Air Pollution

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Pollution:
There are different types of pollution:
1. Air Pollution
2. Thermal Pollution
3. Land Pollution
4. Pesticide Pollution
5. Radiation Pollution
6. Noise Pollution
7. Water Pollution
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Pollution:
Today, We are going to see here
about:

Air Pollution

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Air Pollution:
It is the accumulation in the
atmosphere of substances that
endanger human health or produce
other measured effects on living
matter and other materials.

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Air Pollution:
Among the major sources of pollution are
power and heat generation, the burning of
solid wastes, industrial processes, and,
especially, transportation.

The six major types of pollutants are

carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons,
nitrogen oxides, particulates, sulfur
dioxide, and photochemical oxidants.

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Causes of Air pollution: (a)
Smog
 It can be loosely defined as a multisource of the
widespread air pollution that occurs in the air of cities.
Smog, a contraction of the words smoke and fog, has
been caused throughout recorded history by water
condensing on smoke particles, usually from burning
coal. The infamous London fogs--about 4,000 deaths
were attributed to the severe fog of 1952--were smog
of this type. Another type, ice fog, occurs only at high
latitudes and extremely low temperatures and is a
combination of smoke particles and ice crystals.

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 Smog which occurred in British Columbia,
Smog in Cairo in Lower Frazer Valley
Smog which occurred in United states

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Local and Regional Air
Pollution:
As coal economy has been replaced by petroleum
economy, photochemical smog has become
predominant in many cities. Its horrible properties
result from the irradiation by sunlight of hydrocarbons
(unburned gasoline emitted by automobiles) and other
pollutants in the air. Irradiation produces a long series
of photochemical reactions. The products of the
reactions include organic particles, ozone, aldehydes,
ketones and other oxidants. Sulfur dioxide oxidizes
and hydrates to form sulfuric acid and becomes part
of the particulate matter.

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 Who was responsible for original plans?
– How did that work? Right set of
people?
 Was project well defined from beginning?
– Was there an actual written plan?
– How was project plan communicated?
– How well did that work?

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Automobiles are polluters even in the
absence of photochemical reactions. They
emit carbon monoxide, one of the most
toxic constituents of smog. All types of
smog decrease visibility and, with the
possible exception of ice fog, are irritating
to the respiratory system. Smog is a
contributor to malignancies of many types:
Photochemical smog :eye irritation and
acrimation and causes severe damage to
many types of vegetation, including
important crops. Acute effects include an
increased death rate.
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Anthropogenic causes of Air pollution:

1. "Stationary Sources" as smoke stacks of power

plants, manufacturing facilities, municipal waste
incinerators
2. "Mobile Sources" as motor vehicles, aircraft etc.
3. Combustion-fired power plants
4. Controlled burn practices used in agriculture and
forestry management
5. Motor vehicles generating air pollution emissions.
6. Marine vessels, such as container ships or cruise ships,
and related port air pollution.
7. Burning wood, fireplaces, stoves, furnaces and
incinerators
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Natural causes of Air pollution:
1. Dust from natural sources, usually large
areas of land with little or no vegetation.
2. Methane, emitted by the digestion of food by
animals, for example cattle.
3. Radon gas from radioactive decay within the
Earth's crust.
4. Smoke and carbon monoxide from
wildfires.
5. Volcanic activity, which produce sulphur,
chlorine, and ash particulates.

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 Damages caused to Art
works:
Air pollution also has a deleterious
effect on works of art. Taj Mahal
is one example. Air pollution on
a regional scale is in part the
result of local air pollution--
including that produced by
individual sources, such as
automobiles--that has spread
out to encompass areas of many
thousands of square kilometers.
Meteorological conditions and
landforms can greatly influence
air-pollution concentrations at
any given place, especially
locally and regionally.

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Most Polluted World
Cities by PM

Particulate
matter,
μg/m³ (2004)
City
169 Cairo, Egypt
150 Delhi, India

128 Kolkata, India (Calcutta)

125 Taiyuan, China

123 Chongqing, China

109 Kanpur, India

109 Lucknow, India

104 Jakarta, Indonesia

101 Shenyang, China

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Greenhouse effect and ocean
acidification
The greenhouse effect is a phenomenon whereby greenhouse gases,
create a condition in the upper atmosphere causing a trapping of
heat and leading to increased surface and lower troposphere
temperatures. The effect prevents the planet from severe cooling,
and so benefits all living things. It shares this property with many
other gases, the largest overall forcing on Earth coming from
water vapour. Other greenhouse gases include methane,
hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons, NOx,
and ozone. Currently, scientists are studying the role of changes in
composition of greenhouse gases from natural and anthropogenic
sources for the effect on climate change.
A number of studies have also investigated the potential for long-
term rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide to cause slight
increases in the acidity of ocean waters and the possible effects of
this on marine ecosystems. However, carbonic acid is a very weak
acid, and is utilized by marine organisms during photosynthesis.
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 Pollution Damage to
plants
With the destruction and burning of the rain forests more and more CO2 is being
released into the atmosphere. Trees play an important role in producing
oxygen from carbon dioxide. "A 115 year old Beech tree exposes about
200,000 leaves with a total surface to 1200 square meters. During the course
of one sunny day such a tree inhales 9,400 liters of carbon dioxide to produce
12 kilograms of carbohydrate, thus liberating 9,400 liters of oxygen ". This
process is called photosynthesis which all plants go though but some yield
more and some less oxygen. As long as no more wood is burnt than is
reproduced by the forests, no change in atmospheric CO2 concentration will
result.
Pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone and peroxyacl nitrates
(PANs), cause direct damage to leaves of crop plants and trees when they
enter leaf pores. Chronic exposure of leaves and needles to air pollutants can
also break down the waxy coating that helps prevent excessive water loss and
damage from diseases, pests, drought and frost. "In the Midwestern United
States crop losses of wheat, corn, soybeans, and peanuts from damage by
ozone and acid deposition amount to about $5 billion a year".
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 Health effects
The World Health Organization states that 2.4 million people
die each year from causes directly attributable to air
pollution. Worldwide more deaths per year are linked to air
pollution than to automobile accidents. 310,000 Europeans
die from air pollution annually. Direct causes of air pollution
related deaths include aggravated asthma, bronchitis,
emphysema, lung and heart diseases, and respiratory
allergies. The worst short term civilian pollution crisis in India
was the 1984 Bhopal Disaster. Leaked industrial vapors
from the Union Carbide factory, belonging to Union Carbide,
Inc., U.S.A., killed more than 2,000 people outright and
injured anywhere from 150,000 to 600,000 others, some
6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries. 18
The United Kingdom suffered its worst air pollution
event when the December 4th Great Smog of
1952 formed over London. In six days more than
4,000 died, and 8,000 more died within the
following months.
The health effects caused by air pollutants may
range from subtle biochemical and physiological
changes to difficulty in breathing, wheezing,
coughing and aggravation of existing respiratory
and cardiac conditions.
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Reducing pollution

We can help to reduce global air pollution and climate change by

driving a car that gets at least 35 miles a gallon, walking, bicycling,
and using mass transit when possible. Replace incandescent light
bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, make your home more energy
efficient, and buy only energy efficient appliances. Recycle
newspapers, aluminium, and other materials. Plant trees and avoid
purchasing products such as Styrofoam that contain CFCs. Support
much stricter clean air laws and enforcement of international treaties
to reduce ozone depletion and slow global warming.

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Earth is everybody's home and nobody
likes living in a dirty home. Together,
we can make the earth a cleaner,
healthier and more pleasant place to
live.

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The End

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