A large majority of Australians know of air pollution and its detrimental effects on the environment, but not as many people understand the burden to our health.

Air pollution a real-world issue that has led to many deaths and cases of disease, making it the most widespread and dangerous form of pollution. Australia is a relatively clean country compared to others such as developing countries, however even medium to low levels of air pollution can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.  Yet, in 2026, we still continue to produce harmful pollutants into the air every hour.

Cardiovascular and respiratory health is the most impacted system of health when it comes to the burden of air pollution. Air pollution causes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), of respiratory infections (both upper and lower), of coronary and ischaemic heart disease, strokes, lung cancer, asthma and many more diseases.

Many things can emit air pollution, and air pollution can be found everywhere. The main causes of air pollution are the combustion of fossil fuels which is the most dominant form of energy generation which supply around 77% of global energy. The other main contributors to air pollution are the exhaust fumes released from cars and other automobiles, and greenhouse gases released from industries such as manufacturing and agriculture.

However, we have the possibility to reduce air pollution.  My proposed solution is to raise enough awareness into the impacts of air pollution on our health and advocate for stopping the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and limit the distribution of fossil fuels to energy plants. There are many other methods of energy generation, such solar power, wind turbines and hydropower. Additionally, we could adopt more sustainable methods of transportation, such as public transport or carpooling to minimise the amount of exhaust fumes, we release into our atmosphere.