Dust, pollen from plants and mold spores are also examples of aerosols. This animation uses NASA data to show how ash from a volcano in Chile travels around the world in our atmosphere. Certain gases in the atmosphere can cause air pollution. For example, in cities, a gas called ozone is a major cause of air pollution.
Ozone is also a greenhouse gas that can be both good and bad for our environment. Ozone high up in our atmosphere is a good thing.
It helps block harmful energy from the Sun, called radiation. But, when ozone is closer to the ground, it can be really bad for our health. Ground level ozone is created when sunlight reacts with certain chemicals that come from sources of burning fossil fuels, such as factories or car exhaust. When particles in the air combine with ozone, they create smog. Smog is a type of air pollution that looks like smoky fog and makes it difficult to see.
Agricultural activities have had a serious impact on the decreasing air quality. To begin with pesticides and fertilizers are the main source to contaminate the surrounding air. Nowadays, pesticides and fertilizers are mixed with new invasive species which are not found in nature, for quick growth of the crops and vegetation.
Once they are sprayed over, the smell and the effect of the pesticides are left in the air. Some mix with water and some seeps into the ground which not only destroys the crops but also causes numerous health-related issues.
Talking about air pollution, we always consider outdoor air pollution dangerous for our lives but never talk about indoor air pollution. Household products cause indoor air pollution which is 10 times more harmful than outdoor air pollution.
Volatile Organic Compounds VOCs found in paints, cleaners and personal care products such as perfume and deodorants are a reason for common heath issues. Risks like asthma or other respiratory issues and lung disease are other issues cause by inhaling poor house air quality. The rate with which the air pollution is increasing in the country, immediate action has become an absolute necessity. Not only does it affect human lives but also causes havoc in nature.
Visit www. Share Article:. Deepshikha Deb. In one study, the children of mothers exposed to PAHs during pregnancy showed slower brain-processing speeds and more pronounced symptoms of ADHD. In October more than countries reached an agreement to reduce the use of these chemicals—which are found in air conditioners and refrigerators—and develop greener alternatives over time. Though President Trump was unwilling to sign on to this agreement, a bipartisan group of senators overrode his objections in and set the United States on track to slash HFCs by 85 percent by Mold and allergens from trees, weeds, and grass are also carried in the air, are exacerbated by climate change, and can be hazardous to health.
Pollen allergies are worsening because of climate change. According to the most recent State of Global Air report —which summarizes the latest scientific understanding of air pollution around the world—4. Some four out of ten U. Since the annual report was first published, in , its findings have shown how the Clean Air Act has been able to reduce harmful emissions from transportation, power plants, and manufacturing.
Recent findings, however, reflect how climate change—fueled wildfires and extreme heat are adding to the challenges of protecting public health. The latest report—which focuses on ozone, year-round particle pollution, and short-term particle pollution—also finds that people of color are 61 percent more likely than white people to live in a county with a failing grade in at least one of those categories, and three times more likely to live in a county that fails in all three.
In rankings for each of the three pollution categories covered by the ALA report, California cities occupy the top three slots i. You can check the air quality of your own city or state on this map.
No one wants to live next door to an incinerator, oil refinery, port, toxic waste dump, or other polluting site. Yet millions of people around the world do, and this puts them at a much higher risk for respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, neurological damage, cancer, and death.
In the United States, people of color are 1. Historically, racist zoning policies and the discriminatory lending practices known as redlining have combined to keep polluting industries and car-choked highways away from white neighborhoods and have turned communities of color—especially poor and working-class communities of color—into sacrifice zones where residents are forced to breathe dirty air and suffer the many health problems associated with it.
In addition to the increased health risks that come from living in such places, members of these communities experience economic harm in the form of missed workdays, higher medical costs, and local underinvestment. Environmental racism isn't limited to cities and industrial areas. Outdoor laborers, including the estimated three million migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States, are among the most vulnerable to air pollution—and also among the least equipped, politically, to pressure employers and lawmakers to affirm their right to breathe clean air.
Recently, c umulative impact mapping , which uses data on environmental conditions and demographics, has been able to show how some communities are overburdened with layers of issues, like high levels of poverty, unemployment, and pollution. In the United States, the Clean Air Act has been a crucial tool for reducing air pollution since its passage in , although fossil-fuel interests aided by industry-friendly lawmakers have frequently attempted to weaken its many protections.
Ensuring that this bedrock environmental law remains intact and properly enforced will always be key to maintaining and improving our air quality. But the best, most effective way to control air pollution is to speed up our transition to cleaner fuels and industrial processes. By switching over to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power , maximizing fuel efficiency in our vehicles, and replacing more and more of our gasoline-powered cars and trucks with electric versions, we'll be limiting air pollution at its source while also curbing the global warming that heightens so many of its worst health impacts.
And what about the economic costs of controlling air pollution? According to a report on the Clean Air Act commissioned by NRDC, the annual benefits of cleaner air are up to 32 times greater than the cost of clean-air regulations. When you can, walk, ride a bike, or take public transportation. For driving, choose a car that gets better miles per gallon of gas, or choose an electric car. Buying your food locally cuts down on the fossil fuels burned in trucking or flying food in from across the country.
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