Md Jahedul Islam

Many cities in our world have been fighting against air pollution for centuries. Air pollution continues to be a major health risk for the world's population. Prevention of environmental pollution (air, water and soil), conservation and utilization of natural resources is becoming possible around the world using science and technology. Meanwhile one of the elements of human survival is air. But the air is constantly changing from its natural characteristics due to many man-made causes.

Air pollution is the accumulation of harmful substances in the Earth's atmosphere that become harmful to humans and their environment. One of the elements of the natural environment is air. Air pollution is more widespread than any other pollution. Because wind can spread pollutants around in a short time. Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental risks to health. This situation of air pollution is regularly highlighted by IQAir a Switzerland based organization. This organization informs and alerts people about how clean or polluted the air is in a particular city.

According to the Air Quality Index (IQAIR) if the air quality of the air temperature is more than 300 then it becomes a disaster. If the pollution is at this level for three consecutive days for three consecutive days then it is customary to declare a health emergency. Recently the capital Dhaka has been ranked first in air pollution among different cities of the world. This information was known from the Air Quality Index (IQAIR) index of the air quality monitoring organization. The air quality of capital Dhaka is deteriorating every day.

Meanwhile in Dhaka which is the busiest city on weekends was at the top of the world in air pollution even though traffic was less and many factories were closed. The condition of air pollution in Bangladesh did not come to this place overnight. We have to spend our days in increasing air pollution for the last one and a half century. But the sad thing is that at no time has much importance been given to reducing air pollution. At present besides sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon-monoxide, nitrogen oxide, volatile organic compounds and lead are also excessive in the air of Dhaka which are seriously harming the human body. This air pollution which is essential for sustaining life that is now a threat to humans and other organisms.

Ingestion of polluted air not only results in inhalation but also death due to toxic reaction of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, coughing, suffocation, chronic asthma, water accumulation in the lungs. According to the World Health Organization there are 4.2 million people die prematurely every year due to air pollution worldwide. One of the worst aspects of environmental pollution is air pollution. Biological modeling is being developed using computer simulation, GIS, data mining, etc. to identify and address the source of these invisible fine particles that pollute the environment.

These models are combined with the real-time data of the Air Quality Index to create a huge database of each and every moment data from various weather stations. This database in the central server is later visualized in the form of graphs and numbers through various software according to the customer's needs. Important results which help in decision making are uploaded on various websites. Audio-video and animation are shown on various apps, Facebook and social media. Consumers can look at these graphs, numbers and results to understand how clean or polluted the air is and what to do about remediation.

Different countries of the world monitor air quality with their own software. Everyone has the opportunity to see the air quality of different places around the world on Google Maps. Mainly due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, soil, water and air pollution is becoming a permanent environmental problem. Textiles, mining, tanneries, metal plating, fertilizer and agricultural industries, batteries, pesticides, ore refineries, petrochemicals, paper manufacturing, brick kilns, vehicle black smoke and garbage incineration are among the major sources of air and environmental pollution.

Another dire aspect of environmental pollution is depletion of the ozone layer. Its ultraviolet radiation causes skin cancer and eye damage. Air pollution affects the entire animal world as it inhibits the process of making food or photosynthesis of plants. Air pollution disrupts the food production process, endangering the plants themselves and the animals that depend on them.

To get rid of this terrible air pollution, arranging water sprinkling every two to three hours in the polluted cities during the dry season, covering the transportation of construction materials and working hours, using suction trucks to collect dust on the roads, stopping illegal brick kilns and increasing the circulation of advanced technology sand blocks, private car and controlling unfit vehicles, planting lots of trees, encouraging rooftop gardens, conservation of reservoirs etc. need to be scaled up. Meanwhile scientists are also working day and night to keep the quality of air in the natural environment correct. These are known as green technology or greentech, environmental biotechnology etc. These biotechnologies are playing an important role in remediating the polluted environment (air, water, land).

The writer is a Network Technician (ICT Cell) Jagannath University, Dhaka.