Clean Air and Blue skies: Do not forget Green Land

Do you know the Alphabets of Triple Crisis facing our planet - ABC? Air Pollution, Bio-Diversity Loss and Climate change! This triple crisis is crippling our planet.

The first alphabet A for Air pollution is the greatest environmental threat to public health globally and accounts for an estimated 7 million premature deaths every year, which averages 20,000 people per day! With every breath we take, including that we do during yoga and meditation, we pull in micro particles that damages our lungs, hearts, veins and brains. It causes serious health problems. The most dangerous of these particles, are fine particles 2.5 microns or less in diameter —shortened as PM_2.5. They come from exhausts of cars and two wheelers that we drive with petrol and diesel, burning of coal and gas in the power plants from where we get electricity, construction activities we engage to build our houses and factories and burning wood and agriculture-residues after we harvest the food that we cook and eat. The consequences of air pollution are projected to go beyond the health…….it can affect our genes and change the way the humanity behaves. Genetic susceptibility arising out of air pollution takes us to unknown and scary world.

Come September…. its 7^th Day is declared by United Nations as International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies! Under aegis of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), this 7^th September is the day of year, when we need to 'think twice before taking deep breath'. The theme for 2024 International Day is "Invest in #CleanAirNow". It is very smart theme becausewe fail to take action unless we are instructed using economic terms. Indeed, this investment to clean the air is poised to provide huge returns on the investment, not only economic but also social, health and environmental.

The actions needed to reduce air pollution are within our reach. They include:

• investing in renewable energy

• adopting the electric vehicles

• improving construction activities to reduce the dust.
• managing the waste and ending the open burning of garbage

• bringing an end to the open burning of crops

• accessing cleaner-burning fuels, like natural gas, for cooking
• planting relevant trees and enhancing afforestation

While all above would cost and may not be affordable to all but that investment would pale in comparison to the amount of money saved due to saving in healthcare and hospital bills, preventing loss of life and mitigating the risk of altering the human genes! What more, the same human activities that are causing air pollution are also contributing to climate change. Hence action to clean air would also help in addressing the climate crisis. The benefits of the investment in clean air would provide returns many times more than the returns we get from investment in gold, banks and stock exchange!

Smart Campus Cloud Network of Universities facilitated by Green TERRE Foundation provides practical solutions to the problem of air pollution and inspires students topilot them in the campus. Learning by doing, managing the benefits by measuring them.

The red alert of 7^th September should not force youth in Universities to forget one more colour : green!Yes, we want blue sky. But we also need green planet! END