Young Leader, Emma Eusebi has a written a blog for Clean Air Day in Scotland (15 June 2023) highlighting how air pollution is affecting wildlife.

Air pollution can create significant behavioural changes in animals, such as changes to migration patterns, birds singing less often, and bees being forced to abandon their hives. Additionally, some animals that are less resilient to the effects of air pollution are less inclined to procreate due to weakened immune systems and increased health problems, whilst other species more tolerant to higher levels of air pollution than others, may witness an increase in their populations. Such changes in the abundance of species can have dramatic effects on entire ecosystems. To offer one example, the loss of some species of fish may allow insect populations to rise and therefore, allow certain types of ducks and other species that feed on insects to indirectly benefit from these consequences. Simultaneously, however, other species that depend on fish as a food source, including birds such as ospreys, will suffer from the depletion of certain fish species that they once relied on.

Birds are particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution as a result of their sensitive respiratory systems, coupled with the fact that some birds build their nests in urban areas polluted with industrial and transport emissions. For example, estimates from a research paper conducted in the US implied that air quality improvements over the last four decades have halted the decline in bird populations, preventing the loss of around 1.5 billion birds.

Air pollutants can affect wildlife by disrupting and damaging the supply and quality of food, thus entering the food chain. In a process called bioaccumulation, when wildlife consumes polluted food supplies, the pollutants are stored within the tissues of the animal, with such pollutants increasing in volume and concentration as animals are eaten by other animals along the food chain. This process is particularly harmful to those animals that currently exist at the top of the food chain and could also impact on human health.

Plants are also not immune to this problem, primarily due to the fact that increased levels of air pollution contributes to the loss of biodiversity, stunting the growth of plants or wiping them out entirely. Even insects are affected as a result of eating contaminated plants, as well as being generally exposed to air pollutants when flying through high pollution areas.

Air pollution is created by a variety of sources and can be made from different chemicals, gases, or small particles that affect our health and the health of our planet.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is just one pollutant of many that is currently having a detrimental effect on a number of species and is most commonly caused by emissions from motor vehicles such as cars, vans, and buses. One article stated that nitrogen levels in 63 percent of special areas of wildlife conservation across the UK are too high, having significant consequences for biodiversity. Nitrogen essentially acts as a fertiliser, pushing some plant species into excessive growth, therefore crowding out more of the vulnerable species.

There are countless ways in which we can reduce our exposure and contribution to air pollution, but we would like to offer just a handful of solutions that can be taken on an individual level this Clean Air Day:

• Learn about the impacts of air pollution on both our human health and the health of our planet. The Clean Air Hub is a great place to start.
• Act to reduce your exposure and contribution to air pollution. Walk, wheel, cycle, or use public transport to get to and from your destination and think about ditching the car more often when making trips.
• Ask your local councillor to support clean air measures. Global Action Plan have a great letter template that you can use to write to your councillor.
• Think about making small changes to your diet. Reducing the amount of meat you eat or even changing the type of meat you consume (from beef and pork to poultry and milk) has the potential to reduce ammonia pollution.

Air pollution presents significant and serious threats to a wide range of animal, plant, and insect species, and action must be taken to confront the sources and solutions to air pollution as a whole, recognising that air pollution is a problem in both rural and urban areas. It goes without saying that action to confront air pollution must go beyond the individual level, as polluting industries and governments must work together to create measures that mitigate the harmful effects of air pollution on our health and the health of our environment.