3.5 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

The mix of nitrogen and oxygen that we breathe every day without fail has kept us and countless other humans and other animals alive for hundreds of millions of years now. But since the industrial revolution, the amount of particulates and pollution has increased in the atmosphere relentlessly. This low-quality air is what we breathe in now and it is contributing to seven million deaths each year.

But what are these substances that we are breathing in? How do they affect us? And what is being done to reduce this pollution? In this fascinating book, Mark Broomfield sets about trying to answer some of these questions on a journey that begins on another planet and will take us all around the world to discover where this pollution comes from and the most recent science on how it affects us.

I liked this book, Broomfield, obviously knows his facts, which you would kind of hope for given his background and experience, but he has made the subject of air pollution both readable and interesting. He has laid the book out in a logical order too moving from the air that we breathe around us right up to the stratosphere. It is a popular science book, so sometimes the really technical details aren’t there, but there is a comprehensive series of notes in the rear of the book should they be needed. There were a couple of flaws, the occasional attempt at humour wasn’t really needed, and for me, the final chapter on one possible future ahead I didn’t think was really necessary. I would have preferred action points on how to go about improving the air quality around us. Worth reading if you are concerned with air pollution.

Spread the love