Historical Significance
How many people have been affected?
About 7.3 billion people globally are exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution each year, with 7 million resulting in death.
Social - Transportation
Changes: In the past, cars and other vehicles produced emissions and fossil fuels, and airplanes did not produce a lot of fossil fuels. On the other hand, today, electric cars are reducing the pollutants produced, and cars are more fuel efficient but globally, airplanes use a combined 99 billion gallons of fuel per year.
Continuities: Most vehicles today still depend on oil and petroleum to run, and many people rely on vehicles for transportation.
Underlying Causes
Industrial processes, transportation, and agriculture are the underlying causes because they directly put pollutants into the air which people breathe in and the environment gets affected, also limiting resources for humans.
Who was involved historically?
London, Netherlands, Manchester, Germany, France, and Belgium are some of the locations that have had a big impact on air pollution. Focusing on London and Manchester having some of the biggest events contributing to air pollution during the Industrial Revolution.
Evidence- scienceandindustrymueseum.org
Name a historical event involving conflict with air pollution
The international environmental destruction on Kuwait during the 1991 Gulf War. Iraq set fire to Kuwait's oil wells, forming an 800 mile smoke plume.
How have people been affected?
Air pollution affects people by damaging health and the environment that provides us with food and clean drinking water. When air pollution makes these resources unsafe, it can lead to a food and water shortage.
Political - Industrial Processes
Changes: In earlier years, industrial processes were reliant on manual labor, only some machines were used, and ran by people. Today, these processes are more reliant on automated labor and advanced technology and machines.
Continuities: Industries continue to use machines that require humans to run.
Short Term and Trigger Causes
The short term causes of air pollution are vehicle exhaust, wildfires, dust storms, and particle matter like ozone. This is because they temporarily cause a lot of pollutants to enter the atmosphere at one time and affect people very quickly. The trigger cause is the burning of fossil fuels because it is the most significant factor, used for many different things.
Compared to what we face today, what circumstances were different in the past?
Their technology circumstances were different because it was less advanced than what we have today in terms of manufacturing and processes involving the burning of fossil fuels.
Perspectives and Point of Views
Kuwait- Environment damaged and polluted and unsafe living conditions.
Iraq- Acted in response to Kuwait's oil over-production
How long lasting is the increase of air pollution?
These changes come with short term and long term effects. In short term, people can experience difficulty breathing; eye, nose, and throat irritation; and headache, dizziness, and fatigue. In the long term, air pollution has been shown to cause hear disease, lung cancer, respiratory diseases, organ damage, and other damage to the body. These effects can be life threatening and the worsening air pollution is long lasting because the pollutants are in the atmosphere.
Impact on Environment - Natural Sources
Changes: In the past, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and dust storms released ash, dust, and gases into the atmosphere. Today, wildfires have seen an increase in frequency due to climate change which is worsening air pollution. The pollutants in the soil have limited our resources such as drinking water and crops.
Continuities: Still, natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions and dust storms put pollutants into the atmosphere.
Relevant Social Forces
Electricity generation for the society and wildfires, dust storms, and volcanic eruptions are all social forces because communities using electricity rely on power generation which releases harmful pollutants. Natural disasters happening around communities also release ash, dust, and smoke which are contributors to air pollution.
How did the technology circumstances influence their historical actions?
The technology factors influenced their actions by implementing new rules and regulations of manufacturing and causing new technology to be invented.
Ethical differences
Our values are more focused on reducing climate change/ global warming and limiting pollutants released into the atmosphere to maintain good health,, while the Gulf War participants were more focused on the economy and resources they got out of the attack, without considering the threats of pollution to health and the environment.
How does air pollution relate to emerging issues?
Air pollution is a big contributor to climate change, specifically global warming. This topic sheds light on global warming because it's an emerging issue and is going to worsen along with air pollution if we don't learn the damaging effects of air pollution. In conclusion, this event might be part of the larger story of climate change.
Cultural - Agriculture
Changes: More recent agricultural processes use pesticides and fertilizers, putting harmful chemicals into the air. We have also been using heavy machinery to operate, burning more fossil fuels.
Continuities: Livestock operations used in the past are still used today, producing harmful emissions like methane, nitrous oxide, and ammonia gas. Another agricultural process that has stayed the same is the burning of crop residues, releasing smoke, soot, and other pollutants into the air.
Individuals Involved
People who drive any kind of transportation vehicle, and different household practices are individuals involved in air pollution. Vehicles and transportation such as cars, trucks, planes, and trains burn fossil fuels, releasing pollutants and emit greenhouse gases.
Secondary Sources
Source #1:
Author: Media Ethiopia; Created: May 29, 2025
Historical events occurring at this time: 2008 Beijing Olympics marathon; Haile Gebreselassie, and Ethiopian World Record Holder and Olympic gold medalist, did not compete because of the high level of air pollution.
Why was it created and for who? It was created to inform readers that the high levels of air pollution make it dangerous to breathe in the air. The intended audience could be marathon runners or athletes, or people in Beijing who should be aware of the high levels of air pollution.
What Point of view does the author represent and how does it shape the source? The author's point of view is that air pollution i holding Ethiopia back in the Olympics because of the threat to Haile Gebreselassie's health. This point of view shapes the source by stating how risky breathing the polluted air can be.
What evidence does this source contribute to the topic? This source provides evidence to the topic of air pollution's effect on health because it is an example of how being outside in Beijing with high levels of air pollution is so dangerous that the Ethiopian marathon runner had to announce he will not be competing since his health would be threatened.
Source #2:
Author: Cenage Group; Created: 2024
Historical events occurring at this time: The Space Race, Civil War in Sudan, Russia Ukraine War, climate change, and attacks in the Middle East
Why was it created and for who?: It was created to inform readers about how the air gets polluted and its effects on humans and the environment. The intended audience is everybody because this is a global issue.
What Point of view does the author represent and how does it shape the source?: The author's position is that we need to use cooperation, communal commitment, and environmental awareness to combat air pollution. The authors position shapes the source because the information will be focused on the negative impact of air pollution on the environment and health.
What evidence does this source contribute to the topic?: The evidence it contributes to the topic is how air pollution has affected, and is continuing to affect health and the Earth. Because of this, we can learn how to help improve air pollution and different ways to run factories more sustainably.
Implications- Reparations and Restitution
The implications that were revealed about reparations and restitution during the 1991 Gulf War is that the UN had to establish a compensation commission to manage the reparations and distributing damage claim, 352.5 billion dollars in total. It took Iraq a total of 30 years to make their final payment. The reparations process also caused implications for the Iraqi economy and international community relationships.
How will the significance change over time?
The historical significance of air pollution and how it will change over time is dependent on our actions. If we continue to produce pollutants, it will become a more significant issue that we need to change immediately. On the other hand, if we find are able to reduce the burning of fossil fuels and using resources that put harmful chemicals into the air, the issue might become less significant because we won't have the increase in health issues and damage to the environment.
Economic - Power Generation
Changes: Electricity has gone from being in limited places, to becoming more universally accessible which means we use a lot more coal and hydropower to fuel it.
Continuities: Electricity continues to be powered using coal, natural gases, and oil.
Groups Involved
The groups involved are factories, power plants, and manufacturing processes. These groups release a large amount of emissions, burn fossil fuels, and produce emissions. During the Industrial revolution, air pollution worsened with the burning of fossil fuels for the manufacturing industry.
Primary Sources
Source #1:
Author: Navin Singh Khadka Created: May 12, 2025
Historical events occurring at this time: Air pollution limiting the visibility of the Himalayan Mountains.
Why was it created and for who? It was created to inform readers on how air pollution is worsening. The intended audience is people wanting to visit the mountains of people living in Nepal.
What Point of view does the author represent and how does it shape the source?: The authors point of view is that he grew up looking at the Himalayan Mountains, and ever since he's come back to visit, they're getting harder to see with the rise of air pollution. The point of view shapes the source because it's a firsthand perspective on some of the environmental effects of air pollution.
What evidence does this source contribute to the topic?: It contributes to my topic because it tells us how air pollution is affecting the Earth, and its an example of how the issue has gotten more severe overtime.
Why is thinking about air pollution meaningful?
The meaning of focusing on air pollution is to stop the increase in high amounts of pollutants and fossil fuels because it is damaging our health, and our environment. To reduce air pollution, we need to learn about its main causes and effects, and look at all perspectives of the issue.