Air Pollution - The Causes and Effect

Air pollution is generally any substance that people introduce into the atmosphere that has damaging effects on living things and the environment.(www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/pollution/) There are many causes, effects and many reasons like the environment, public health, and any other reasons. Air pollution is harmful for our present and future lives and should be avoided at all costs.

Did you know many upper respiratory diseases such as asthma and others diseases like cataracts and skin cancer are aggravated by air pollution. The NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) states that “the following air pollutants are common triggers of asthma, ground level ozone, sulfur dioxide, fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxide.” Air pollution is the presence in or introduction into the air of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects.

According to scientific studies, climate change could be a responsible factor behind the formation of more ozone smog, and increased production of allergenic pollen (Drought Increases Air Pollution… (n.d.) The health of many people is susceptible to irritation of respiratory system from coming in contact with this polluted air from smog, pollen pollution, and wildfire smoke (NRDC: Climate Change Threatens ....... (n.d.). Anybody can be affected by breathing ozone, but certain age group and disease condition make them more vulnerable. Outdoor workers and even people exercising outside, vulnerable age groups such as children, teens, and older individuals, people with existing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, are more prone to outdoor ozone ”(Ozone Pollution - American Lung…n.d.). Health risk could range from mild "shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing; asthma attacks;"certain individuals might be prone to lung infections; their lungs could be inflamed (Ozone Pollution - American Lung…n.d.). People diagnosed with asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease might face more infections and in need of more care (Ozone Pollution - American Lung…n.d.). According to Natural Resources Defense Council, an approximated "881,500 kids and 2,294,800 adults" are asthma victim per year (Climate Change Threatens Health....n.d.).

Air pollution can harm plants, lakes, and animals. In addition to damaging the natural environment, air pollution also can damage buildings, monuments, and statues. Not only does it reduce your visibility but it also interferes with aviation. In 1970, Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and passed the Clean Air Act, giving the federal government authority to clean up air pollution in this country.3 Ever since then, the EPA, states, tribes,

These pollutants are characterized as air toxics, which include lead, ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and a variety of other chemicals. The impact of air pollution could be very serious to both the heath condition of the population, which could by extension affects the economy of the impacted community. However, this impact is directly related to the amount of pollution in the air. Health consequences from air pollution could range from eye irritation, brain and nerve damage, runny nose, cancer, heart and

Air pollution is a big problem in our world today because it affects our lives on earth as well as animals and plants. Breathing polluted air can make you very sick it can cause your eyes and nose to burn. It can irritate your throat and even make your breathing difficult. Air pollution is a big environmental problem because it is affecting our crops, trees, wildlife, and lakes/oceans. Pollution is harming fish and other aquatic life in those bodies of water.

What about children’s lungs? Nitrogen oxides, which are emitted from smokestacks, are known to irritate the respiratory tract. They also react with other pollutants to produce ozone, which is a key component of smog. And hazy, smoggy, ozone-filled air is just terrible for kids with asthma. There is particulate matter, especially the tiny particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, which studies show can trigger asthma attacks. Children are especially vulnerable because they tend to breathe through their mouths, which means less filtering of pollutants by nose hair; they tend to hang out more outside, where levels of these pollutants are usually higher; and they run around a lot, which means they take in more nasty stuff and inhale it deep into their

Reduced air quality: Fine particulate matter, exhausts, burning of fossil fuels, and pesticides are a few things that exert greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere affecting the climate change. Reduced air quality poses a great risk to public health and has been linked to asthma, heart and lung damage, respiratory diseases, and premature deaths.

Car after car, planes, and factories produce poisonous greenhouse gases that fill the air. While politicians preach, climate change is preposterous. They are the prime problem. Drilling into our earth and oil spilling into our oceans, along with nuclear waste.

Air pollution can affect our health in many ways with both short-term and long-term effects. Different groups of individuals are affected by air pollution in different ways. Some individuals are much more sensitive to pollutants than are others. Young children and elderly people often suffer more from the effects of air pollution. Air pollution has many effects on human health, affecting a number of different systems and organs. Effects range from minor upper respiratory irritation to chronic respiratory and heart disease, lung

Air, is one of the most substantial source to mankind and our planet. While it exists, so does everything else along. However, in today’s epidemic, there has been certain factors that have increased in understanding whether the air we breathe today is healthy or not? Is it doing more harm than we thought? In other words, the health risks against air pollution have risen in the past few decades; all from what you may ask? Well, it could be for various factors and evaluations; either environmental or materialistic. Pollution is a major public health crisis in the world. (Friis, 2012). This is one of the conflicts that contribute to various aspects of an individual’s life, whether they may realize it or not. In this paper will include the sources that cause pollution with the effects it cause as well as policies on the regulation of air pollution.

“The oil and natural gas industry also is a significant source of emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that is more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Emissions of air toxics such

Waste Generation: coal-fired power use causes several pollutant emissions in the atmosphere causing global climate change (Weaver, 2008). Also, it has large waste generation, which results in land and water resource depletion because it contaminates the very air and water we use every day. This causes public health and safety as well as animal health and safety (Worldcoal.org, 2016)

Increasing temperature will increase the dirty air and therefore aggrevates the air pollution from cars and fatories. If people breath in the dirty air, there will be higher rate of death of asthmatics. Those who have cardiac, pulmonary, hay fever, and other allergies will suffer more.

Pollution is another major factor that is threatening our world today. One example of pollution is nitrogen. Humans are adding about 130 to 150 million tons over the 90 to 150 tons that are produced by the nitrogen cycle. This excess in nitrogen causes coastal waters and estuaries to grow toxic algae, killing the fish and trapping the solar heat in the air. Another example of pollution is methane. Methane is produced by gases released by cows, termite mounds or by the bottom of rice paddy. If found in the air methane is very poisonous. By raising more cattle, cutting more tropical forests, thus increasing the amount of termites, and by growing more rice, the methane concentration in the air is almost twice as higher as it was 160,000 years ago. Smoke is another pollution factor. Smoke that is produced by cars contains carbon dioxide (CO2). This carbon dioxide in the air causes global warming, which results in the green house effect and climate changes. Satellite studies show that perhaps we will increase the temperature by 3.6 degrees by the year 2001. The warmer the weather the more water it can hold, the higher the precipitation will be. The higher the precipitation the more clouds, the more rain, and the more snow there will be. This will result in more storms and floods. Studies by Thomas Karl of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that the total winter precipitation in the US has increased to about 10% since