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Air pollution makes people sick, it causes breathing problems, promotes cancer, harms plants, animals, and at the same time it’s slowly destroying the ecosystems that we live in. Air pollution is opening the gate to several other global problems such as; global warming, smog and thermal inversion, ozone depletion, the greenhouse effect, and acid rain. Those are all examples of human caused air pollution also referred to as anthropogenic (Christopher 98). There are not only human caused pollution problems, but also natural occurring events that are effecting our globe as a whole, such as volcanic eruptions.
Air pollution is causing many changes in earth’s atmospheres. These changes have made it so; more harmful radiation from the sun is reaching earth. However, at the same time, our polluted atmosphere is acting as an insulator, making it so that heat from the sun cannot escape back into space and this is leading to a rise in global average temperatures (Christopher 130). Scientists predict that the temperature increase, also known as global warming, will affect our world food supply, alter sea levels, make weather more extreme, and increase the spread of tropical disease (Hart).
Just in the past year, we have seen many cases of extreme weather all over the world from the tsunami in South-East Asia that killed more than one hundred thousand people, to hurricane Strain in the eastern part of the United States that also caused many deaths. Most air pollution comes from one human activity: the burning of fossil fuels. The fossil fuels that are included are: natural gas, coal, and oil. We use fossil fuels to power industrial processes and more common, driving automobiles (Christopher 138). All over the world, more and more people re driving and this is causing a huge pollution problem.
Once in the atmosphere, pollutants can undergo chemical reactions that produce additional harmful chemicals. Not only is pollution being concentrated in high populated areas, but the weather is blowing the pollution across the globe and damaging environments far from the original source (Hart). Local and regional pollution take place in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, which extends from Earth’s surface to about 11 miles up. The troposphere is the layer where weather occurs (Christopher 71 ).
Pollution sources tend to be concentrated in cities because Of the large amount Of automobiles in cities, such as Los Angels. There is a process known as thermal inversion that is causing many harmful environmental and health effects in cities. When thermal inversion happens, a layer of cooler air is trapped near the ground by a layer of warmer air above. This results in the pollutants being trapped in the lower layer (Christopher 78). Places that are surrounded by mountains are especially vulnerable by thermal inversion because the mountains trap the polluted air.
Smog is intense local pollution usually trapped by a thermal inversion (Christopher 80). Los Angels is a perfect example of this. When you drive over the mountains and look down into L. A. , you can see the large amount of smog that is trapped in the valley, especially during the summer. The pollution trapped between the cooler and warmer air is basically sitting atop of cities and causing many health problems. Asthma cases have increased over the past decade, as well as, many lung related problems. Burning gasoline in motor vehicles is the main source of smog in most areas today. Smog contains ozone, a form of oxygen gas.
Ozone in the lower atmosphere is a poison; it damages vegetation, kills trees, and irritates lungs (Hart). Nevertheless, air pollution is not only local, but global as well. Air pollution can expand beyond a local region to cause global effects. The stratosphere, the layer Of the atmosphere between 10 miles and 30 miles above sea level, is full of ozone. Up at the stratospheric level, ozone forms a protective layer that is essential for our protection from the suns’ rays. The ozone absorbs UP-B rays. XIV-B damages DNA and increases the risk of cancer in humans when we are exposed to it.
Because of its protective function, the ozone layer is essential to life on Earth. Several pollutants attack the ozone layer (Christopher 71 ). Among them is the class of chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CIFS), formerly used as refrigerants used in air conditioners. Once the Cuff’s get to the stratosphere, ultraviolet radiation breaks the CUFF molecules apart, releasing the chlorine atoms they contain. These chlorine atoms begin reacting with ozone, breaking it down into ordinary oxygen molecules that do not absorb XIV-B Christopher 73-74).
A single chlorine atom can destroy up to 100,000 ozone molecules in the stratosphere (Hart). As a result, the ozone layer is thinning and in some parts of the world such as the Antarctic region, the ozone is completely destroyed: this is causing an increase in skin cancers. Luckily, the amount of Cuff’s has been reduced dramatically in the past decade and will soon hopefully be prohibited worldwide; however, the Cuff’s that have already been put into the lower atmosphere, will continue to make their way up to the stratosphere for decades to come (Hart).
Another anthropogenic problem with air pollution is the increase of greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide is the most significant of the gases, as well as, methane, nitrous oxide and Cuff’s (Christopher 100). This gas lets the sunlight into Earth ‘s atmosphere, but instead of letting it back out, it is reflected back down trapping the heat in our atmosphere: this is the greenhouse effect. It’s been predicted that an increase in these gases in the atmosphere will make the Earth a warmer place. They expect a global rise in average temperature of 2. 5 to 10. 4 Fahrenheit degrees in the next century.
Warmer temperatures are expected to melt the polar ice caps, leading to a rise in sea level of 4 to 40 in by the year 2100. A rise in temperatures around the globe may affect diseases like malaria, which presently are primarily found in the tropics. They may become more common in the regions of the globe between the tropics and the polar Regions. And as for plant and animal species, many of them do not adapt easily to change in climates so they will go extinct (Hart). Acid rain is a world wide problem that starts with the production of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the burning of fossil fuels.
Sulfur dioxides and nitrogen sides react with water vapors and other chemicals in the atmosphere to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid. The wind can carry these oxides from their original place to all parts of the world. Therefore, when it rains or snows it is acidic, which is known as acid rain. Acid rain destroys and corrodes statues, buildings, cars, and damage crops and forests, and makes lakes and other water sources deadly for plants and animals (Christopher 83-84, 86). Although many of our air pollution problems are caused by humans, there are many natural events that Occur On earth that We have no control over.
On July 6, 1990, an earthquake was recorded as a 7. 8 on the Richter scale, 60 Miles North east of Mount Punctuation, in the Philippines. This earthquake is believed to have started the reawakening of Mount Punctuation, which was considered inactive because it had been dormant for 600 years. In June and following into July, the volcano erupted several times. It exploded millions of tons of ash and other volcanic material 50,000 feet high into the atmosphere. Locally, the ground was covered with 10 feet of ash. The eruptions reduced the volcano’s peak from 5725 feet to 4872 feet.
Over a period of time, the debris spread all over the world through the atmosphere. The cloud over the earth lowered global temperatures for 2 years. In the northern hemisphere the temperature was reduced by . 5 to . 6 degrees Celsius, and the entire planet temperature was reduced by . 4 to . 5 degrees Celsius. In the atmosphere, the sulfuric dioxide that the volcano produced mixed with oxygen and water to make sulfuric acid, which as a consequence, added to ozone depletion (Rosenberg). There are so many things that people can do to help reduce air pollution; like carpooling and taking the bus.
Even though it is unlikely that the amount of automobiles we drive will be reduced, there are many features that we are working on to make automobiles healthier for the environment. This will help reduce smog in highly populated cities; reduce greenhouse gases, which in turn will slow the process of global warming. Everything on this globe is connected. Throughout the years, environmental activist groups, schools, and the government have worked together to make the general public more aware of what we are doing to our environment and how we are damaging the only place we have to live.
Although, the amount Of air pollution that we, the United States, are putting into the atmosphere has been greatly reduced due to many regulations and laws that have passed; as well as, an overall greater appreciation for our environment and the natural world that we live in, there are still many problems that need to be attended to. The Clean Air Act, made in 1 970, has made a large impact on our environment and has done a good job of regulating the amount of air pollution that people are putting into our atmosphere. However, the Clean Air Act is not enough to improve our globe as a whole.
The entire world has to join together to protect Earth. The burning of fossil fuels is such a key factor in the way American’s live their lives; therefore, it will be harder to change our ways to more environmental friendly habits. More and more people are realizing that if we don’t start protecting the Earth now, it won’t be here for very much longer. These factors alone have given me enough incentive to start researching the purchase of an electric vehicle for myself. In the end, writing this paper definitely gave me a greater appreciation of the environment we so greatly under appreciate.