Air Pollution

The basic types and sources of airborne pollutants are briefly discussed. This is followed by analysis of the direct effects (primarily health-related) of air pollution on human beings and discussion of indirect effects--including destruction of the ozone layer, and the many effects of global warming. Responses to air pollution are analyzed in terms of the slow development of regulation. The final section discusses future approaches to the air pollution problem.

Air pollution is a major threat to humanity. Not only does it directly threaten individual health and well-being, it also threatens the rest of the environment on which humanity depends for its existence. The threat is universal and the effects of air pollution range from increased cases of various diseases to global warming. Since the introduction of the extensive use of fossil fuels during the Industrial Revolution, the air pollution problem has increased steadily. Other types of industrial emissions, enormous increases in automobile exhausts, and domestic use of various substances have added greatly to the emergency. Efforts to meet the crisis have often been undermined by misinformation and indifference. The central focus of this paper is the effects that air pollution has, or will have, on human societies. A review of the sources and types of air pollution is followed by a detailed examination of the health, quality-of-life, and environmental effects of the air pollution cris

Related Essays

Air Pollution in Norway Understanding air pollution begins with knowing what .... consists of. The .... is composed of approximately 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen .... (582 2 )

Sources of Air Pollution The purpose of this paper is to discuss the sources of air pollution, the types of pollution in our atmosphere, the effects of this pollution on humans .... (2468 10 )

Types of Air Pollution The question of what constitutes air pollution should begin with a definition of what constitutes clean ..... Even clean .... contains .... (1244 5 )

Air Pollution & Health .... and second hand smoke. Air pollution threatens the health of our flora and fauna as well as human health. The impact of these kinds .... (1237 5 )

Air Pollution in LA: Lit Review The air pollution of Southern California is nearly legendary. This is a region that has "smog alerts," and where the connection .... (1522 6 )

ion increases global warming and crop failure increases hunger and poverty (Moeller, 1992, p. 13). The potential for global warming, the "greenhouse effect," contains even more types of indirect effects for humanity. The sun's rays warm the earth and make life possible. Two-thirds of these rays are absorbed by the planet, while another third are reflected back into space. But the atmosphere of earth contains "carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide and CFCs" that trap some of the reflected heat and warm the planet--like a greenhouse (Vogel, 1995, p. 27). All these gases occur naturally, except CFCs, but the increase in air pollution over the last 50 years has increased the concentration of the gases and, scientists theorize, increased global temperature by trapping more of the sun's energy on earth. Deforestation and the use of fossil fuels increased carbon dioxide, increased agriculture raised world levels of methane by 8%, and industrial use of CFCs put them into the atmosphere for the first time in the twentieth century. The effect of this pollution on world temperature change is not certain. But scientists are certain that global temperature has risen 0.5_ Celsius during the last century, and they believe

Category: Science - A