Risk assessment of atmospheric toxic pollutants over Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

This paper discusses import of physical ideas on management and human response to Air Pollution (AP). It looks into some historical, evolutionary, ecological and philosophical aspects of AP. Paper emphasizes a need for more extended philosophical reflections on AP which should go beyond mere technical issues of monitoring and control. Keywords: air pollution, biosphere, evolution, adaptation, hormesis, quantum physics, chaos, ecology, singularity theory, management of air pollution, fuzzy logic, random models. IntroductionA standard orthodox view of Air Pollution (AP) is that it is, so to say, "by definition" an unquestionably negative happening, which -ideally -should be eliminated or, at the very least, minimized and controlled. Such a thesis, in-spite that it is almost universally accepted as an Axiom of Truth, obfuscates the fact that AP (as well as other forms of pollution) is an inevitable and, in a sense an integral, component of modern technological civilization and, perhaps, can even exhibit some redeeming aspects. In other words, upon a more critical look it should be recognized that modern AP is a direct result of technological and social development of humankind.In this paper we look at AP within a more encompassing philosophical vista. Instead of looking at AP as a singularly negative phenomenon, we outline a more pragmatic and adaptive approach to the whole gamut of AP aspects as well as air quality in general. As an objective phenomenon, AP is a (practically inevitable) consequence of such key aspects as industrialization, transportation and urbanization. These are coupled with an (often excessive, wasteful and poorly regulated) use of natural resources (oil, gas, water, etc).The authors, who are physicists, are looking at the above issues through prism of possible physical connections and analogies [1, 2]. This is a typical way of how methods of physics (especially, theoretical physics) make their "intrusion" into other areas of technology, science and social knowledge. Numerous examples of that can be found is such diverse areas as global economy and dynamics of stock market, psychology and psychiatry, conflict resolution studies, population dynamics, ecology, and even in inter-human relationships and sexology.This paper has a two-fold goal. One aim, in extension of our previous work [1, 2], is to discuss possible relevance of a variety of physical effects to AP. The other aim is to discuss import of physical mind-frame and some ideas of quantum and non-linear physics for various aspects of human response to AP. The latter include issues of regulatory and managerial nature, such as methods and strategies of decisions making regarding AP. Brief history of air pollutionParaphrasing title of the bestselling book by the physicist Stephen Hawking "Brief History of Time" here is, a somewhat grotesque, "brief history of air pollution" in a concise hindsight. Air pollution before the Industrial AgeApparently, every generation tends to over-rate problems it faces. The Past almost invariably bears...

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