Air pollution is one of the most serious environmental problem against our civilization today.
It is often caused by human activities such as mining, construction, transportation, industrial work,
agriculture, and smelting. However, natural processes such as volcanic eruptions and wildfires may
also pollute the air, but they occur rarely and they usually have a local effect, unlike human activities
that are ubiquitous causes of air pollution and contribute to the global pollution of the air every single
day. Air pollution has serious effects on the human health. It can harm us when it accumulates in the
air in high enough concentrations. Billions people in the world live in areas where urban smog,
particle pollution, and toxic pollutants pose serious health concerns. People exposed to high enough
levels of certain air pollutants may experience. Along with harming human health, air pollution can
cause a variety of environmental effects, too.
Acid rain: Acid rain is precipitation containing harmful amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids.
These acids are formed primarily by nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides released into the atmosphere
when fossil fuels are burned. These acids fall to the Earth either as wet precipitation (rain, snow, or
fog) or dry precipitation (gas and particulates). Some are carried by the wind, sometimes hundreds
of miles. In the environment, acid rain damages trees and causes soils and water bodies to acidify,
making the water unsuitable for some fish and other wildlife. It also speeds the decay of buildings,
statues, and sculptures that are part of our national heritage. Acid rain has damaged lakes, ponds,
rivers, and soils, leading to damaged wildlife and forests.
Effects on wildlife: Toxic pollutants in the air, or deposited on soils or surface waters, can
impact wildlife in a number of ways. Like humans, animals can experience health problems if they
are exposed to sufficient concentrations of air toxics over time. Studies show that air toxics are
contributing to birth defects, reproductive failure, and disease in animals. Persistent toxic air
pollutants (those that break down slowly in the environment) are of particular concern in aquatic
ecosystems. These pollutants accumulate in sediments and may biomagnified in tissues of animals at
the top of the food chain to concentrations many times higher than in the water or air.
Ozone depletion: Ozone is a gas that occurs both at ground-level and in the Earth's upper
atmosphere, known as the stratosphere. At ground level, ozone is a pollutant that can harm human
health. In the stratosphere (the second layer of the atmosphere), however, ozone forms a layer that
protects life on earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. But this "good" ozone is gradually
being destroyed by man-made chemicals referred to as ozone-depleting substances, including
chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochloric, fluorocarbons, and halons. These substances were formerly used
and sometimes still are used in coolants, foaming agents, fire extinguishers, solvents, pesticides, and
aerosol propellants. Thinning of the protective ozone layer can cause increased amounts of UV
radiation to reach the Earth, which can lead to more cases of skin cancer, cataracts, and impaired
immune systems. UV can also damage sensitive crops, such as soybeans, and reduce crop yields.
Crop and forest damage: Air pollution can damage crops and trees in a variety of ways.
Ground-level ozone can lead to reductions in agricultural crop and commercial forest yields, reduced
growth and survivability of tree seedlings, and increased plant susceptibility to disease, pests and
other environmental stresses (such as harsh weather). As described above, crop and forest damage
can also result from acid rain and from increased UV radiation caused by ozone depletion.
Global climate change: The Earth's atmosphere contains a delicate balance of naturally
occurring gases that trap some of the sun's heat near the Earth's surface. This "greenhouse effect"
keeps the Earth's temperature stable. Unfortunately, evidence is mounting that humans have disturbed
this natural balance by producing large amounts of some of these greenhouse gases, including carbon
dioxide and methane. As a result, the Earth's atmosphere appears to be trapping more of the sun's
heat, causing the Earth's average temperature to rise - a phenomenon known as global warming. Many
scientists believe that global warming could have significant impacts on human health, agriculture,
water resources, forests, wildlife, and coastal areas.
In brief, there are many impacts of Air Pollution which effect to our living nowadays. With air
pollutants being such a widespread epidemic, it’s imperative that we come together as Earth’s
inhabitants to become part of the solution, instead of continuing to be the problem. We can make the
choice to drive less toxic automobiles. We can choose how much energy we consume on a daily basis
such as renewable energy. We can also choose to reuse our old materials instead of dumping them
into the environment. Air pollution can have some devastating impacts on our bodies and the planet,
while there is only one planet where life exists so we should maintain our planet for ourselves and
others living shapes.
