Causes and impacts of air pollution

Air pollution is one of the most urgent issues of our time. It kills more than seven million people prematurely every year, with the World Health Organization (WHO) labelling it “the invisible health threat”. Air pollution causes devastation throughout the life cycle, from premature births and birth defects to strokes, heart disease and dementia. While air pollution affects everyone, regardless of wealth, status, ethnicity or behaviour - its effects are most devastating in disadvantaged communities which have done the least to cause it. 

Transport, as well as agriculture, mass industry and burning fossil fuels to create energy, are common sources of air pollution (WHO, 2024). These activities emit harmful substances as by products which contribute to reduced air quality, and in some cases to greenhouse gas emissions (UN Environment Programme, 2023).

In Glasgow, one person dies every day as a direct result of air pollution (Cities Outlook, 2020) and every school in Glasgow is in an area that exceeds WHO guidelines on safe air to breathe (Imperial College London). 

While everyone is at risk, children are more vulnerable to air pollution due to their developing bodies and the faster rate at which they breathe. This vulnerability is made worse by an over-reliance on cars for school journeys, where children in vehicles are exposed to between 9-12 times more pollution than when journeying on foot or by bike (Science of the Total Environment, 2014). As well as the harms from air pollution, transport generates one fifth of global CO₂ emissions. Three-quarters of this is from road transport (Our World in Data, 2020). 

Tackling air pollution together

Scary as this picture is, there is something we can do about it. Parents for Future Scotland has developed a schools-based air pollution programme that empowers children and parents in Glasgow to fight back against pollution and hold those in power to account. Glasgow Eco Trust is working in partnership with Parents for Future Scotland to support the roll-out of their air pollution programme in local schools.

Developed by Glasgow teachers and researchers, and endorsed by Glasgow City Council, the programme meets requirements of the Curriculum for Excellence, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (now written into Scottish law) and UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The flexible lesson programme enables children in both primary and secondary schools to explore the effects of air pollution in an age-appropriate way. Teachers support children to think about actions which combat air pollution, for example through travelling actively to school, or requesting measures that support active travel, such as better cycling infrastructure or a paid active travel co-ordinator. The emphasis is on engaging officials to make these changes possible, rather than focusing on individual behaviour.

Parents are invited to learn about pollution via a warm and open parent talk at their school, so they can support and extend their children’s learning. This enables parents and children to call for action together.  

You can find out more about Parents for Future Scotland's air pollution programme on their website and in this short video:

How to get involved

If you’re a teacher and would like to deliver the air pollution programme in your school, please contact Rosie Heptonstall on [email protected].

If you are a parent, you can use this template to email your child’s school. You can also contact Rosie if you would like to train to become a school speaker and deliver parent-to-parent talks in Glasgow schools. 

Glasgow Eco Trust and Parents for Future Scotland are partners in the Glasgow Climate Action Hub, set up to empower communities to take climate action and amplify community voices in local and national decision making.