Overview of air pollution
Firstly AIR is one of the most crucial and essential part of our lives,that we need for our survival. It contains many different mixtures of elements and molecules which are important; not only for us humans but also other living things like animals and plant.Basically its LIFE.
Air pollution is the harmful pollutants which are give out by the things around us. Pollutants can be in all three states of matter, solid, liquid. gases. Examples are industries, motor vehicles, heating appliances and tobacco smoke. Air pollutants can also be generated by natural events such as forest fires and can also contain windblown dust, pollen and mould spores. How bad your air pollution can be can be greatly vary during the times of the year.And many of us are aware of this problem and knew it will bring harm to our body.
Harmful Pollutants
Methane
Methane is one of the most *green house gas emitted around the world. Methane can be emitted out naturally or by human activities. Methane emitted naturally is given out by wetlands. Methane emitted by man is emitted by a leakage from natural gas systems and rearing of lives stock. Methane can be remove naturally from the atmosphere by natural processes in soil and chemical reactions in the atmosphere. Methane is an excellent substance the trap radiation in our air but do not have long lifetime in the atmosphere.
Emissions of Methane
Industries. Natural gas and petroleum systems are the largest source of methane emissions. Methane is one of the primary component of natural gas. Some methane is emitted to the atmosphere during the production, processing, storage, transmission and the distribution of natural gas.
Agriculture. Domestic livestock such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and camels produces large amount of methane as part of the normal digestive process (AKA farts). Also, when animals manure is stored or managed in lagoons or holding tanks, Methane is produced. Because humans raise these animals for food, the emissions are considered human-related.
Waste from Homes and Businesses. Methane is generated in landfills as waste decomposes and in the treatment of waste water. Landfills are the third largest source of Methane emissions in the United States.
Effects on Health: Methane in its gas that can cause unconsciousness or death by suffocation. It may displace the oxygen supply you need for breathing, loss of consciousness, headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, and loss of coordination. Furthermore, skin contact with methane can cause frostbite.
Effects on Environment: Methane is a greenhouse gas that is very effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere and causes the environment to get hotter as the temperature increases.
Ways to reduce Methane Emission:
- Industries can upgrade the equipments used to produce, store, and transport oil and gas can reduce many of the leaks that contribute to methane emissions.
- Methane can be reduced and captured by altering manure management strategies at livestock operations or animal feeding practices.
- Controls the emission that capture landfill methane as they contains lots of methane.
Lead
Lead is used in building construction, lead-acid batteries,bullets and shot, weights, as part of solders
pewters, fusible alloys, and as a radiation shield.
Main Source
Motor vehicles wer
e the major contributor of lead emissions to the air. Now major sources of lead emissions to the air today are ore and metals processing and piston- engine aircraft operating on leaded aviation gasoline. Lead smelters are the main source of lead pollution. Other stationary sources are waste incinerators, utilities, and lead- acid battery manufacturers.
Effects on health
- Lead is a highly toxic metallic element.
- It has been extensively used in the modern industry.
- Everyone is exposed to trace amounts of lead through air, soil, household dust, food, drinking water and various consumer products.
- Even small amounts of lead can be hazardous to human health.
Possible solutions to the problems caused
- A monitoring program to collect actual measurements of air pollution
- Can under go Chelation therapy which help to excreted in your urine.
- Proven effective and newly emerging control strategies to reduce emissions.
Sulfur Dioxide
Sulfur dioxide is one of a group of highly reactive gasses known as "oxides of sulfur". Sulfur dioxide are emitted from fossil fuel combustion at power
plants, other industrial facilities and industrial processes. Industrial processes are processes such as extracting metal from ore and the burning of high sulfur containing fuels by locomotives, large ships and non-road equipment. One natural way sulfur dioxide is released into the atmosphere is through a volcanic eruption.
Effect on health
Sulfur dioxide are very harmful gases which could permanently or temporally affect our in a bad way. Below will be some examples of what sulfur dioxide can do to our body.
- Short-term exposure to sulfur dioxide will effect your respiration system drastically during exercising. Respiration problems such as bronchoconstriction and increased asthma symptoms.
- Studies have shown the relationship between short-term exposure and visits to emergency hospitals for respiratory illnesses, particularly among children and the elderly.
Solutions
It is already a big problem when we emit sulfur dioxide into our atmosphere but if we do nothing about it will be a bigger problem. Countries around the world have signed a treaty which requires them to meet a acceptable air quality standard. This treaty is the The Clean Air Act which requires countries to set National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for the six main air pollutants.
- A monitoring program, which is a collection of monitoring devices throughout the country which provide actual measurements of the concentrations in the air, to identify whether an area is meeting the air quality standards, and if not, how much reductions are needed to meet those standards.
- Air quality calculations and computer modelling, which are used to predict future trends and the effects of emissions reduction strategies.
- Emissions inventories, which describe the sources and categories of emissions to the air for a given pollutant, and how much is emitted by each source or source category.
- Control strategy studies whose goal is finding the best way to reduce emissions in order to meet air quality standards.
Global Warming
Global warming is one of the biggest problem faced by EARTH in this 21st century. Global warming is the raise of the average temperature of earth causing many events to happen such as the disappearance of iceberg in the poles causing arctic animals to not have a home or unable to hunt as there is less ice for them to hunt on.
Causes
Greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are gases that is able to trap and hold heat in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are emitted when burn fossil fuel such as coal, oil and natural gases for our daily needs or cutting and burning of trees to clear space for new land to rear animals.
Consequences
- Less extreme cold weather. Ice bergs in the poles will melt causing rise in sea levels,
flooding islands. No place for the arctic animals to hunt; force to hunt in human territory.
- More extreme hot weathers. Increase in temperature causing more droughts in drought-prone areas. Water sources at hot places will evaporate causing shortage of water
Solutions
- Reduce Emissions. To reduce global warming we have to reduce the amount of heat-trapping gases we emit into our atmosphere.
- Stop Deforestation. Tropical deforestation emits about 10% of earth heat-trapping gases.
- Fight Misinformation. Media, special interest groups are funded by fossil fuel related industries increase the doubts about the truths of global warming. These misinformation confuses people like us about the growing impact of global warming, making it more difficult to implement solutions to effectively reduce the man-made emissions that case global warming.
- Prepare for impacts. Certain consequences of global warming are now inevitable, including sea level rise, more frequent and severe heat waves, growing wildfires and an increase in extreme weather events.
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