Air Pollution, Climate Change, and Human Health in Indian Cities: A Brief Review

Abstract

Climate change and air pollution have been a matter of serious concern all over the world in the last few decades. The present review has been carried out in this concern over the Indian cities with significant impacts of both the climate change and air pollution on human health. The expanding urban areas with extreme climate events (high rainfall, extreme temperature, floods, and droughts) are posing human health risks. The intensified heat waves as a result of climate change have led to the elevation in temperature levels causing thermal discomfort and several health issues to urban residents. The study also covers the increasing air pollution levels above the prescribed standards for most of the Indian megacities. The aerosols and PM concentrations have been explored and hazardous health impacts of particles that are inhaled by humans and enter the respiratory system have also been discussed. The air quality during COVID-2019 lockdown in Indian cities with its health impacts has also been reviewed. Finally, the correlation between climate change, air pollution, and urbanizations has been presented as air pollutants (such as aerosols) affect the climate of Earth both directly (by absorption and scattering) and indirectly (by altering the cloud properties and radiation transfer processes). So, the present review will serve as a baseline data for policy makers in analyzing vulnerable regions and implementing mitigation plans for tackling air pollution. The adaptation and mitigation measures can be taken based on the review in Indian cities to reciprocate human health impacts by regular air pollution monitoring and addressing climate change as well.

Establishment of Repeated In Vitro Exposure System for Evaluating Pulmonary Toxicity of Representative Criteria Air Pollutants Using Advanced Bronchial Mucosa Models

“…The health of susceptible and sensitive individuals can be impacted even on low air pollution days. There are many pollutants that are major contributors to the onset of health problems in humans [31][32][33]. Among them, PM-mediated adverse health effects have already been well studied in epidemiology and have also been used in vivo and/or in vitro models to explain the risk of size and chemical composition of PM [23,28].…”

Air Pollution and It’s Effects on Human Health: A Review Literature

“…Intensified heat waves increased the temperature levels in Urban Cities causing several health issues in urban areas. Every year there are so many deaths happening due to heat waves in Indian Metropolitan cities (Kaur and Pandey, 2021)…”

Association of greenness with COVID-19 deaths in India: An ecological study at district level

“…Environmen t al factors may have a defining and different association with COVID-19 in developing countries characterized by huge population growth, increasing levels of pollution and temperature, urban-rural differences, and a higher proportion of vulnerable population groups, i.e., rural and slum dwellers. Specifically in India, where environmental challenges ( Kaur and Pandey, 2021 ) and socio-economic inequalities ( Saikia et al, 2019 ) have been considerably aggravating human health risks, analyzing the preventing role of greenness in COVID-19 deaths becomes important. Considering the above-mentioned health benefits of exposure to greenness, we hypothesize that district-level greenness may have positive associations with reduced risk of COVID-19 deaths.…”