Air Pollution

Air Pollution

Air pollution is defined as, “the addition of harmful chemicals into the atmosphere”. Air pollution is a very serious matter we face in our lives every day. Most people don’t know it but the second we leave our houses and step out into the world, we are breathing in polluted air. Every time we inhale, we carry dangerous air pollutants into our bodies. These pollutants can cause short-term effects as well as long term effects. We actually witness the air getting polluted with our own eyes and at the same time don’t realize that it will eventually enter into our bodies. Many of us also don’t realize how harmful polluted air is. It’s shocking to know that the earth actually has its own ability to absorb and purify minor quantities of pollutants. However, because we pollute the earth so much, it can not keep up. Air pollution is more of a recent problem because the earth has been absorbing our pollutants for many years now and we have finally polluted more then the earth can handle.

The main cause of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels produce’s energy; we need this energy in our everyday lives. Most of the burning of fossil fuels that we do, takes place in internal-combustion engines. Almost all of the things we use to transport people and goods have internal-combustion engines. This means that every time we start our car or get on a bus we are helping to pollute the earth’s atmosphere. Trains, boats, and gas powered scooters also help in the pollution of our earth because they have internal combustion engines as well. Our atmosphere gets polluted by the clouds of smoke that leave our exhaust system in cars, the smoke leaving a factory chimney, smoking cigarettes, and even the dirt we blow into the air off the roads we drive on. Air pollution can also be caused naturally like when a volcano erupts. As one could deduce, it is very difficult, in the world we live in, to not pollute. This is so because it would mean cutting back on things we do daily.

It is impossible to escape air pollution because it even exists inside your own house. "In 1985 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that toxic chemicals found in the air of almost every American home are three times more likely to cause some type of cancer than outdoor air pollutants". The main reason for air pollution indoors is poor ventilation which allows the air from outside our house inside. Other sources of indoor air pollution come from specific sources such as copying machines, electrical and telephone cables, mold, air conditioning systems and ducts, cleaning fluids, cigarette smoke, carpet, paint, vinyl molding, linoleum tile, formaldehyde, and building materials. The most common air pollutants found indoors are similar to the pollutants that can be found out doors. These indoor pollutants are nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and lead.

Air pollution is not at all a good thing; in fact air pollution has many bad effects on planet earth and to humans. “The World Health Organization thinks that 4.6 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air pollution.” Air pollution causes death for some people in the long run but it also has many short term effects. Some short term effects include difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing and aggravation of existing respiratory and cardiac conditions, aggravated asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung and heart diseases, and respiratory allergies. Air pollution is also very harmful for plants and animals. Some of the effects of air pollution on the earth and its atmosphere include acidic rain, global warming, and ozone depletion. Acid rain is caused when sulfur and nitrogen pollution from industrial smokestacks is combined with moisture in the atmosphere. This rain is acidic, which destroys natural ecosystems and is the reason for acidic soil as well. Global warming happens by pollution gathering in the Earth's atmosphere; it traps heat and causes average temperatures to rise.

There are many different chemicals that pollute the atmosphere some of these chemicals include CO2, NO2, sulfur, and chlorofluorocarbons. Carbon dioxide