One of the biggest contributing factors for climate change and global warming is that of air pollution, the effects are felt by the earth and humans alike, with the American Association of Advanced Science stating that air pollution claims the lives of 5.5 million people every year.

Many factors are to blame as to why our planet’s air quality is so poor now. The amount of planes that are being constantly used for carrying people and cargo has increased drastically and is getting worse. As is the ever-growing population and their ever-growing need for their own car. Large scale fuel consumption releases harmful emissions which is responsible for the alarming death toll. So, obviously, this needs to change.

Generally, technology is improving in order to make the world a greener place, as technology and society changes, we are moving away from the fossil fuels that have been powering our various modes of transport for the last century. The vast majority of us have come to the realisation that global warming is a very real, very scary threat. The average person is aware of this and, thankfully, so are the celebrities who have the power and influence to make changes, one such celebrity is Richard Branson, who has recently expressed that more should be done to combat the damage inflicted to the planet, even going so far as to state he wants a ban on petrol and diesel fuelled cars by as early as 2025, only seven years away.

This is where Internet of things come in, as a fairly new contender in the world of technology, we are finding new and exciting ways to make the most out of IoT. We are all aware of helpful apps and devices which enable us to control all manner of things, for example, controlling the heating in our house remotely. This example of IoT is arguably on a much smaller scale when compared to the task of solving the air pollution crisis.

Before actually going about actively decreasing the pollution in the air, we first need to accurately determine just how dirty the air is. IoT is changing how we monitor pollution, from one fixed monitoring station, which is how this type of thing has been done in the past, to smaller multiple sensors which can attach to various objects in and around a certain area to get a bigger and therefore more accurate sample size of what’s happening in that particular area. One of the places most affected by air pollution is China who have taken the initiative and are already looking into this technology as a solution for its problem.

Utilising IoT is clearly just the start. Once we have a better idea, this will be a great starting point to move forward in making the world a better place with fewer pollution related afflictions and cleaner air for all. Richard Branson can preach the word of advocating greener cars and in the meantime IoT is helping get a much better idea of how extensive the damage actually is.

Monitoring pollution thanks to Internet of things
http://www.information-age.com/internet-things-tackle-air-pollution-123472089/

5.5 million lives a year
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/133448/20160213/air-pollution-is-fourth-leading-cause-of-death-worlwide-polluted-air-claims-5-5-million-lives-per-year.htm

Richard Branson’s ban on diesel and petrol
http://www.cityam.com/287166/richard-branson-says-ban-diesel-and-petrol-fuelled-cars

Statistics air pollution
https://www.idtechex.com/research/articles/are-gas-sensors-ready-for-the-internet-of-things-00014407.asp

Statistics air pollution
https://physicsworld.com/a/current-counts-for-measuring-air-pollution/