What is Air Pollution?
Air pollution is made up of many kinds of gases, droplets and particles that reduce the quality of the air. Air can be polluted in both the city and the country. In the city, cars, buses and airplanes, as well as industry and construction may cause air pollution. In the country, dust from tractors plowing fields, trucks and cars driving on dirt or gravel roads, rock quarries and smoke from wood and crop fires may cause air pollution. Ground-level ozone is the major part of air pollution in most cities. Ground-level ozone is created when engine and fuel gases already released into the air interact when sunlight hits them. Ozone levels increase in cities when the air is still, the sun is bright and the temperature is warm. Ground-level ozone should not be confused with the “good” ozone that is miles up in the atmosphere and that protects us from the sun’s harmful radiation.
Contamination of the air that endangers our health. This can come in the form of gases and particles. Air quality can be separated into indoor and outdoor, otherwise known as ambient, air quality. Since we spend most of our time indoors, we should be aware of where pollution comes form. In this part of the United States, Particulate Matter and Ozone are the biggest concerns. Particulate matter is made up of particles so small that we cannot see them with our eyes. They are measured in micrometers (µm), which are one millionth of a meter in diameter or 10-6. When these particles are inhaled, they may make breathing difficult for those with existing respiratory conditions and may exacerbate asthma attacks. Drawing illustrates the relative size of particle pollution. Five, 10 micrometer particles fit across one human hair. Four, 2.5 micrometer particles fit across one 10 micrometer particle. Figure 1. The size of particulate matter 10 µm and 2.
Air pollution is the material, whether chemicals, particulates, or biological materials, that is introduced into the atmosphere by humans or human products. This includes smog, CFCs, acid rain, and indoor air pollutants. Air pollution is always a bad thing, there are no positives having to do with air pollution. Pollution is quickly becoming a serious problem all over the world, in the air, the water, the soil, and many other ways. As humans, we are responsible for the damage we do, and if we do not find a way to either tremendously curb or clear the world we live on, we will not have our natural resources for very long. Most people think that air pollution is a problem that only tree-huggers or environmentalists worry about, but the sad fact is it is a reality that we all have to face. We cause more problems every day than we come up with solutions for in ten years.
The air we breathe contains many impurities, ranging from smoke that comes from open fires to invisible gases emitted by the tailpipes of cars. These and other pollutants affect human health, damage fragile ecosystems, reduce visibility, and even damage property. They also have profound impacts on climate. Our atmosphere, which consists mostly of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%), has always contained many trace chemicals and particles. Even before humans began to have an impact, volcanoes belched enormous amounts of ash and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Winds whip up dust from deserts and smoke from forest fires. Even plants and animals emit subtle amounts of chemicals into the atmosphere—a process that scientists are just beginning to unravel. But when people use the word “pollution,” they generally mean human-related emissions that degrade the atmosphere.
