Compare and contrast air pollution for 2 different urban areas.
The problem of air pollution is one the serious issue in the modern world, as country starts industrialized more pollution are emitted into the atmosphere. Due to increasing factories, and vehicle which uses fossil fuels as the energy source. Climatologist even argues that the increasing air pollution such as carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone contributes the huge part of climate change and the Green House Gas effect which worms up the planet. In this essay 2 different cities will be chosen to compare and contrast, one will be from MEDCs and another from LEDCs. London, and Mexico City are chosen in this case, in this essay it will compare and contrast them in 2 different aspect, which is the causes and the effect of air pollution in those area.
Causes of air pollution in these 2 different places varies, in Mexico City the increase in air pollution are caused by large numbers of vehicles, rapid industrialization and the bad geographical location of the city. Mexico started industrialized in 1870s, but the core of industrialization started after WWII. Since then, the industrial waste increases, more air pollution emitted into the atmosphere. Also, geographical location is one of the most important factor that causes serious air pollution in Mexico City. Mexico City is a city where located at average altitude of 2,240 meter above sea level, with average atmospheric pressure of 25% lower than at sea level, and surrounded by the mountain rage, which will traps the air pollution within the city. Air pollution caused by transportation is one of the causes of both London and Mexico City. However, in Mexico City is due to incomplete combustion of fuels and low quality of it, while London has large number of petrol vehicle that increase air pollution. On the other hand besides transportation, London's air pollution is also caused by the diesel engine, which emit 40% of the capital’s emission of nitrogen dioxide and PM1.0. Also, the weather in London increased energy needed during winter time to warm up the indoors, which people often use wood burning stove that will emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Effect of air pollution in these 2 places are similar, since the effects of air pollution are mainly influences the living things. According to King's College statistics, it suggest that in London up to 5,900 deaths are associated with the nitrogen dioxide long term exposure. However in 2010 nearly half the health effects of long term exposure to air pollution were caused by pollution from outside of London, this means that the pollution aren't just the problem caused by the city of London, rather the surrounding areas. While in Mexico City, the visibility with in the city decreased from 100km in 1940 to 1.5km in 2000s, and the increasing cost of medical treatments, and infant death rates. In 1992, the UN even named it as the most polluted on the planet. Birds would even fall from sky found dead due to high level of lead, ozone, carbon and sulphur in the atmosphere.
Lastly, causes of air pollution in Mexico City and London are similar to a certain extent, such as pollution emitted through transportation, and industrial sector contributes huge part of air pollution as well in both places. Although effects of air pollution are mostly the same, the fact that the health concerns are quite serious in both places.