming.Airborne pollutants, especially sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxides from factories and power station, also produces acid rain when combined with clouds. Acid rain in turn destroys memorable structures, buildings, kills aquatic organisms and so on.