Improving the Air Quality in our Cities
In many countries a re-introduction of electric trams has already achieved improved air quality. Fewer cars on the road mean not only less congested traffic, it also means less harmful pollutants are released into the atmosphere. Electric trams are popular – not only do they get commuters safely, efficiently and speedily from home to work and back again, they are almost noiseless and don’t pollute their air.
Every time transport workers strike in London, Paris or other large cities, commuters discover there are alternatives to taking individual cars, buses and even trains. Suddenly car-sharing schemes spring up, people discover the use of those two limbs dangling off their bodies – yes, we have legs – and they walk or cycle to work. Many discover they prefer this mode of cheap, air friendly transport and never go back to using the car, bus or underground train.
Newly build houses and office blocks fall under more stringent building regulations, taking better care to introduce better insulation, better use of passive solar energy efficient material and even the use of solar panels themselves. More office blocks and high rise buildings have green spaces on their roofs – roof gardens help with filtering of air, with dust particles and CO2 being taken care of by plants. These gardens are now highly sought after spaces of recreation and relaxation among office workers and provide valuable space for urban wildlife to thrive, too.
How to Improve Air Quality around the Globe
More must be done by developed countries to assist developing countries in avoiding our mistakes. America, China and Russia in particular are the main polluters or air. If anything good has come out of the recent disaster in Japan, then it is that is has shown how an economy that is reliant on nuclear power can be extremely vulnerable to natural disasters and how quickly a nuclear power station can deteriorate into a disaster zone.
Improving our air quality by reducing the number of coal burning power stations is a good thing, but replacing them with nuclear plants is not. For the first time in some twenty years countries around the world are addressing this serious issue in the light of safety – not with the usual eye on short term profit for the economy.
The other meltdown is happening in Middle Eastern countries across the whole region and this political and social upheaval has exposed the West’s over-reliance on fossil fuel burning energy. If we want to improve air quality, cut down on pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and gain freedom from being held to ransom by oil and gas producing countries, then governments in developed countries must act to find more funds for research into truly renewable, sustainable sources of energy, which neither put our air quality, water purity, soil condition nor wildlife at risk.
How can we achieve this when countries are ruled by greed not sense? Maybe it’s time for another revolution – maybe it’s time people, instead of politicians started to run the world. We all have it in our power to change the world – we just need to want it badly enough. Who needs politicians? Belgium has shown us that we don’t actually need governments – their wonderful little country manages quite well without one, thank you very much.