AIR POLLUTION

What is air pollution?

Air pollution is contamination of the air that occur due to human and natural action. It occurs when any harmful gases, dust, smoke enters into the atmosphere and makes it difficult for plants, animals and humans to survive as the air becomes dirty.

The causes of air pollution 

Air pollution is result from both human and natural actions. Natural event that pollute the air include  smoke, dust and gases from the volcano. However air po­llution from natural event is not very often. Mostly human activities such as burning fossil fuels, emissions from industries and manufacturing activities and agricultural activities.

The eruption of volcano is the natural event that can caused air pollution. It occurs when the smoke, dust and harmful gases release into the atmosphere. However natural causes are not very often occur.

Volcano Mount Sinabung in Sumatra, Indonesia erupts spewing lava and ash.

Human activity such as burning fossil fuels will lead to the air pollution. Sulfur dioxide emitted from the combustion of fossil fuels like coal, petroleum is one the major cause of air pollution. We rely to  fossil fuels to fulfill our daily basic needs but the overuse of them may leads to the air pollution that is killing our environment.

Besides, emissions from industries and manufacturing activities also cause air pollution. Manufacturing industries release large amount of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, organic compounds, and chemicals into the air. There are many manufacturing industries that can be found at every corner of the earth. The worst thing is  all the area nearby the manufacturing industries will be affected by the release of the harmful gases into the atmosphere.

Agricultural activity is one of the causes of air pollution. These happen when ammonia release into the atmosphere. Ammonia is a very common by product from agriculture activities and it is one of the most hazardous gases in the atmosphere. Overuse of insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers in agricultural activities might be pollute the air. They emit harmful chemicals into the air and can also cause water pollution.

The effects of air pollution

Acidification is one of the effect of air pollution.Chemical reactions involving air pollutants can create acidic compounds which can cause harm to vegetation and buildings. Sometimes, when an air pollutant, such as sulfuric acid combines with the water droplets that make up clouds, the water droplets become acidic, forming acid rain. When acid rain falls over an area, it can kill trees and harm animals, fish, and other wildlife.

            

Acid rain destroys the leaves of plants.When acid rain infiltrates into soils, it changes the chemistry of the soil making it unfit for many living things that rely on soil as a habitat or for nutrition. Acid rain also changes the chemistry of the lakes and streams that the rainwater flows into, harming fish and other aquatic life.

Next is eutrophication.Rain can carry and deposit the Nitrogen in some pollutants on rivers and soils. This will adversely affect the nutrients in the soil and water bodies. This can result in algae growth in lakes and water bodies, and make conditions for other living organism harmful.

Besides, ground-level ozone also one of the air polution effect.Chemical reactions involving air pollutants create a poisonous gas ozone (O3). Gas Ozone can affect people’s health and can damage vegetation types and some animal life too.

Air pollutants can be in the form of particulate matter which can be very harmful to our health. The level of effect usually depends on the length of time of exposure, as well the kind and concentration of chemicals and particles exposed to. Short-term effects include irritation to the eyes, nose and throat, and upper respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Others include headaches, nausea, and allergic reactions. Short-term air pollution can aggravate the medical conditions of individuals with asthma and emphysema. Long-term health effects can include chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart disease, and even damage to the brain, nerves, liver, or kidneys. Continual exposure to air pollution affects the lungs of growing children and may aggravate or complicate medical conditions in the elderly.

Solution to reduce air pollution

Solution efforts on pollution is always a big problem. This is why prevention interventions are always a better way of controlling air pollution. These prevention methods can either come from government or by individual actions. In many big cities, monitoring equipment have been installed at many points in the city. Authorities read them regularly to check the quality of air.

Governments throughout the world have already taken action against air pollution by introducing green energy. Some governments are investing in wind energy and solar energy, as well as other renewable energy, to minimize burning of fossil fuels, which cause heavy air pollution.Governments are also forcing companies to be more responsible with their manufacturing activities, so that even though they still cause pollution, they are a lot controlled.Car manufacturing companies are also building more energy efficient cars, which pollute less than before.

First of all we need to practice to use public transportation. We need to encourage yourself to use more and more public transportation to reduce pollution. Besides, try to make use car pooling. If you and your friend, neighbor and family go to the same place and have same timings you can explore this option to save energy and money. These may reduce the gas release from the car exhaust.

Next, conserve the  energy. Switch off fans and lights when you are going out. Because large amount of fossil fuels are burnt to produce electricity. You can save the environment by reducing the amount of fossil fuels to be burned if you conserve the energy.Use energy (light, water, boiler, kettle and fire woods) wisely. This is because lots of fossil fuels are burned to generate electricity, and so if we can cut down the use, we will also cut down the amount of pollution we create.

Besides, understand the concept of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Do not burn your items that you not need anymore. Because you can reuse them for some other purpose. Recycle and re-use things. This will minimize the dependence of producing new things. Remember manufacturing industries create a lot of pollution, so if we can re-use things like shopping plastic bags, clothing, paper and bottles, it can help.

~Thank You~