Pollution Solutions

Isaac Chiang

In today’s society, it is no longer uncommon for anyone to own a car. As more and more cars are produced and resold, the opportunity for individuals to purchase one becomes easier and easier. However, it comes to no surprise that the increase in automobile usage has propelled the release of carbon monoxide (CO) and have littered the air with harmful pollution. In this article, I have chosen to focus my attention on a specific location with an excessive amount of automobile pollution, New Delhi, India.
Cars and motorbikes under heavy smog in New Delhi, India


In the image above, you can see the heavy smog that pollutes modern day New Delhi. With India’s already massive population of 1.34 billion, the amount of traffic that workers and citizens face everyday adds to the smog in the air as stalling a car will produce way more carbon than driving at a moderate speed. The hours of traffic that clog India’s streets creates a massive generation of air pollution and ruins the oxygen that the inhabitants must breathe in. 

In an effort to reduce the amount of pollution in the air, the Air(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was passed in 1981 and had been notable for its benefit. However, in 2016, India was ranked 141 out of 180 countries by the Environmental Perfoermance Index. Even in its efforts to reduce air pollution, India still faces some of the worst air quality and releases some of the heaviest amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

What then, can be done for the millions of inhabitants in India who inhale toxic chemicals each day and what solutions can be brought forth to reduce air pollution? Should scientists focus on creating anti pollution instruments? Or should efforts be made to reduce the burning of fossil fuels in automobiles?



Comments

Anonymous said…
It's crazy how much pollution cars cause and how people even after seeing the effects of automobile pollution do not bother to switch over to more environment friendly options. It's a new decade with many alternative technologies. The main issue with this is that eco-friendly cars seem to cost more money and usually don't have very good sales. The public holds on to their beloved automobiles that contribute to pollution. Personally, I've been introduced to the Delhi smog in India as my parents are from India and when I was a kid it did result to me having to get many scans on my lung functions. I was only around two at that time and it was 2004. Asthma and cystic fibrosis can really worsen by the conditions of air pollution there. I think carpooling can be an effective method to lower the amount of automobile gases but then again it isn't the luxury of having your own car. Also the usage of fuel efficient vehicles can contribute to lower pollution.
January 22, 2019 at 4:28 PM
Anonymous said…
New Delhi along with many other large cities around the world have issues with poor air quality and the large populations of these cities definitely play into this issue. Technology today like cars are great because of the ways they make life easier for us, but they can be extremely harmful to the environment is mass amounts. These toxic chemicals in the air are not good for people to inhale and can seriously hurt the people’s health. Anti pollution instruments would be great to reduce pollution, yet they would be expensive and probably not strong enough to completely undo all of the pollution. We should start at the source: burning fossil fuels. As far as science has gone today, there are many alternatives to burning fossil fuels. People may not want to change their ways but the Indian government could offer tax write offs for those will more environmentally friendly cars.
January 22, 2019 at 4:30 PM
Unknown said…
Something must obviously be done to prevent the amount of air pollution caused by cars because clean air is essential to not only humans, but all other forms of life. We need to find a way of making environmentally sustainable vehicles that are affordable and convenient enough to sell. I have been to São Paolo, a city in Brazil, where the air pollution is very bad, and after just 24 hours my nose was already clogged from all of the particles and smog in the air. The smell of it is everywhere and it must be stopped. Eventually, the world will be covered in a layer of smog, so I believe that to stop this, countries and their leaders must come together to figure out laws and policies that encourage environmentally sustainable methods of transportation.
January 22, 2019 at 5:02 PM
Anonymous said…
I think that a good solution would be to create more affordable electric cars. They aren’t a realistic solution right now because they are so expensive and uncommon. If car manufacturers and governments worldwide worked together, they could create a sustainable solution to reduce air pollution.
January 22, 2019 at 5:59 PM
Anonymous said…
When you look at people in China, they have adapted to the point where people wear masks in the street to not breathe in harmful chemicals. I don’t think such drastic measures are needed, but I do think India needs to start finding ways to utilize clean, renewable energy sources versus fossil fuels. Almost all automobiles use gas and diesel instead of electric cars. We have come to the point that humans have become too reliant on cars and will not give up using cars. Having said this, we need to then spend our resources trying to reduce emissions from cars. I’m not saying we should completely focus our attention on reducing emissions from cars. We should have a balance of researching anti-pollution methods and reducing emissions from cars, but in the long run, I think reducing emissions from cars will have a larger impact.
January 22, 2019 at 7:00 PM
Anonymous said…
I never realized how much cars actually affect air quality. Considering how populated New Delhi is, it is not surprising that the pollution is visible. I think India should really focus on using renewable energy resources in order to help this problem. Electric cars can be pretty expensive so they are not a practical solution considering their price. If they were less expensive then they would be more effective. However, a price drop in electric cars will probably not occur anytime soon so because of this, I believe that creating new air-cleaning tools would be the most effective solution.
January 23, 2019 at 7:34 AM
Anonymous said…
unknown is Bianca
January 23, 2019 at 3:36 PM
Anonymous said…
India, a developing nation, does not give enough priority to environmental protections because it needs to focus on other important issues such as poverty or corruption, which are also extremely harmful to the future. However, my father actually informed me that 1.5 million people in India died from the consequences of air pollution in India one year according to the World Health Organization. The high concentration of people in India does not help the specific case either. In India, many people living in poorer areas of the city or villages cook through open burning, which contributes to air pollution. In order to decrease air pollution, the government could invest money in giving incentives to these families to get cleaner cooking stoves. The government could also encourage people to use clean energy alternatives such as vehicles that use ethanol or electricity. This solution might be very expensive though. In essence, India would reap positive benefits if it invested more into preserving and improving the much-needed environment.
January 24, 2019 at 11:20 AM
Anonymous said…
I love how you specifically focused on New Delhi as a good example of cars causing pollution. Fortunately, as you stated, India is ranked 141 out of 180, so there’s a lot of other countries that are closer to doing things right. Unfortunately, India is literally one of the largest countries in terms of population so that pretty much cancels out. When faced with this specific problem, there are two ways to approach a solution. Preventative measures and damage control. Damage control in this case would be focusing on cleaning the air, preventative measures would involve tings like electric cars to slow down the production of pollution. I think that trying to clean the air doesn’t really solve the main problem here, rather is kinda encourages it. If the air can be cleaned, why go green? I think its important to learn from our mistakes and move on, rather than stay in one place and try to fix them.
January 24, 2019 at 11:20 AM
Anonymous said…
Personally, I feel education is key in order to reduce air pollution and waste production in places like India. I have seen firsthand the state of the environment there, and it is not pretty. There are almost no trees or vegetation, as everything has been cut down to make way for buildings and various other constructions. If we educate the people there to start carpooling, buying electric vehicles, and using sources of renewable energy suc h as wind or solar energy, it will defeinitely have an impact, However, while these developments are taking place, we must also search for a scientific way to remove these pollutants from the air to help heavily polluted places like Mumbai and Beijing. Most importantly, though, we must sustain this in the long run, and make sure the air quality doesn’t become any worse.
January 24, 2019 at 11:38 AM
Anonymous said…
I believe efforts should be made to reduce carbon emissions that come from cars and other means of transportation. Like we have discussed in class, scientists attempting to solve one environmental problem often leads to them unintentionally creating a new problem altogether. Public transportation, bikes, and other various forms of transportation can be used to get from one place to another, especially if it is not a far distance. Not only should people in one country do it, but people all over the world.
January 24, 2019 at 2:33 PM
Anonymous said…
I realized how the ongoing problem is shocking and urgent. I did some research and found out that India had only 35 billion trees (28 trees per person) while other countries have up to 641 billion trees (4,461 trees per person) in Russia. This statistics is extremely shocking but allows us to understand why India’s air pollution is continuously getting worse. As we learned in class, the main factor that transforms the carbon into oxygen is plants and trees. Therefore if a country have only 35 billion trees while producing so much carbon monoxide through excessive use of fossil fuels (car oil), the air would obviously be pollute in a matter of seconds. I believe that the best way to solve this problem out is through the increase of planting trees. It doesn’t necessarily have to be trees as it could be different plants. I believe simply increasing the plants could significantly affect and solve the ongoing air polluting problem in India.
January 24, 2019 at 9:06 PM
Anonymous said…
That’s a great solution. You are very smart.
January 25, 2019 at 11:19 AM
Anonymous said…
Thanks for sharing Arun!
January 25, 2019 at 11:21 AM
Unknown said…
Air pollution can be one of the worst problems to face, especially in an overpopulated country like India. It can cause or even exacerbate health problems, not to mention the effect of carbon monoxide on the environment. A solution that can be used throughout the world is electric and hybrid cars. This would minimize the amount of carbon monoxide being emitted in the first place. In India, the traffic contributes to the problem, so a way to eliminate traffic jams would be to get actual paved roadways and traffic lights to ease the conditions. This way, cars wouldn't spend nearly as much time just sitting in traffic and spewing out dangerous gases into the environment.
January 25, 2019 at 4:53 PM
Anonymous said…
It’s no surprise that cars are polluting the air with carbon monoxide. Everyone knows that cars aren’t great for the environment but because it is unrealistic to expect people to stop using cars for the sake of the environment, other precautions must be taken. It’s surprising to find out that even after the Air Act was passed, India still ranked so low on the index. While I think creating anti pollution instruments would help to improve the quality of air greatly, technology has already granted us with eco-friendly vehicles. Expanded use of these vehicles might be our best bet.
January 25, 2019 at 8:23 PM
Anonymous said…
Undoubtedly the mass population of India plays a drastic role in the environmental conditions of this country; however, it also magnifies how imperative it is for action to be taken. Anti pollution instruments would greatly improve the conditions of India, allowing for this country to begin to clean up the harmful chemicals in the air. However, the primary focus should be on how to stop creating so much smog in the first place. With electrical cars (or other forms of automobiles that don’t run on gas), CO2 emissions would drastically decrease. The government should therefore create tax reductions for certain companies in order to condone this product, as well as propaganda for the public to encourage sales. This would not only help clean up India, but it would also protect the atmosphere for the rest of the world.
January 26, 2019 at 2:33 PM
Anonymous said…
It is great that India is taking steps to reduce its air pollution, but it is going to be very difficult to do something substantial due to their massive population. As the population of India continues to grow, the problem is only going to get worse. I feel like there are a few sufficient solutions, however. First, steps must be taken at the individual level. Carpooling, for one, is a great way to overall reduce the amount of pollution entering the atmosphere. The more people that carpool to their destination, the less cars that need to be on the road and therefore, the less pollution. Another great solution is the use of electric cars. Electric vehicles are becoming more commonplace in today’s society and will definitely reduce pollution output. While they may be costlier, what they will do for the environment is priceless. India’s legislation is a good start, but it will only do so much. The people of India (and the rest of the world) need to take steps to reduce their pollution output, and carpooling and the use of electric cars are a great place to begin.
January 27, 2019 at 8:58 AM
Anonymous said…
Cutting down on air pollution is very difficult to accomplish, especially in a highly populated country such as India. India has taken the correct steps to help reduce pollution, however, if people continue to buy cars at high rate, it will be very difficult to ever begin to reduce pollution. Electric cars are an obvious way to cut down on CO emissions, however at this point they are simply too expensive for many people to buy. I beleive a good solution to this problem is for countries to invest in a quality system of public transportation. This would help ease the reliance people have on their personal vehicles and over time hopefully improve air quality and the environment as a whole.
January 27, 2019 at 12:26 PM
Anonymous said…
Air pollution is a huge problem that needs to be accounted for and not taken lightly. I think automobile companies need to invest more into electronic vehicles or use other renewable resources to power our cars. With this being said, electronic cars a luxury item and are far more expensive than regular cars which makes it hard for many people to buy them. Companies also will probably not reduce the price of electronic cars due to the scarcity of them. Another solution would be to rely more on public transportation rather than everyone owning a car. This would greatly reduce CO emissions and be better for the environment and the people and animals that live there.
January 28, 2019 at 6:30 AM
Anonymous said…
Air pollution is a highly overlooked environmental issue. I think efforts should be made towards creating anti-pollution instruments, such as electronic cars or using renewable resources to fuel cars. However, because of India’s massive population, it is difficult for people to invest in electric cars because they are expensive so automobile companies would have to find ways to create affordable electric cars. A solution to decreasing pollution could be to carpool, using less cars to get to the same area that would reduce carbon monoxide emissions. Another solution is to establish an effective public transportation system, which would significantly reduce carbon monoxide emissions as a lot of people could travel to the same area together. However, these steps must be taken by the people of India and they need to spread awareness and concern for this issue to reach legislation and make change.
January 28, 2019 at 7:19 AM
Anonymous said…
I think it’s surprising how much air population has increased. With newer technology developing countries also have increased the automobile usage. I’ve noticed even in weather apps show that India had bad air quality. I think there must be better public transport due to the huge population in India a subway may be a good transport choice adding to the train transport.
January 28, 2019 at 10:27 AM
Anonymous said…
The issue in India is scary to say the least. Having experienced the pollution in New Delhi firsthand, this issue hits me quite a lot. India has been trying to combat the pollution issue for a while. However, as Isaac said, the problem is too much with the current methods being used. A solution that could probably fix it is the introduction of more buses and other public transportation to lessen the amount of vehicles on the roads. Electric cars could be possibility too, but with India’s bad electricity outputs to the public with frequent blackouts, the likelihood of it being a successful movement is slim to none. Also they could shame utilizing millions of motorcycles and automobiles for activities that could be done by walking or carpooling. This would curb the public’s reliance to their individual vehicles, thus the smog content could lessen with their awareness to sharing vehicles going up and helping the environment and people’s lungs.
January 28, 2019 at 11:25 AM
Anonymous said…
The problem in India may be larger in scale, however, carbon pollution from all around the world is a problem. Even here in the U.S. traffic is halted in major cities and carbon emission remains as a major issue. What then we can do to limit such pollution is to make available a wider array of options for mass transportation that is both efficient and affordable. Whether it be by bus, train, or shuttle cars by maximizing occupancy per transportation device, we produce less carbon emissions. Another solution that may be feasible is one that funds a more developed traffic control system. As Isaac said, cars produce more emissions by sitting still than moving, by reducing the amount of traffic we also reduce pollution and maximize efficiency.
January 28, 2019 at 1:21 PM
Anonymous said…
I think that carbon monoxide and the problems it brings along with it is the sort of problem you don't notice and cant fix until its too late. I think that by persuading more people to use eco friendly methods, and by spreading awareness of this issue, some of the issues may be able to be fixed. however, it will not go away by just awareness. Some government agencies will have to be proactive in securing the health of their nation and its people, pushing more eco friendly policies to help with this problem.
January 28, 2019 at 7:36 PM
Anonymous said…
I knew air pollution was a major issue in many countries, but I didn’t realize it was to the point where you can actually see the fog in India. It would be great if scientist could invent an anti pollution instrument but I believe there are ways for people to just improve this problem. Transportation could be done by walking or biking more often or public transportation, such as buses and trains, could be a suggestion. Planting trees and other plants in every community would be a nice way to purify the air as well.
January 28, 2019 at 9:09 PM
Anonymous said…
Gas cars need to be replaced with electric cars. Electric cars have been getting cheaper and better, but you're hard pressed to find them in the market because they're expensive, so no one buys them. What the government can do is subsidize electric cars, to the point where they're cheaper than gas cars. Eventually, enough people will buy them so as to keep the price down.
January 29, 2019 at 8:42 PM
Anonymous said…
It definitely makes sense that air pollution, especially in densely populated countries, is a serious issue for the environment and for ones health. Carbon emissions are more apparent than ever and we can do things to solve it. In big cities, we can limit the amount of transportation available, and have people go on the bus, metro, etc. Electric cars are a good solution, but it might take ten-twenty years and maybe more before they are affordable to the general public. Electric car charging stations are also in a limited amount. For now, hybrid cars might be the best way to not damage the environment as severely if public transportation is not available, since hybrid cars run on a combination of gas and electricity, and are relatively affordable for the general population.
January 29, 2019 at 9:09 PM
Anonymous said…
The mass population of India has a huge impact of our world’s pollution effect. I think efforts should be made to developing the anti-pollution instruments such as vehicles that only use ethanol or electricity. Doing this wouldn’t have a big impact because not everyone will be willing to change and even so, it would not help to reduce the worlds pollution. I agree that we should begin to create a new strategy other than burning fossil fuels. But our society is not going to change because they don’t see the problems. Another way to help this issue, is carpooling so that less pollution is spread. The obvious solution is electric cars but the transition will take a lot of time and a lot of people will not be willing to change. However, in India, there are a lot of blackouts and I don’t believe they will change because of all the other problems that will come with it.
January 30, 2019 at 8:46 AM
Anonymous said…
I was surprised to see how much India’s population was affecting the worlds population. We need to do something fast to stop the massive spreading of pollution so it doesn’t spread to other parts of the world. One change could be less use of fossil fuels, either by driving electrically or by using more bio-degradable products. The one problem with this is that the solution is either too expensive or too tedious for some people. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
January 30, 2019 at 11:25 AM
Anonymous said…
The pollution in India is crazy! The heavy smog shown is definently not something we should let spread. This smog most likely combines with China’s heavy smog to create a power house of issues. We, as humans, can try filtering out the gasses by targeting power plants and heavy producers. Maybe change over to solar powered or electric cars? There’s an abundence options we could choose from, but combining multiple different strategies will guarantee a better outcome than one solution for pollution.
January 31, 2019 at 8:09 AM
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