DEFINITION OF POLLUTION

1.

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem.i.e physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light. Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances or energies or naturally occurring contaminants.

2.

3.

4.

Pollution can be divided into three categories that are air, water, thermal, noise and eutrophication.

SOURCES OF POLLUTION
1. Stationary Sources ~manufacturing. ~smoke stacks of power plants 2. Mobile Sources ~motor vehicles ~marine vehicles 3. Military ~nuclear weapons ~toxic gases 4. Fumes ~vanish ~paint

EFFECT OF AIR POLLUTION

Human Health

The health effects caused by air pollution may include difficulty in breathing, wheezing, coughing and aggravation of existing respiratory and cardiac conditions.

Animals

Acid rain that fall into rivers and lakes reduces the pH level of water in these habitats endangering the life of the fish and other organisms.

 Plants

Smoke, soot and dust cover the plant and block the stomata. This prevent the absorption of sunlight by chlorophyll, leading to reduction in the rate of photosynthesis.

WAY TO REDUCE AIR POLLUTION

1. Keep the air filter in your car clean.

2. Dont overfill at the pump.

3. Dont smoke.

4. Dont heat your home with a gas cooking stove.

5. Paint a brush, not a sprayer.

6. Use electric lawn mower.

7. Start your barbecue briquettes with an electric probe. Or use a propane or natural gas barbecue.

CONCLUSION

The health of the public, especially those who are the most vulnerable, such as children, the elderly and the sick, is at risk from air pollution, but it is difficult to say how large the risk is. It is possible that the problem has been over-stressed in relation to other challenges in the field of public health. As we have seen, there are considerable uncertainties in estimating both exposures and effects and their relationships. It

may be, for example, that the effects of long-term exposure to lower concentrations of air pollutants could be more damaging to public health than short-term exposure to higher concentrations. For this reason alone, local authorities could take action to assess and improve local air quality. It is not sufficient to wait for an episode of severe air pollution and then try to deal with its effects. Another reason for action on air pollution is that we do not know the contribution which exposure to air pollutants may make to deaths from, for example, heart disease. In many countries heart disease is a leading cause of death and even a small contribution from air pollution could mean a significant and important effect on public heath. On an individual level, the risk to health from air pollution is very much smaller than that posed by active cigarette smoking or accidents. It is also true that healthy individuals are rather unlikely to be affected by exposure to the concentrations of outdoor air pollutants in many European countries on most days of the year. However, the old and the young, and especially those suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, are the groups who are most vulnerable to the effects of air pollution. It is only right that cost effective action should be taken to provide them with clean air, which The Times of 1881 described as "the first necessity of our existence."

REFERENCES

1.

Biology longman.

2.

Air pollution-wikipedia.

3.

http://www.lbl.gov/Education/ELSI/pollution-main.html

4.

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com