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Not all scientists beleive that global warming is actually the result of increasing Carbondioxide level but they all agree it's just a big experiment to perform on our planet.
Natural air pollution:
Although man is responsible for causing pollution in the atmosphere
some kinds of pollution are way out of his hands. The pollution caused
by a volcano erruption for example is a natural pollution. A volcano erruption
shoots alot of smoke into the atmosphere causing massive pollution of the
air around it and to some extent areas beyond it.
The radioactive gass radon which is a byproduct of the radioactive
decay of uranium minerals. An air pollutant emmited by natural sources
is a major health threat beign responsible for lung cancer.
Sometimes temperature inversions cause a realease of Methyl isocyanate.
Exposure to this gass caused the disaster of Bhopal India in december 1984.
DEFINITION:
Air Pollution, contamination of the atmosphere by gaseous, liquid, or solid wastes or by-products that can endanger human health and the health and welfare of plants and animals, or can attack materials, reduce visibility, or produce undesirable odours.
Air pollution has now been one of the major problems faced by every country world wide. The reason beign centered on the increase use of fossil fuels over the past five or so decades and to some extent increased cement, nitric and sulphuric acid production, all these brought about by industrial revolution.The level is usually given in terms of atmospheric concentrations (micrograms of pollutants per cubic metre of air) or, for gases, in terms of parts per million, that is, number of pollutant molecules per million air molecules.Each year industrially developed countries generate billions of tons of pollutants. * The burning of fossil fuels such as Coal causes the emmision of Sulphur dioxide, which then combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form sulphurous acid and finally combines with water vapour to form sulphurous and sulphuric acids respectively. Nitrogen dioxide is another gass pollutant like sulphur dioxide combines with atmosperic water vapour to form nitric acid. In solution both gasses causes the atmospheric water vapour to be slightly acidic resulting to acid rain . Acid rain has been found to be responsible for the attack of many limestone and marble works.
Burning of petroleum in car engines and other petrol runned vehicles relases Carbon monoxide and Carbon dioxide gasses. Carbon Monoxide causes health problems and prolonged exposure to it may result to death. This is so because it inhibits haemoglobin in red blood cells making it incapable of carrying oxygen. Carbon dioxide gass along with other green house gasses such as methane is responsible for greenhouse effect ,a process which warms the earth making its climate bearable and capable of sustaining life.But increasing levels of carbon dioxide is beleived to result into Global warming. Not all scientists beleive that global warming is actually the result of increasing Carbondioxide level but they all agree it's just a big experiment to perform on our planet. Global warming may cause the polar ice to melt and subsequently increase the ocean levels of the world, this may cause small island to drown and flooding in many costal regions. Countries like Britain may benefit from this though with better warmer temperatures. Lead petrol causes the realise of lead into the atmosphere. Lead is a harmful substance to the human body.
Burning of fossil fuels is not the only cause of air pollution, CFCs [chloro flouro carbons] found in different items such as foams and pesticides contribute a great deal. The use of CFC has been regulated in many countries but is still widely used in many developing nations. When CFCs are realised to the atmosphere they react with Oxygen radicals to form ClO. Usually the Oxygen radicals combine with Oxygen to form Ozone. A layer which protects us from harful UV [Ultra violet] radiation. The ClO is a stable compound and there fore its introduction to the atmosphere prevents the regeneration of Ozone and therefore causes [ozone depletion].
Although ozone protects us from UV radiation it also has a side effect. It is a dangerous pollutant in smog, and is produced by the interaction of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides under the influence of sunlight. And thus in cases of smog is considered a pollutant.
Most or all of air pollutants are potential hazards to human health, and may cause potential injury to livestock and crops. Often, the first noticeable effects of pollution are aesthetic.
ACTION TAKEN:
There is not much that can be done about air pollution, the governments have tried to put some restrictions to regulate emission of air pollutants to the atmosphere. The rest depend on how fast we will be able to find an alternative to fossil fuels, the major causes of air pollution and how willing are the people and business men willing to accept the changes that these inventions will bring there with. How ever scientists all over the world have been bursting their brains out to come up with solutions to this problem. Currently cars have been fitted with elotrolytic converters and electrostatic preticipitators which converts harmful gasses to less harmful gasses, Carbon monoxide for example is converted to Carbon dioxide and nitorgen dioxide to nitrogen. Although these are not the ideal solutions, they are probably the best temporay ones. The Green Cars are one step forward, lets see how tech will solve its mess.
