Transcript Air Pollution

* Air Pollution
Lindsay Freschi
*
* Air pollution is the introduction into the
atmosphere of chemicals, particulate matter,
or biological materials that cause discomfort,
disease, or death to humans, damage other
living organisms such as food crops, or damage
the natural environment or built environment.
*
There are actually
two different kinds
of air pollution:
* Natural
Occurring- Easy
for the Earth to
handle
* Human Caused-
Too much is being
emitted and the
Earth cannot
handle it all.
*
* Volcanoes- ash, acid mist, hydrogen sulfide,
other toxic gases
* Sea spray-sulfur compounds
* Bacterial Metabolism of decaying vegetation
and cellulose from guts of termites and
ruminant animals- together they are
responsible for 2/3 of the methane in the air.
* Wind erosion
* Forrest Fires
*
* Factories-emitting harmful substances into the
air
* Automobiles-emitting harmful substances into
the air
* Deforestation-cutting down trees and taking
away a natural way to clean the air
* Smoking-releases substances into the air
* Agriculture-fertilizers we use are contributing
to air pollution
*
* Humans account for much of the world's air
pollution problem.
* Air pollution is becoming an increasingly
greater risk to our health and our planet. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports
that "acid rain, global warming, smog and the
depletion of the ozone layer" are some of the
results of human-caused air pollution
*
* Sulfur Dioxide
* Nitrogen Oxides
* Carbon Monoxide
* Ozone
* Lead
* Particulate Matter
*
* Natural sources: evaporation of sea spray,
fumes from volcanoes and hot springs.
* Human Caused Sources: combustion of sulfurcontaining fuel (coal and oil), purification of
sulfur-containing natural gas or oil, industrial
processes.
* China and the U.S. are the two largest sources
of anthropogenic sulfur.
* Colorless corrosive gas is directly damaging
plants and animals.
*
* Highly reactive gases formed when
nitrogen in fuel or in the air is
heated above 1,200 degrees F in
the presents of oxygen.
* Natural Causes:
* Human Causes: Continued increase
in miles driven every year,
abundant use of electricity, excess
nitrogen from agricultural
fertilizers.
* Nitrogen Oxides are a major
component of acid rain when they
combine with water
*
* Colorless, Odorless, Nonirritating, but highly
toxic gas.
* Human Causes: mainly by incomplete
combustion of fuel.
* In the U.S. 2/3 of CO emissions are created by
internal combustion engines.
* 90% of CO is converted to CO2
* High in the stratosphere it
provides a shield for the
biosphere by absorbing incoming
ultraviolet radiation. At ground
level it damages plants, building
materials, and sensitive body
tissue
* Natural Causes:
* Human Causes:Ground-level or
"bad" ozone is not emitted
directly into the air, but is
created by chemical reactions
between oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
and volatile organic compounds
(VOC) in the presence of
sunlight. Emissions from
industrial facilities and electric
utilities, motor vehicle exhaust,
gasoline vapors, and chemical
solvents are some of the major
sources of NOx and VOC.
* Has a bitter odor
*
*
* Most abundantly produced metal in the air,
toxic to our nervous system.
* Natural Causes:
* Human Causes: Airborne lead comes from
metal ores, mining, and burning of coal and
municipal waste. And until recently leaded
gasoline was a major factor in lead pollution.
*
* Airborne Particles- Solid particles or liquid
droplets. Very fine solid of liquid particles
suspended in a gaseous medium are aerosols;
including dust, ash, soot, lint, smoke, pollen, and
many other suspended materials.
* Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) may include a
wide range of organic air pollutants, from pure
hydrocarbons to partially oxidized hydrocarbons to
organic compounds containing chlorine, sulfur, or
nitrogen.
* Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are
compounds which are resistant to degradation and
persistent in the environment, and may include
dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
and organochlorine pesticides such as DDT.
* Natural causes: dust in the major natural cause
* Human causes: asbestos and cigarette smoke
* Most obvious form of pollution because they
reduce visibility.
*
* One of the key greenhouse gases
* 370 Billion tons of CO2 are emitted by
respiration each year. This is usually balanced
by photosynthesis in green plants. However,
there is an increase in the amount of CO2
emitted due to human activities. The excess
amount of CO2 being emitted is contributing to
climate change.
* Ocean Acidification is a major concern for
ocean animals, and is a direct result from too
much carbon dioxide in the air.
*
* Your health and well being are at risk
* Global Warming
* Cancer
* Nerve Damage just to name a few.
*
* The Clean Air Act is implemented by EPA
* Better automobiles
* Finding better fuels
* More awareness of the issue
*
* The answer is no. Animals are also being effected
by air pollution.
* Not only can they suffer illness for the polluted air
but they also have to try and cope with the climate
change.
* http://news.discovery.com/videos/global-warmingvideos/
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0WA3PIknCM
* It is important to protect the animals for pollution
because if we do not, many of them will die. We
have no idea what the death of these animals will
do to the environment.