Introduction

Air pollution threatens public healthAir pollution impactpublic health and has a negative impact on people’s lives and well-being. Above this, its impact on the environmental sustainability of natural ecosystems and agriculture, as well as its connections to climate change must be considered. This chapter starts off with a concise description of all of adverse effects associated with poor air quality, as well as the social and economic costs arising from them. They explain why governments must prioritize air pollution control on their agendas, as well as the need for accurate air quality information to design effective environmental policies. To attain clean air, it is necessary to collect reliable data to characterize the magnitude, origin, and impact of air pollution to support corrective actions. This is achieved through air quality managementAir qualitymanagement, the set of activities that regulatory authorities undertake to help protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of air pollution. This chapter describes the air quality management process as an introduction to looking into and assessing the current state of air quality management and scientific research in Southeast Asia. The chapter also gives an overview of the monograph, outlining its organization and what the reader will find in each chapter.