TO PROTECT LIFE
Even if humans have nothing else in common, we all need to breathe. But over 90 per cent of us are breathing air that is unsafe and exceeds WHO pollution guidelines
A global health crisis can come in different forms. It can sweep across countries, stalling economies, paralysing health services and killing far too many people before their time. It can lead to overnight job losses, business closures, food supply problems and restrict the movement of entire states. It can lead to governments promising hundreds of billions of dollars to support health services, people out of work and the homeless. It can see neighbourhoods spring into action to help each other out.
As I write this, over 30,000 people around the world have died from Covid-19. The World Health Organization’s cumulative cases curve is rising every day, with no sign of levelling out. It feels like society is crumbling and everything has changed. I’m scared for my family, loved ones and my sanity. I’m scared for my friends with no homes, with no papers, and for those on the frontline of essential services who try to keep us all going. I’m scared about what we will be left with when this is over.
But not every health crisis bursts in, slamming doors. One could slip in almost unnoticed, kill millions and destroy habitats, without there being anything tangible towards which we can point the finger of blame. It can be an emergency that, despite putting us in hospital or early graves, we don’t consider enough; we think, instead, that it actually makes our lives easier. It can be a crisis for which the response is discussion and debate, tweaking things around the edges, and exporting the problem onto poorer communities – across town, or across the world. And, largely, to continue business as usual. Air pollution is one such crisis.
In a normal year on planet Earth over seven million people die because of air pollution. Like Covid-19, the most vulnerable people are likely to be affected the worst, but nobody is immune. Even Often in the name of progress and comfort, we are pumping our own lifeline with poison – in our towns and cities, in the countryside, and inside our homes.
