Skip to content
Jump to

Overview

Air pollution causes around 7 million premature deaths every year, according to the World Health Organisation. And, as well as the impact on human health, poor air quality and increasing greenhouse gases in our atmosphere have a serious impact on our planet’s health.

From the cars we drive, fuels we burn and animals we farm to the garbage we landfill and beyond, human activity continues to be the main source of pollutants in our air. Without urgent action, we will continue to see increasing global temperatures, extreme weather, damage to biodiversity and loss of human life. But what can we do to tackle the problem we are currently facing? And how can we take clean, fresh steps forward? 

The event was hosted in partnership with Manchester Science Festival and was also streamed as a part of NI Science Festival. 

Speakers

The event was hosted by Helen Pidd, North of England editor of the Guardian and founding member of Walk Ride Greater Manchester. Helen was joined by: 

  • Professor David Fowler CBE FRSE FRS, world leading expert on air pollution, formerly of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
  • Dr Mark RichardsSenior Lecturer and Head of Outreach in the Department of Physics at Imperial College London
  • Dr Ther Wint Aung, energy poverty expert and a National Geographic Explorer leading citizen science air monitoring activities in Myanmar
  • Dr Suzanne Bartington, Clinical Research Fellow in Environmental Health in the Institute of Applied Health Research and Honorary Consultant in Public Health at Public Health England

    Related Events

    You and the planet

    State of the Earth

    Tuesday 22 October 2019

    An evening of conversation with climate scientists Sir Brian Hoskins and Professor Corinne Le Quéré, chaired by BBC Countryfile presenter Tom Heap. 

    You and the planet

    You and the planet: energy

    Wednesday 06 November 2019

    Wales is home to many important low-carbon energy projects, including Britain’s fastest supply of energy at Electric Mountain, one of the largest off-shore wind farms in the world, and over 120 community energy schemes.

    You and the planet

    You and the planet: food

    Thursday 23 January 2020

    Join our panel in Gateshead to discover how the food we eat affects the natural world.

    You and the planet

    You and the planet: biodiversity

    Wednesday 26 February 2020

    Our panel at the Eden Project discussed how human activity affects the variety of life on Earth.    

    Online event

    You and the planet: technology

    Thursday 03 December 2020

    Our panel of experts came together to discuss the incredible opportunities provided by digital technologies in mitigating climate change and helping us to achieve net zero.