If There's The Most Pollution-Free Place On Earth, Where Is It?

Illustration (Fred Rivett / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Scientists have identified the place with the cleanest air on Earth. The air is almost free of pollution particles caused by human activities. The place is located above the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica.

Reported by CNN, Colorado State University research on the composition of bioaerosol in the Southern Ocean, identified areas of the atmosphere where the air content is almost unchanged due to human activity. But professor Sonia Kreidenweis, who led the research, is skeptical. He wasn't sure the air was 100 percent free of contamination.

The researchers also revealed that the air layer supplying the lower cloud layer over the Southern Ocean is free of aerosol particles generated by human activity. For example, the air from burning fossil fuels, due to certain plantations, fertilizer production, and disposal of liquid waste. Air pollution is caused by aerosols, namely solid and liquid particles and gases that evaporate into the air.

In that research, they explore what is contained in the air and where it comes from. They used airborne bacteria as a diagnostic tool to infer the properties of the lower atmosphere.

Meanwhile, according to another researcher on the team, Thomas Will, the result was, "The aerosols that control the properties of the Southern Ocean clouds are closely related to the biological processes of the ocean. And Antarctica appears to be isolated from the spread of microorganisms and the deposition of nutrients from the southern continent," Will said.

So, Will said, it can be concluded that the Southern Ocean is one of the few places on Earth that is very little contaminated by anthropogenic activity. According to WHO, the air pollution crisis threatens public health and kills at least seven million people every year.

Research shows that air pollution increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and lung cancer. Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of people living in urban areas are exposed to air pollution that exceeds the WHO air cleanliness standard. And low- and middle-income countries are the highest targets for exposure.