Amongst the many environmental challenges of the Anthropocene age, air quality is exemplary in numerous ways. Air pollution is the no.1 environmental public health issue globally, causing approximately 7 million early deaths annually, yet it remains curiously neglected. As such it is something of an ‘invisible killer’, to quote the title of the book by Dr Gary Fuller, one of our guests in this episode, alongside Dr Suzanne Bartington, both of whom are UK Clean Air Champions. Part of the problem here is the sheer complexity of air quality issues: the number and diversity of pollutants and their chemical interactions; their geographical distribution, across scales and both outdoor and indoor, affecting diverse demographics and socio-economic inequalities; and the way in which almost every aspect of mundane everyday life likely has some impact on air quality. Join us for a wide-ranging discussion exploring what it is about the air specifically that shapes this relative neglect; how the politics and public response to air quality as an issue has undergone a complete reversal and sudden polarization in recent years; how it is better framed as a public health, rather than environmental, issue; and what we know about the effectiveness, and remaining gaps, in policy responses.
