The Story of Air Pollution

For as long as humans have been exposed to fires, we have also been exposed to forms of air pollution. Studies conducted on the lungs of Egyptian mummies reveal the same kinds of pollution damage as we might see in a contemporary patient. There is a deep history of the attempted prohibition of air pollution, which can be traced back through literature, history, philosophy and politics to Ancient Greece.

This short from Greenpeace takes us through some landmark regulations across human history which who our attempts to control the airs that we breathe every day. It also reveals how improvements made through regulation and improved technology within developed and wealthier Western countries are not mirrored across the world. Throughout, statistics drift across the screen, reminding us of the perilous conditions of our air. The short ends by placing us in a hopeful future, where air pollution levels have been brought down globally through a transformation of our technological relationship with the world.