European Society of Cardiology. (2019, August 23). Pollution and winter linked with rise in heart attack treatment. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 24, 2019 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190823080021.htm
A study done by the European Society of Cardiology has found higher levels of a medical procedure used to treat arterial blockages, called angioplasty, in regions with polluted air than in regions with clean air. Additionally, the study touches on sensitivity and adaptation to pollution, for example, they found that when pollution increased in non-polluted environments, there was a greater increase in angioplasty procedures than when pollution increased in already polluted environments. They concluded that people from more polluted environments are able to “adapt to fluctuations” in pollution, while people from cleaner environments are “more sensitive to changes in pollution”. The study also explores the correlation between winter and higher amounts of pollution worldwide, defining winter as the “the most polluted time of year”. This could be due to artificial heating, which increases smog levels.
This article is related to environmental science because it studies how humans react to changes and fluctuations in their environment. I thought this article was interesting because it underscored the different reactions one might have towards a certain environmental issue based on where they are from. For example, that prolonged exposure to pollution in your environment can influence you to be less susceptible to react to changes in pollution in your environment. This means that although people who live in highly polluted places are subject to much more pollution and in turn have more health issues, they may be more suited to react to a drastic change in pollution in the future. I am interested in how one might be able to combat pollution related issues by harnessing this adaptation to fluctuations in pollution. I wonder how and if one’s predisposition for health issues not relating to the heart might also be affected by these fluctuations in pollution.
This is a really interesting article! Your summary and reaction were very well written, too. It’s intriguing how winter was deemed the most “polluted time of year”, as a result of artificial heating. I was a little confused by this, though, because I assumed that burning fires inside the home would contribute to pollution that artificial heating would. Did I interpret this wrong, or am I just wrong?
Both burning fires inside the home and artificial heating will contribute to pollution. This is because coal, which is burned to generate the power for the artificial heating devices, disperses lots of pollution and sulfur oxides when burned, contributing to the smog.