Air Pollution

Air Pollution, addition of harmful substances to the atmosphere resulting in damage to the environment, human health, and quality of life. One of many forms of pollution, air pollution occurs inside homes, schools, and offices; in cities; across continents; and even globally. Air pollution makes people sick—it causes breathing problems and promotes cancer—and it harms plants, animals, and the ecosystems in which they live. Some air pollutants return to Earth in the form of acid rain and snow, which corrode statues and buildings, damage crops and forests, and make lakes and streams unsuitable for fish and other plant and animal life.
Pollution is changing Earth’s atmosphere so that it lets in more harmful radiation from the Sun. At the same time, our polluted atmosphere is becoming a better insulator, preventing heat from escaping back into space and leading to a rise in global average temperatures. Scientists predict that the temperature increase, referred to as global warming, will affect world food supply, alter sea level, make weather more extreme, and increase the spread of tropical diseases.
a. Causes of Air Pollution
There are different factors that pollute air. Some of the main factors are given below:
· Pollutants like smoke, dusts and solid wastes pollute air. The polluted air contains sulpher dioxide, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. If these pollutants are mixed with air it gets polluted.
· The pollutants are smokes, dust and solid wastes that pollute air. Due to the heavy traffic in city area it is getting polluted.
b. Effects of Air Pollution
Polluted air affects living and non-living beings. Some of the main effects are given below:
· Polluted air contains sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide that affect physical and cultural aspects of the environment. It deteriorates temples made of metals, buildings and monuments.
· Different types of industries and factories like stone quarry, cement factory, marble factory emit smoke, dust and other harmful particles that pollute air. Some of the effects are lack of blood I body, damage of kidney and abortion.
· A thick layer of sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide is formed at the atmosphere due to air pollution. This layer does not protect sunlight to come to the earth but it stopped to refract light from the earth. It increases the temperature of the earth surface. The increment of the temperature of the earth is harmful to all living-beings.

c. Methods of Air Pollution Control
Some methods are given below:
· Old vehicles emit more smoke compare to new ones. It is necessary to inspect them from time to time. New ones should replace old vehicles.
· It is necessary to control dust and smoke that emitted from stone quarry, industries and brick factory.
· Tree plantation and increase of forest area help to control air pollution.
· Sources of alternative energy should be developed to replace wood fuel, cow dung and buffalo dung. Solar energy, electricity and biogas contribute in controlling air pollution.

Acid Rain

Acid Rain, form of air pollution in which airborne acids produced by electric utility plants and other sources fall to Earth in distant regions. The corrosive nature of acid rain causes widespread damage to the environment. The problem begins with the production of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and oil, and from certain kinds of manufacturing. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water and other chemicals in the air to form sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and other pollutants. These acid pollutants reach high into the atmosphere, travel with the wind for hundreds of miles, and eventually return to the ground by way of rain, snow, or fog, and as invisible “dry” forms.
Damage from acid rain has been widespread in eastern North America and throughout Europe, and in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Acid rain leaches nutrients from soils, slows the growth of trees, and makes lakes uninhabitable for fish and other wildlife. In cities, acid pollutants corrode almost everything they touch, accelerating natural wear and tear on structures such as buildings and statues. Acids combine with other chemicals to form urban smog, which attacks the lungs, causing illness and premature deaths.

Effects of Acid Rain

· Soil
· Trees
· Agriculture
· Human Health
· Plants & Animals
· Surface Water

Concept of Environment

- The natural environment, alt living and non-living things that occur naturally on earth.
- Built environment, constructed surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging from the large-scale civic surroundings to the personal places.
Environment, all of the external factors affecting an organism. These factors may be other living organisms (biotic factors) or nonliving variables (abiotic factors), such as temperature, rainfall, day length, wind, and ocean currents. The interactions of organisms with biotic and abiotic factors form an ecosystem. Even minute changes in any one factor in an ecosystem can influence whether or not a particular plant or animal species will be successful in its environment.
Organisms and their environment constantly interact, and both are changed by this interaction. Like all other living creatures, humans have clearly changed their environment, but they have done so generally on a grander scale than have all other species. Some of these human-induced changes—such as the destruction of the world’s tropical rain forests to create farms or grazing land for cattle—have led to altered climate patterns. In turn, altered climate patterns have changed the way animals and plants are distributed in different ecosystems.
Scientists study the long-term consequences of human actions on the environment, while environmentalists—professionals in various fields, as well as concerned citizens—advocate ways to lessen the impact of human activity on the natural world.

Factors the Environment
· Population Growth
· Global Warming
· Depletion of the Ozone Layer
· Air Pollution
· Water Pollution
· Land Pollution
· Noise Pollution
· Chemical Risks