Deforestation, Air Quality Degradation and Increased Cardiopulmonary Diseases

Abstract

Deforestation has become a key environmental factor that causes air quality deterioration with major consequences on human health. Massive deforestation changes atmospheric processes by increasing biomass burning, decreasing carbon sequestration, and raising levels of air pollutants, such as fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide and ozone-forming compounds. These developments have led to worsening of the air quality in the local, regional, and transboundary levels. With the long-term effects of air pollution as a result of deforestation, there are an increasing number of studies indicating it to be related to negative cardiopulmonary effects, especially respiratory diseases, cardiovascular morbidity, and untimely death. The biological processes behind it are systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, and impaired pulmonary functioning that disproportionately impact vulnerable groups of people including children, the elderly, and people with underlying conditions. The current research paper is a synthesis of available evidence on the relationship interplay between deforestation, air quality deterioration and cardiopulmonary diseases. The abstract has incorporated both environmental and epidemiological approaches to highlighting the burden on health due to land-use change and also the necessity of a coordinated intervention at the environmental level and health-related policy level to alleviate the risks of air pollution by deforestation to the cardiopulmonary system.