What is Air Pollution? Source, Prevention and Effect - Explore Fact

Other planets have sunlight, but the earth is the only planet we know that has air and water, the Earth would we enable to sustain life. 

What is Air Pollution? Source, Prevention and Effect 

Air Pollution occur when the air contains gases, dust, fumes or odour in harmful amounts. That is, amounts which could be harmful to the health or comfort of humans and animal or which could cause damage to plants and materials.

It is defined as, the occurrence of foreign particles or gases in the atmosphere, which are harmful to man, vegetation, animal and buildings.

Source of Air Pollution

The pollution of air can be caused by natural processes or by human activities.

The source of pollution can be classified into two groups:

1.      Natural Sources

2.      Man-made Source

Natural Source of Air Pollution:

 They are dust storms, forest fires, ash from smoking volcanoes, decay of organic matters and pollen grains floating in air.

Man-made Source of Air Pollution:

 They are population explosion, deforestation, urbanization and industrialization, whose effects can be explained as follows:

(i)                 Burning of fuels, like; wood, cow dung cakes, coal and kerosene in homes pollute the air.

(ii)               Exhaust gases emitted by motor vehicles, which pollute the air are the major sources of air pollution in big cities.

(iii)             Industries pollute air by releasing various type of pollutants, such as; sulphur dioxide, oxide of carbon, nitrogen oxide, chlorine, asbestos dust and cement dust.

(iv)             Thermal power plants pollute air by emitting sulphur dioxide and fly-ash.

(v)               Nuclear power plants pollute plants by releasing radioactive rays.

(vi)             Use of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture pollute the air.

(vii)           Mining activities release particulate matter into the air and pollutes it.

(viii)         Indiscriminate cutting of trees and clearing of forests increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and thereby pollutes it.

(ix)             Use of chlorofluorocarbons in refrigeration, fire extinguisher and aerosol sprayers pollutes air by depleting the ozone.

(x)               Smoking pollutes air by emitting carbon monoxide and nicotine.

Harmful Effect of Air Pollution

(i)                 Air pollution affects respiratory system causing breathing difficulties and diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer, tuberculosis and pneumonia.

(ii)               Air Pollution affects the central nervous system causing carbon monoxide poisoning. CO has more affinity for hemoglobin that oxygen and thus forms a stable compound carboxy hemoglobin (COHb), which is poisonous and causing suffocation and death.

(iii)             Air pollution causing depletion of ozone layer due to which ultraviolet radiations can reach the earth and cause skin cancer, damage to eyes and immune system.

(iv)             It causes acid rain, which damage crops plants, trees, buildings, monuments, statues and metal structures and also make the soil acidic.

(v)               It causes greenhouse effect or global warming.

Prevention and Control of Air Pollution

The different techniques are used for controlling air pollution causes by ‘gaseous pollutants’ and that caused by ‘particular pollutants’.

(i)                 Use Public Mode of Transportation:

Encourage people to use more and more public modes of transportation to reduce pollution. Also, try to use of carpooling. If you are your colleagues come from the same locality and have same timings you can explore this option to save energy and money.

(ii)               Conserve Energy:

Switch off Fans and lights, when you are going out. Large amount of fossil fuels are burnt to produce electricity. You can save the environment from degradation by reducing the amount of fossil fuels to be burned.

(iii)             Understand the concept of Reuse, Reuse and Recycle:

Do not throw away items that are of no use to you. In fact reuse them for some other purpose e.g. you can use old jars to store cereals or pulses.

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