Nature can be approached without competence. Emotional attachment is fine. If we delve deeper into the issue, we realize that a lot of processes that have evolved over years or even centuries are hard to study. The learning about nature is manifold and many scientific disciplines deal with nature in the broad sense of the word.
Today the study of nature is scattered across so many disciplines that an overall view of the field seems hard to achieve. This creates a problem to teach a competence to deal with topics around nature. Water, air, species, soil, climate or reproduction are all topics in which we have to make far-reaching individual and collective choices. This requires adequate competences to allow judgments about opportunities and risks involved.
For more than 100 years now we have researched education systems and processes, but the competences to talk and explain basic processes in nature are still scarce. Classification systems are a static way to sort nature into categories. Processes of evolution and development have more or less human input.
We all gain if we keep an eye on education and learning processes that have been applied years ago. The field of the history of education provides clues about some forgotten approaches. Learning about nature and how to acquire competence in the field has been an issue in this field for at least 100 years. It is time to test some of these approaches again to see what went wrong in learning about nature. Man-made climate change is only at the end of a causal chain of things and people moving in the wrong direction. We probably have to press the reset button and start from scratch with the learning and the tracing of wrong decisions. Maybe, the start is the appreciation of a splendid bouquet of flowers. Want to know more? Try to grow and assemble them yourself. 
Ozone
Ozone (O3) has a rather mixed reputation. High up in the stratosphere it protects us from too much radiation from the sun, but down on earth in our respiratory environment it causes and amplifies respiratory difficulties. Hence, it is very important to differentiate the 2 different layers and differential effects of concentrations of ozone in the air. A forthcoming study in the Lancet Regional Health Europe (Nov. 2023) by Tianyu Zhao et al. demonstrates the long-term, negative effect of higher concentrations of Ozone on lung function. The prospective cohort study followed individuals in multiple states and locations over 20 years and corrects estimated effects for other environmental effects (fine particles PM 2.5 pollution) and green environment. Faster decline in spirometric lung function is highly likely to be caused by higher ambient ozone concentrations. The study is based on 3000+ observations from 17 centres in 8 countries in Europe. Older persons in the range from 35 to 55 had a steeper decline in ozone-related decline in lung functions.
This is rather bad news for older persons living in inner cities where both ozone concentrations, mainly in summer, heat and micro-particles cumulate. Similarly, areas with frequent so-called inversion micro-climate, (a layer of cold air on top of SMOG blocks the renewal of air for extended periods) face particular health risks. Professions that work long durations outside in the sun or the exercise of sports during high ozone day-time run higher risks for a deterioration of their lung functions in the long-run. The medical evidence is there now, also for Europe, what had been shown already for the US before.
It is time to adapt our lifestyle to these health risks. High effort physical work outside should start as early as possible in the morning hours or even before sun rise. Staying indoors is highly recommendable for older persons and persons with reduced lung functions (asthma risks) during such periods of high ozone concentrations. Like it or not, even wearing a mask outside, when it is sunny and hot would be preferential, but is rather inconvenient. We need to shift airing living rooms or offices without climatization to early morning hours rather than ambient temperatures in the afternoon, when ozone peaks are prevalent.
These effects and remedies have been known for some time, but the evidence is much more compelling now (Zhao et al. 2023). Climate change in form of global and local warming, particularly in inner cities, will only exacerbate these effects in the coming years. Prevention measures need to be considered in public health measures as well as urban planning. We can do it, if we want to. Start now to benefit from the effects a decade later or for the benefit of younger generations. (Image: Int. Encycl. of public health, p.702). 
Air pollution
Only if we measure air pollution , we shall be able to be sure it is not getting worse or is improving. The European Environment Agency has developed an app that gives us fairly accurate measure of several important indicators of air pollution or air quality as they prefer to name the indicators. With the wild fires in Canada and the repercussions of this in U.S. cities we are certainly aware that air pollution by neighbours is just as important to know as air polllution originating in your own country.
In Europe this matters as well. Therefore the comparative view on air pollution is a necessary precondition to coordinate action within the EU. Specific meteological conditions yield SMOG in winter and too much heat facilitates SMOG in summer. Thousands of people die every year due to effects of air pollution. This is all well-known and documented.
In Science Advances (2023-6-9) new evidence is presented that fine particles (PM 2.5) in air transport influenza H1N1 viruses into the lower respiratory system and even other more distant organs like liver and kidneys. The conclusion is easy: Reduce air pollution much further, this saves lives and lots of costs in the health system as well. Well-being is advanced sometimes by doing less rather than more. Working more in the home office than in the inner city might reduce the peak of an influenza wave. New solutions to old problems are feasible with new technological advances and implementation like fibre-optic cables for fast internet service also in remote areas. Using the “Science Advances” should allow us to rethink our production and consumption model for the improvement of living and working conditions for all. Many extensions of our economic model shall be based on the “beyond growth” logic. We just need to dare to think and implement policies accordingly, rather than to continue to do the same mistakes over and over again. (Image: still building new Autobahn in Berlin 2022 in residential areas). 