Page 15 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

İrde Çetintürk Gürtepe - Fatih Turan
Fatma Varank

1. Introduction

The air, we breathe, is one of the essential elements affecting our quality
of life. An adult person breathes thousands of liters of air per day. For this
reason, air is an indispensable part of life. According to data from World Health
Organization (WHO, 2018) and Global Burden of Disease studies (Cohen et al.,
2017; Ebrahimi et al., 2021) which is renewed every four years, millions of people
pass away at an early age each year due to illnesses that can be associated
with air pollution. Air pollution does not show an immediate and visible effect
like other types of pollution. Pollutants taken through inhalation exceed the
threshold amounts over time and leave visible and permanent damage to our
body. For this reason, air pollution is described as a “silent killer” by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN-UNHR, 2018).
Population growth, expansion of cities and our increasing demand for life
comfort also lead to an increase in energy needs in heating, cooling, and
lighting. More energy supply means more fuel consumption and therefore
air pollution. In this case, air pollution is becoming one of the most priority
environmental themes that need to be managed.
Air pollutants are divided into two types as gases and particulates, which
are emitted into the atmosphere in direct or indirect ways. According to
their life cycles in the atmosphere, their half-lives can be grouped as short/
reactive (ground-level ozone, methane, black carbon) or resistant to reactions
(carbon dioxide). Short-lived pollutants have a higher potential of warming
the atmosphere and oceans compared to carbon dioxide (CCAC, 2018).
Air pollution and climate change are quite closely connected with each
other. Air pollutants, especially particulates, have impacts on climate change
(Arfin, 2023). Air pollutants are identified as indirect greenhouse gases and
contribute to the secondary formation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
with their reactive structure. Considering the aspect of a single atmosphere,
mainly the carbon dioxide is emitted from the same sources from which the
greenhouse gases are released. On the other hand, it has been shown that
climate change also has an effect on the increase in air pollution, especially
on particulate matter concentrations and ozone exposure (Tagaris et al.,2009).
In the industrial revolution, the first written legal regulations in the field of
air management were implemented due to rising voices against the intense
air pollution, which is the result of the “produce and only produce” approach
without taking into account the protection of resources. In this regard, Smoke
Reduction Law first enacted in 1926, however thousands of people died as a
result of “Great Smog of London” on December 4, 1952, which was followed
by the Clean Air Act that entered into force in 1956. This regulation, which

2 Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate