The evidence that climate change, which is predominantly driven by human activities is happening, is overwhelming. These activities lead to increased atmospheric greenhouse gases, which consequently cause a rise in the temperatures of the earth. Although global warming is also a serious issue especially considering deleterious effects such as flooding and unprecedented weather events, air pollution remains one of the prominent health issues in the U.S. According to Hopkinson et al. (2017), air pollution is the third leading cause of death in the world after hypertension and smoking. The most worrying part is that disadvantaged populations have the greatest risk of suffering from the effects of air pollution compared to historically advantaged groups. For instance, black people in the U.S are more vulnerable of suffering from lung diseases associated with air pollution than the whites (American Lung Association, n.d). Therefore, if air pollution is not curbed, the gap between black people and the whites will continue to widen in terms of healthcare quality and general wellbeing. It is important for all the stakeholders, especially the government beginning from the federal to the local level to create policies aimed at prohibiting industrial processes that contribute to air pollution.
Hopkinson et al. (2017) posit that climate change can increase people’s exposure to mold and pollen allergens. On the same note, rise in temperatures increase accumulation of ground-level ozone and particulates. Consequently, some of the lung associated infections include asthma, COPD, rhinosinusitis, and respiratory tract infections (Hopkinson et al., 2017). According to the American Lung Association (n.d), African Americans, and especially the poor are at a greater risk of suffering from the mentioned diseases for various reasons. The first reason is that the industries which produce most of the harmful air pollutants are located close to the black neighborhoods. The location may not be deliberate, but it could be associated with the historical discrimination system. African Americans may have settled close to these industries in search of employment opportunities because most of such industries rely heavily on manual and cheap labor. Secondly, the segregation system led to African Americans settling in congested neighborhoods with poor facilities. On the converse, most of the whites live in suburbs, which are mostly far away from the industrial plants that emit air pollutants.
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Air pollution also emanates from smoke produced by traffic and dust particles. African Americans, particularly those at the lowest socio-economic pyramid are more likely to use public transport, and therefore, have more chances of exposure to air pollutants (Kim et al., 2018). On the issue of dust particles, African American neighborhoods which are often congested often have little green cover to trap dust particles. Inner cities are poorly planned compared to the white suburbs. White people living in the suburbs are exposed to lush green gardens and neighborhoods with tree cover, which cushion them from dust particles. Therefore, the environment in which the various groups in the U.S live has a significant impact in determining whether they will be affected by diseases caused by air pollution.
In order to curb air pollution, the federal, state, and local governments need to collaborate and sometimes to work independently to create policies that mitigate this problem. For instance, Hopkinson et al. (2017) propose the investment in public transport to reduce traffic particularly in the inner cities. The government should also invest in infrastructure that promotes walking and cycling. On the same note, all levels of government should regulate the activities of factories to curb emission of air wastes. For example, industries producing harmful wastes can be banned from setting base near to residential places, and should have absorbers fitted on their chimneys to sift the harmful gases. The effectiveness of such measures lies in the monitoring process. The government needs to create agencies that evaluate the activities of such industries to determine whether they are adhering to the established guidelines. Companies that do not adhere to the measures can face severe consequences such as heavy penalties or being closed.
The implementation of some of the measures outlined above can have positive effects on the healthcare delivery system. Firstly, the burden placed on the healthcare system will be lessened. Since the objective of the healthcare system is to ensure the wellbeing of people, sometimes it is better to prevent some diseases than to cure them. Therefore, one of the prominent roles of the healthcare system is prevention. Secondly, there will be general improved wellbeing of all the people in the country including the African Americans who have been historically disadvantaged. The blame usually directed to the healthcare system for health disparities among different populations will decline.
To conclude, air pollution, which is an environmental issue, not only threatens the health of many people worldwide but also risks widening the gap between the whites and African Americans in relation to healthcare outcomes. Lung diseases arising from air pollution show the stark differences in health quality between these groups and even raise questions about residential policies for the groups. Air pollution arises mainly from industrial activities, traffic, and dust particles. African Americans have the highest risk of exposure to all these agents especially because of their socio-economic disposition. To mitigate this challenge, the federal, state, and local governments need to curb industrial activities and plan residential areas for the disadvantaged groups better.
References
American Lung Asssociation. (n.d). Disparities in the impact of air pollution. https://www.lung.org/clean-air/outdoors/who-is-at-risk/disparities
Hopkinson, N. S., Hart, N., Jenkins, G., Kaminski, N., Rosenfeld, M., Smyth, A., & Wilkinson, A. (2017). Climate change and lung health: the challenge for a new president. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/thoraxjnl-2017-209978
Kim, D., Chen, Z., Zhou, L. F., & Huang, S. X. (2018). Air pollutants and early origins of respiratory diseases. Chronic diseases and translational medicine , 4 (2), 75-94. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6033955/
