How Climate Change Is Changing the Air We Breathe and Impacting Lung Health

By Beth Rush

The impact of climate change is unprecedented, encompassing a range of effects, from rising ocean levels to reduced survival rates among animals. However, there are more subtle effects that have dire consequences when you look closer. One example is how it changes the atmosphere.

How Does Climate Change Affect Our Air?

Climate change can affect the air’s composition, temperature and more. Here are five main effects and their consequences. 

1. Drier Air 

Climate change leads to global warming, which many people experience through changes in temperature. It also causes a phenomenon known as a high vapor pressure deficit (VPD). This air dryness happens as water evaporation is amplified across ecosystems. 

High VPD is becoming more frequent in numerous areas of the United States. Summer conditions are projected to push VPD too high by 2060 to 2099, making the deficit unable to saturate the air with water. 

Unfortunately, these conditions can exacerbate airway inflammation and lead to lung diseases. They can also exacerbate the conditions of people already coping with respiratory diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

2. Higher Temperatures

Climate change and global warming also cause sweltering environments. Discomfort aside, these higher temperatures can cause you to sweat more, leading to dehydration. Chronic dehydration can affect the healthy function of your organs, immune and digestive systems, joints, and even your brain. It also leaves your airways without lubrication, making it hard to breathe.

Lungs may cope with dehydration by triggering rapid breathing. Unfortunately, dry air can offer minimal to zero relief. Drinking water and replenishing your bodily fluids can combat these health consequences. 

If you’re experiencing shortness of breath due to heat exhaustion, consider finding a cool place to rest. Emergency services are also helpful, especially when experiencing symptoms of heat stroke. 

3. More Pollution

The air is filled with many pollutants, most of which are created by human activities. Carbon dioxide is one of the most commonly known gases that traps heat and contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer, thereby exacerbating global warming. 

Other short-lived climate pollutants include black carbon and methane. These pollutants influence weather processes and lessen agricultural yields, affecting the environment and food security. For context, methane is about 84 times more potent than CO2.

Unfortunately, climate change can worsen air pollution levels. Warm weather can be a breeding ground for these harmful gases to linger in the air. 

4. Increased Allergens

Climate change also affects the amount of allergens in the air. Due to warmer weather, pollen production rose by about 21% in 2023. It’s expected to worsen, with scientists estimating that some plant species will ramp up production by 250% over the next 60 to 80 years. 

Global warming can lead to increased rainfall and flooding. As a result, the atmosphere will produce more moisture, increasing the likelihood of mold. Aside from releasing spores to trigger allergic reactions, this effect can also worsen other respiratory diseases. 

5. More Extreme Weather Events

One of the most significant ways climate change impacts the air is through more extreme weather events. Isolated instances like forest fires are harmful to your lung health. Wildfire-related carbon emissions increased by 60% around the world between 2001 and 2023, showcasing their contribution to air pollution. 

How to Protect Your Lungs and the Environment

Climate change harms both your lung health and the environment as it affects the air. It’s important to make several changes to protect both factors. Here are some suggestions on what you can do to safeguard yourself and the Earth:

✔️ Avoid smoking: Smoking can be detrimental to your lung health. It also contributes pollutants to the environment, which can worsen air quality for you and everyone around you. Consider seeking help and quitting the habit. 

✔️ Stay hydrated: Drinking water can help you combat air dryness and high temperatures, as it lubricates your airways and helps your lungs. Tap water has a lower environmental impact, as its carbon footprint is 300 times smaller than that of bottled water. 

✔️ Get an electric vehicle: Consider switching to an electric vehicle. These cars are more environmentally friendly compared to gasoline-powered ones and can keep your lungs pollution-free. 

✔️ Wear face masks: If you’re sensitive to dry and dirty air, wear face masks to limit your exposure. Disposable ones can create waste for the environment, so consider cloth-based ones and other reusable options. 

✔️ Use an air purifier: The atmosphere outside can affect indoor air quality. Consider using an air purifier with HEPA filters to free your indoor environment of airborne pollutants and allergens from outside. 

✔️ Spread the word: Slowing climate change is the best way to regulate air quality, but it requires a collaborative effort from everyone. Share what you know with friends, families, and colleagues. You can also participate in eco-friendly organizations and do your part to help the environment. 

Help Your Health and Your Surroundings

It’s imperative to realize how climate change affects the air and increases risks to human health. The sooner you have that knowledge, the more cautious you can be in your daily life. Follow the tips above to keep your lung health and the environment in better shape. 

About the author: Beth Rush is the green wellness editor at Body+Mind, where she covers topics like the power of climate consciousness at all stages of education. You can find Beth on Twitter @bodymindmag. Subscribe to Body+Mind for more posts by Beth!

The Future of Urban Mining: Equipment Innovations for Sustainable Material Recovery

Urban mining takes the idea that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure to the extreme. Instead of relying on an open-pit mine halfway across the world, city planners and construction crews can source materials locally. This approach would help them develop green buildings even if they use unsustainable substances like concrete and steel.  

In metropolitan areas, people are surrounded by valuable resources, much of which ends up in a landfill once it reaches its end-of-life stage. Sustainable material recovery is an excellent alternative. Discover what urban mining is and how equipment innovations in this sector are impacting its future outlook.

Sustainable Material Recovery Is Superior

Conventional mining is destructive, damaging the surrounding ecosystems and depleting natural resources.

Traditional mining involves digging vast holes in the earth to dig up coal, metals for batteries, and other natural resources for human use. 

Even with environmental remediation, the process can still disrupt or destroy local wildlife and plant life for an extended period.

Despite its drawbacks, it remains necessary to secure the raw materials people need to make infrastructure, electronics, and batteries. 

What Is Urban Mining?

Urban mining involves reclaiming valuable resources, such as brick, steel, concrete, copper, and nickel, from municipal and construction waste. These materials are found almost every few steps in metropolitan areas, making cities the perfect place for raw material sourcing.

Salvaging recyclables from solid waste gives nonrenewable materials a second life, making them useful once more. Cities can collect rubber, wood, asphalt, and ceramics through construction and demolition projects, in addition to the plastics, metals, and tires they gather from municipal and non-hazardous solid waste. 

This approach is incredibly efficient because cities have already transported, processed, and refined raw materials. For example, one ton of smartphones has 100 times more gold than one ton of gold ore. Discarded technology, such as smartphones, can be mined for materials. Teams can skip collection, manufacturing, and shipping and head straight to recycling and utilization. 

Urban Mines Transform Cityscapes

Even long-forgotten trash can become helpful in urban mining. Recycling professionals process discarded solid waste, reducing landfills’ greenhouse gas emissions and leachate — the toxic, chemical-laden liquid that accumulates when it rains. 

Unlike a conventional mine, an urban mine doesn’t take up miles of land. Since cities recover and recycle using existing landfills and ongoing construction projects, residents may not even realize sustainable mining is occurring.

However, over time, their cityscape will change for the better as landfills shrink and decrepit, abandoned buildings are demolished.

The Recent Rise of Sustainable Mining 

Sustainable mining is still relatively new, in the grand scheme of things. For years, efforts have been focused on electronic waste — also known as e-waste — because it is a lucrative source of revenue. Utilizing urban mining recycling to process e-waste could result in a global value recovery of $53.6 billion. However, professionals have realized they can source valuable substances from all over the city.

The market is not fully realized, but many suppliers offer high-quality recycled and reclaimed materials to meet modern construction standards. More companies also offer innovative equipment solutions to improve efficiency and precision, driving stakeholders’ interest in the field. 

A large, well-funded operation with oversight and efficient equipment is essential because it keeps independent urban miners from manually sorting through e-waste or demolition materials for valuable resources. In addition to preserving health and well-being, equipment innovations for urban mining can prevent substandard goods from entering the closed-loop supply chain. 

Equipment Innovations in Urban Mining

Urban mining equipment has the potential to revolutionize sustainable material recovery at scale, enhancing energy efficiency and accuracy during collection, sorting, and processing. 

Intelligent Systems Increase Precision

Urban mining equipment powered by artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging. It enables precision separation through intelligent material identification, differentiating between items using even the most minor variations. As a result, it can reduce contamination and increase the quality of recycled products. It also supports predictive and preventive maintenance techniques. 

Generally, routine inspections should occur every 250 hours to assess the machine’s condition. This process is crucial for detecting early warning signs of equipment damage. Preventive maintenance can mitigate gradual failure by predicting the rate of component wear, enabling technicians to fix the issue or order replacement parts before a breakdown occurs. 

Automation Streamlines Waste Processing

With automation technology, professionals can do more with less. For example, automated sorting systems can process mixed recyclables without manual intervention, improving speed and accuracy. 

Portable Machines Simplify Deployment

Portable urban mining equipment is compact and mobile, so it can easily reach hard-to-reach locations. Recently, the Reclaim project developed one of these solutions. It is a cost-effective, AI-powered swarm of robots with various types of pickers, enabling it to collect waste efficiently based on visual and physical composition analyses.

It can operate in small spaces or regions with limited infrastructure, such as alleyways and parks. In tourist areas experiencing seasonal population fluctuations, recycling plants can be temporarily supplemented. Additionally, it can handle surges in municipal waste during large-scale events, such as concerts, turning litter into a net positive for the city. 

Electric Vehicles Improve Energy Efficiency

All-electric semitrucks and heavy-duty construction equipment don’t produce tailpipe emissions, making them considerably more sustainable than their diesel counterparts. They can also collect and transport solid waste from urban mines to ensure the process is as environmentally sound as possible. 

How Urban Mining Equipment Drives Growth

More equipment innovations are emerging as more companies focus on research and development. While standard recycling infrastructure works well, cities will likely have to scale to meet demand as the urban mining market grows. 

The better their urban mining equipment is, the more sustainable they will be, incentivizing them to invest. Efficient resource use can keep costs low and shrink carbon footprints, potentially attracting a larger tourist population or supporting additional investments in environmentally friendly technologies. 

Early adopters can refine their solutions, giving them a unique opportunity to become industry leaders. Other decision-makers will look to them for guidance, potentially making their technique the standard. In the long term, this status could create a positive feedback loop, continuously generating more funds to put into sustainable material recovery.

The Future of Urban Mining

Understanding urban mining can help city officials, construction leaders, and residents develop an actionable plan for recycling landfill and demolition materials. If enough people start local initiatives, policymakers and stakeholders will recognize the value in investing, helping sustainable material recovery become a common practice. One day, it could even replace conventional mining practices.