We all know that air pollution is bad, but it poses an especially dangerous risk because it isn’t always easy to see. In fact, you might be suffering from the effects of air pollution without really knowing it. Of course, the effects of air pollution are going to vary depending on where you are, the types of air pollution, and your levels of exposure. However, these are generally the most common symptoms.

Short-Term Effects

Typically, short-term exposure to high levels of air pollution isn’t going to cause any long-term effects. Taking a weekend trip to a big city, for instance, won’t kill you, though it might make you feel a bit ill. Short-term exposure to air pollution can lead to such symptoms such as a scratchy throat, difficulty breathing, headaches, and nausea. Though, in extreme cases of acute air pollution, it is possible to develop nasty illnesses such as respiratory infection.

Long-Term Illness

It’s one thing to spend a short time in a heavily-polluted area, but it’s another to live in one. Breathing dirty air for longer periods of time is going to cause more dangerous symptoms in the human body, including asthma, respiratory disease, irregular heartbeats, and for those with existing heart and lung symptoms, greater risk of premature death. Some people, such as pregnant women and those who spend long periods outdoors, are more likely to develop these long-term illnesses.

Unexpected Consequences

Breathing air pollution in isn’t the only way it affects your health. In fact, there are plenty of indirect ways air pollution’s nasty side effects can make their way to you, even if you aren’t spending time outdoors. For example, air pollution can wreak havoc on food production, causing crop growth to fail and wildlife to die at ever-increasing rates. These effects, in turn, can lead to food shortage, which has obvious effects on the general health of our world’s population.

It’s not pleasant to think about the consequences of air pollution, but it’s something you don’t want to ignore. While there isn’t much you can do to reduce the phenomenon of air pollution as a whole, you can limit your own personal exposure by checking pollution levels in your area and avoiding spending too much time outdoors.

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