Deadliest smog and its effect

Smog is a mixture of liquid fog and smoke particles formed when humidity is high and the air so calm that smoke and fumes accumulate near their source. Smog is caused by a number of different pollutants and has some rather serious negative effects on people, animals, and plant life.

Smog is often caused by heavy traffic, high temperatures, sunshine and calm winds. These are few of the factors behind increasing level of air pollution in atmosphere. During the winter months when the wind speeds are low, it helps the smoke and fog to become stagnate at a place forming smog and increasing pollution levels near the ground closer to where people are respiring. It hampers visibility and disturbs the environment.

In Pakistan smog is common in the province of Punjab due to burning of agriculture waste, coal power plants, industrial waste and vehicular emission as well as the pollutant coming from neighboring country (India). Deforestation is also a major cause of smog formation.

Smog caused serious effects on human health. Smog can be responsible for any diseases from minor pains to deadly pulmonary diseases such as lung cancer. Smog is well known for causing irritation in the eye. It may also result in inflammation in the tissues of lungs; giving rise to pain in the chest. Other issues or illnesses such as cold and pneumonia are also related to smog. Minor exposure to smog can lead to greater threats of asthma attacks; people suffering from asthma problems must avoid exposure. Smog also causes pre-mature deaths and affects densely populated areas building it up to dangerous levels.

Smog formation can be reduced by improving fuel quality, phasing out fuel-guzzling cars, introducing solar and other renewable sources of energy, planting trees on a large scale and improving public transportation to reduce the number of cars on the roads. Industries as well as power plant should use filters for stack emission to reduce the release of toxic substances into the environment. Alternative method for crop stubble burning is to plough the stalks back into the earth where they can decompose into humus. Install air quality monitors to different areas of Punjab to get the accurate and updated data.