Back to list 2020-02-10 14:10:30

During winter, the convergence of human activities and natural phenomena can worsen air pollution.

Sometimes during the winter months, air quality can drop suddenly due to a meteorological effect known as “temperature inversion”. Most of the time, the temperature of the atmosphere decreases with altitude, meaning it gets colder the higher you go.

However, a temperature inversion occurs when the atmosphere actually becomes warmer as altitude increases. These inversions are recurrent during the winter months, as nights are longer and the sun, low on the horizon, heats the atmosphere more than the planet’s surface. Such inversions trap air pollution, such as smog, close to the ground. Coupled with the increased household heating and vehicles emissions, together they can have a major impact on air pollution quality.

MSH China has decided to give you a few easy tips on how to tackle air pollution and how to protect yourself from it.

How does pollution harm your health?

Outdoor air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting everyone in low, middle, and high-income countries.

Outdoor air pollution in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide per year in 2016; this mortality is due to exposure to small particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less in diameter (PM2.5). PM2.5 is so tiny that it can pass through many of our body’s protective armors such as mucous membranes and other barriers, to damage our lungs, heart and brain.

Children are highly affected by air pollution. Exposure to air pollution is linked to respiratory disease, cancers and cognitive impairment in infants, children and adolescents. Air pollution kills 7 million people every year, 4 million of whom die from indoor air pollution.

How can you fight air pollution?

1.       Don’t drive during rush hour

2.       Use public transportation, bike or walk to work

3.       Limit spending time at specific hotspots of traffic such as cars stopped at traffic lights

4.       Don’t burn waste as the smoke that results damages our health

5.       Limit walking on busy streets during rush hour – and if you have a young child with you, try and lift them up above the level of vehicle exhausts

6.       Use anti-pollution mask (rediscover our article on how to choose the right anti pollution mask here)

7.       Turn off lights and electronics not in use

8.       Use renewable en