Air Pollution : A Threat Of Humans And Nature

Since human’s activity, pollution becomes a big problem in the world. There are a lot of part of pollutions include water pollution, light pollution and air pollution. Air pollution is happened in our life. The United States is also a victim of air pollution. In 1943, Los Angeles photochemical smog event occurred. The whole of Los Angeles was covered with smoke. There are about 400 people died and a lot of fruits in orchards began to wither.

Air pollution is characterized by the introduction or rise in air gases and particles beyond the standard levels of clean air (EPA, 2016a). Types of air pollutants vary depending on the source, such as industries, motor vehicles, combustion or natural sources; however, certain air pollutants have drawn more attention because of their widespread and health effects (EPA, 2016a). Examples of these pollutants are: ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and particulate matters (EPA, 2016a). A recent report from the World Health Organization states that 98% of the cities in low and middle income countries and 56% of cities in high income countries don’t meet the WHO’s air quality standards indicating high levels of pollution (WHO, 2016). In the US, national data on air quality shows improvement in the levels of air pollutants in the past 16 years (EPA, n.d.). Specifically, carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, PM10 and PM2.5 dropped by 60%, 91%, 45%, 69%, 17%, 36% and 37% respectively, yet ozone and particulate matter remained among the highest pollutants (EPA, n.d.; American Lung Association, 2016). While a similar trend of improvement in air pollution can be seen across cities and counties in the US, it is well documented that some counties score substantially higher all year round on air pollution quality standards (EPA, n.d.).

Most people never stop to think about the sanitation of the air around them. The only places that people ruminate over air quality are largely populated states and cities. One of these places is California. Ominous clouds of smog and polluted air constantly hover over the citizens. These people don’t ever look up and worry, because smog is a usual appearance. This issue destroys not only the earth and its atmosphere, but the very center of our lives: our bodies’ health. Particulate pollutants are like the retroviruses of the world: well-rounded and dangerous. Air pollution is the largest ecological issue of our time because the contaminated air lingers all over the world constantly being augmented to, and further threatening the world and those who lives in it.

Air pollution is the largest killer in the developing world, taking the lives of over 7 million people annually. While air pollution does take place in America daily, we are not exposed to the high levels of PM 2.5, PM10, and other pollutants that developing countries are. It is very much real, and a global challenge that affects us, as a world as whole, causing global warming, and emission of greenhouse gases. In America we have air regulations in effect, along with other developed countries like Canada, and France, in an attempt to regulate the amount of air pollution released in the air. While we are not a perfect nation, or the most Earth friendly country, we, the population, do not consider the long term effects of air pollution. Many people living in developing countries are basically forced to live in these harsh conditions because of how poor they and their country are; the lack of enforcement on air regulations contributes strongly to the problem. This results in smog filled cities, poor living conditions, millions of premature deaths, and many affected by the heavy amount of air pollution that is shamelessly forced into the air.

Air pollution can drastically affect the health of the environment in various ways that can affect the quality of life of individuals. For example, ground level ozone is a colorless gas that is formed when nitrogen oxides volatile organic compounds react in the sun. This ozone is the reason why there is smog. Air pollution causes exhaustion of the ozone layer, which permits a more prominent number of bright beams to earth, that can be destructive for people. This issue affects not only human

The purpose of this paper is to find the correlation between air pollution and society’s responsibility to promote a cleaner safer environment for its citizens. My research question is: How can society help keep the air we breathe safe? There are so many chemicals and other vapors that are emitted into the air that it becomes a chore for people with respiratory problems, i.e., asthma, to breathe without some assistance and in some cases of older individuals, carry an oxygen tank daily. Can some of these health issues be prevented if we managed our air pollution better?

Background: There are many different types of pollution, some are more visible than others are invisible. Another way of looking at air pollution could be any substance that can interfere with the atmosphere or the well being to survive in that condition. There are two different types of pollution, primary and secondary pollution. The pollutants that are a direct result of the process can be called primary pollutants. An example of a primary pollutant would be the sulfur-dioxide emitted from factories. Secondary air pollution are the ones that are caused by the reactions of primary pollutants. Generally, any substance that is emitted into the atmosphere is considered air pollution.. Humans cause the majority of the air pollution by doing many different activities such as driving a car, traveling by plane, and even working at factories. Man-made sources of pollution are called anthropogenic sources, which means “cause by the people”. If we keep breathing the polluted air, it can make us sick. Humans can experience a wide range of health effects from being exposed to air pollution. There are short term and long term effects from exposure. . Short term effects include illnesses such as pneumonia or bronchitis, both of these affect breathing and lung function. Long term effects can last a lifetime. Long term effects include, heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory diseases. Air pollution can also cause long term damage to nerves,

Air pollution is the introduction of foreign products into the atmosphere that have negative effects on the environment and the living organisms. Air pollution dates to the quickly popularized creation of machinery back during the Industrial Revolution, mid-18th to19th century. When machines could do the work of multiple people, things such as clothes became cheaper. Textiles, mining, glass manufacturing and agriculture all went under drastic changes. People moved from small villages, where they learned to live the way their ancestors have, to industrialized towns. Factories provided jobs for the workers who produced their goods.

Today we face a major threat: global warming. People polluting the air constantly get so blinded by their own greed that they do not tend to realize what they have created. Humans have the biggest contribution to global warming, and the dangers will only get worse if nothing gets done. Our various toxic activities, such as working at power plants, drilling up natural gases and oil, and deforestation all emit greenhouse gases into the air, and because of these omissions large bodies of ice and oceans, the wildlife, and people 's health will continue to get harmed extremely.

Generally any substance that people introduce into the atmosphere has damaging effects on living things and the environment. Human activities have been highlighted as the major causes of air pollution, especially in the cities. For children with asthma in California, there is no place worse than Imperial County. They are far more likely than children in any other county to end up in the emergency room or hospitalized. Kids go the ER for asthma at a rate three times higher than the state's average, according to the Department of Public Health. One in five of Imperial County's children ages 5 to 17 has been diagnosed with the chronic respiratory disease, which cannot be cured but can be managed with medication. Uncontrolled asthma can lead to hospitalization and in rare cases, death. In 2009, a 16-year-old girl died after an asthma attack. Imperial County is known for its poor air quality, in part because of its unpaved roads, agricultural tilling and industrial pollution from Mexico. The county's air pollution control district has made progress in improving the air quality, but it still far exceeds federal health standards for airborne particulates. And that, according to the EPA, can increase the number and severity of asthma attacks among residents. Asthma is so prevalent among the students at Barbara Worth Elementary School in Brawley that the principal sends air quality alerts to his teachers and regularly cancels outdoor activities. Students keep inhalers

Outdoor air pollution, is not the only air pollution that chokingly grips developing countries, indoor air pollution also rids the air of clean breathing. Mostly over looked, and unconsidered when you think of air pollution in developing countries. Yet, indoor air pollution, or household pollution, is deadly as outdoor air pollution and possibly worse. Indoor air pollution affects a massive amount of people by causing health issues, and contributing to the death rate. Indoor air pollution contributes. In most cases, the pollution levels in houses are one hundred times worse than recommended guidelines state. “4.3 million people die a year from exposure to indoor air pollution.” according to WHO data sheets.

Have you even wondered about how much we hurt the environment? Probably not, most people don’t realize this. Humans depend on the environment so much, but we take it for granted. We hurt the environment every since time we leave the lights on, drop things in the sewer, or when we don’t recycle. You may ask, how can doing these little mistakes affect something so huge. Well this chapter is gonna change your mind.

As poor air quality is an environmental health problem, it is the responsibility of public health advocates to maintain a healthy living environment for everyone. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides guidelines for air quality called the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. There are 6 criteria of air pollutants which are lead, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide, and they need to be monitored to ensure that air pollutants levels are safe. These standards are enforced under the authority of the 1970 Clean Air Act, which is part of public health regulatory policy implemented to improve environmental

The rise in urban transport also generates dust particles in the atmosphere. Cities with large numbers of cars or those that use great quantities of coal often suffer most severely from the problem. To make way factories and due to growing urbanization in various parts of the country, trees are cut down on a larger scale without any adequate efforts to plant new ones. This leads to deforestation, which also helps cause a rise in atmospheric pollution levels. The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising due to deforestation. Industry is another big contributor. Factories also emit substances that do not directly contribute to poor air quality, but combine with other elements to create air pollutants. A big source of air pollution from industry comes from volatile organic compounds, which are released into the atmosphere on a large scale. Consumers also contribute to air pollution. To use of many end products is obvious, such as driving a car. However, their constant consumption demands more industrial activity, which is compounds the release of air pollution into the atmosphere. Burning garbage is another practice that releases dangerous gases and dust. This contribute to global warming and pollution lakes, forests, oceans and cities.

Almaty is in the list of ten most polluted cities in the world. Even Moscow is on the 14th place, which means that the problem is not in the cars number only. (KazakhstanToday, n.d). Moreover, some of the Kazakhstani experts claim that air pollution in Almaty will soon achieve the critical point (Kapital, 2015). The problem is that both the government and citizens understand the current problem, but there is still no change. Air pollution causes environmental changes, increasing in average temperature and also a lot of illnesses and diseases such as allergies and lungs problems. The problem has to be solved because Almaty is the financial center of Kazakhstan and a lot of people including students, workers, foreign tourists come every year. Almaty does not have a lot of factories, so the main cause of air pollution is transport. Due to increasing of air pollution from transport in Almaty, which causes cardiovascular mortality of 446 people per 100,000 in Almaty (Kenessariyev et al,2013) , the problem has to be solved by building more metro stations, prohibiting old cars coming to the city and promoting using pollution-free clean natural gas.