Air Pollution in New York

Contamination of the atmosphere has become a global problem. In fact, the entire troposphere is nothing more than a large "blue balloon from which there is little escape" (Grove, Spiegel, & Bond 503-536). Air is obviously essential to the survival of human beings (Dansereau 131-139). In its natural state, air consists of a gaseous soup. This mixture typically contains oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, and a few other minor constituents. However, with the progress of civilization, a virtual chemical revolution has occurred. At present, some 65,000 commercial compounds enter the environment every year. Moreover, the effects of such chemicals are starting to become widespread. For example, sulfurous clouds discharged from power-generating plants in both the United States and Europe are responsible for the development of acid rain. Such pollution has had a major impact on certain freshwater lakes. In addition, air pollution is also starting to affect the world's forests. In West Germa

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ty, automobiles are the primary source of air pollution. Most environmental experts agree that the city's problems with ground-level ozone and carbon monoxide result from its 25 percent increase in the number of motor vehicles since 1980. On any typical business day, more than 760,000 cars may pass through Manhattan below 60th Street (Gold A1, B4). Furthermore, at the present time, the New York City vicinity contains over 5.8 million cars and other vehicles (Wald, "Strict New Test" 1, 29). New York's air pollution control laws are among the toughest and oldest in the United States. In fact, they date back as far as 1899 (Schachter xi). Regardless though, the city has had considerable difficulty trying to meet Federal health standards for two of the most dangerous atmospheric pollutants--ozone and carbon monoxide; of the nation's cities, only Los Angeles has more polluted air. According to Ronald H. White, a senior program manager at the American Lung Association in Washington, D.C., "Generally speaking, New York's air is cleaner than Los Angeles's, but that's not saying a whole heck of a lot (Gold A1, B4)." During the 1980s, one particularly bad year for pollution occurred in 1988. During those twelve months, New York
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Approximate Word count = 4103
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)

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