Abstract:
- Today’s environmental issues are systematic in nature and cannot be tackled in isolation
from man-made activities and impacts. The change in land use and land cover resulting from
urbanization has aggravated air quality in urban centers of the country. One of the main sources of air
pollution is the use of automobiles in human populated regions resulting in an excess of carbon, sulfur
and nitrogen compounds. The emission of greenhouse gases in the form of carbon dioxide from 1990 to
2005 showed an increase of 97.4%. The main source of this increment were vehicular and industrial
emissions due to which Pakistan is facing glacier melt in northern areas, earthquakes, flooding and lack
of fresh water availability. The authors analyze the effects of vehicular emission on human health; this
study is focused on the commercial and industrial areas of Karachi where the flow of heavy traffic and
heavy vehicular exhaust emissions are common. The sampled areas are Port Qasim, University Road,
Korangi and Mosmiyat. The purpose of this study is to evaluate perceptions of health factors due to air
borne pollution in 4 different localities in Karachi. The results showed predominance of headache which
is due to an excessive quantity of carbon monoxide and air borne dust in the survey areas as slight
exposure of Carbon monoxide affiliated with headache, the second highest complain from respondents
is the Eye Irritation, the exposure of NO2 has acute health effects which include eye irritation, cough
and asthma. Based on the above study, recommendations are made to reduce GHG and other pollutants.
