Some natural pollutants are wind blown dust, pollen, fog, and more. There have been instances where ash from volcanic eruptions has blown across large areas of the earth. During the 1950’s forest fires down in the southern United States blanketed huge areas of the country with smoke so bad that air flights had to be canceled as far away as New York City. These are acts of nature and people can not really control them.
Industry and vehicles produce pollution caused by humans. It will become worse as society becomes more industrialized i.e. As more automobiles are produced and driven, new factories are built, and old factories become bigger. Air pollution is the worst in cities. The people need heat, hot water and electric power. Almost all of that energy for those comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil. From burning fossil fuels it produces large amounts of gases that enter the atmosphere. Some factories produce waste chemicals, which escape into the air. Smoke from cigarettes can pollute the air in closed rooms also. These are all cases of human pollution.
What types of air pollution are there?
There are different types of air pollution. Some of them are particulate matter, oxides of sulfur, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and photochemical oxidants.
Particulate matter is made up of tiny solid or liquid particles. Dust is an example of particulate matter, whether or not it is natural or produced by humans it is still particulate. Fly ash is another example, which is caused by burning fuels; Beryllium, which is used in rockets and asbestos, used for insulating against heat, is also particulate matter.
Oxides of sulfur are gases. They are produced when sulfur-containing fuels, such as coal or oil, are burned. They may also be in factories where sulfur is used in the manufacturing process. They irritate the breathing passages and can also damage the lungs.
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas produced by the incomplete burning of the carbon, It can be found in such fuels as gasoline, coal and oil. The carbon monoxide in the air comes from the exhausts of automobiles and other vehicles that burn gasoline as well.
Oxides of nitrogen as also produced by automobile engines and other types of engines. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air and oxygen 21%. Normally these gases do not combine chemically in the air. In engines though that run at very high temperatures, like the ones in automobiles they do combine to form gases, which are called oxides of nitrogen.
Photochemical oxidants are formed when oxides of nitrogen combine with other substances present in automobile exhaust. Sunlight makes the combining process happen. Photochemical oxidants are the main thing for smog, which irritates the eyes and breathing passage.
What affect does air pollution have on people?
Air pollution effects people in many ways. It can effect our health, our environment we work in, and many more things.
It can effect out health by giving us diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer. There is also evidence that air pollution has something to do with cardiovascular deaths, bronchitis and all kinds of cancer. People who inhale cadmium fumes may die of cadmium poisoning. Construction workers who have or may have inhaled asbestos fibers can develop scarred lung tissues and lung cancer.
Air pollution also irritates the eyes, throat, and lungs. These can cause sore throats, coughing and other things. Kids that live in places that the air pollution is really bad have a greater chance of getting asthma, eczema and other skin diseases.
Any particulate matter that collects in the lungs is dangerous. If one breathes in enough of it, it could interfere with breathing, causing to deteriorate or lead to death.
Silicosis is the most common dust-related disease. One can get it from inhaling quartz dust or particles from other silica-containing rocks. People who are in carious foundry jobs, chine and pottery making, sandblasting, and granite carvings are at risk of getting Silicosis.
There are many other serious dust diseases such as black-lung disease, which one can get from inhaling coal dust. Another is berylliosis, which is caused from cotton dust. Asbestosis is another one caused by asbestos fibers.
Where does air pollution come from?
One of the many sources air pollution is the internal-combustion engine. It is in most motor vehicle, it does not burn all its fuel. In the addition to emitting water, carbon dioxide, and various oxides of nitrogen, it gives of a number of incompletely burned waste products. These include soot (carbon), carbon monoxides, hydrocarbons, and aldehydes. Engines may also give off particles of lead, derived from the antiknock ingredients in most gasoline.
Chemical pollutants are also another source of air pollution. Chemical pollutants such as chlorofluorocarbon also known as Freon usually used in air conditioners are also a serious threat to the environment. These pollutants destroy the natural ozone layer that acts like an umbrella to shield the earth from ultraviolet radiation. High levels of ultraviolet radiation can cause skin cancer, smog, and a change in the earth’s climatic patterns.
Jet aircraft’s are also another cause of pollution. Many aircraft pollutants are the same as those emitted by automobiles. Some experts are alarmed by the large quantities of water and carbon dioxide being added to the atmosphere at high altitudes.
Exhausts from railroad trains and ships also pollute the atmosphere. Transportation is not the only types of air pollution. Some other types of serious pollution are Industry, and electric-power-generating plants. The burning, or incineration, of solid wastes is also another one. Agricultural burning, coal-waste fires, and forest fires also affect the atmosphere.
What effect does air pollution have on the environment?
Air pollution has a major effect on our environment. It can have an effect on the plants, buildings, weather, climate and more. The effect on vegetation is often a clue to the existence of air pollutants that are not noticeable in other ways. Carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur compounds, metals, acids, and ozone are serious threats to most vegetation. The plants absorb the pollutants through their leaves. The leaves can develop holes, become discolored or will wilt. This can lead to death for the plant.
Damage is also done to buildings caused by sulfur pollution, which causes steel, zinc and building stone to corrode. Ozone damages rubber and textile and discolors dyed materials.
Air pollution can affect the weather in many different ways. Wind and temperature affect the quantity and mass of pollutants in the air. Strong air currents can send pollutants in both vertical and horizontal directions. It may decreases pollutants in an industrial region; it will also carry them to places far removed from the factories. The reverse may happen; a layer of warmer air traps a layer of cold air near the ground over it. This is called temperature inversion. The air near the ground becomes polluted.
There are two major effects on climate, carbon dioxide and particulate matter. Carbon dioxide traps heat in the lower atmosphere. Particulate matter has the opposite effect it reflects heat back into space.
This graph shows that every year we are getting more and more air pollution. We have way too much air pollution and we need to do something about it, we need to figure out ways to pollute out atmosphere. If we don’t figure something out it will make this place a not so good place to live and we will have a lot more problems with our health.
This graph shows how much chemicals and pollutants are in out air. This is just from road transport not including everything else we get pollution from. Most of the pollutants from road transport are carbon monoxide. The least is carbon dioxide but we still have quite a bit of it.
Bibliography
Renner, Jr., Fred H, “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The New Book of Knowledge, 1994, pages 122-125.
Henry Lansford, “Air Pollution”, The New Book of Popular Science, 1994, pages 467-470.
