Half Of Our Air Pollution example essay topic

429 words
Air pollution is a serious problem in the economy. Even though it has gotten much better, it still needs a lot of work. In the last four years, thousands of people have become ill and died from unusually heavy levels of air pollution. Each year the US dumps about 130 million metric tons of pollution into the air. That amount is more than half a metric per every person in the country and one million metric tons in the atmosphere for every person on earth. The major component of smog and ozone can cause serious respiratory problems, such as breathing difficulty, asthma, and reduced resistance to infection.

Carbon monoxide when inhaled replaces oxygen in the bloodstream and can impair vision, alertness, and other mental and physical capacities. Global warming increases the chances of skin cancer and other adverse effects. Toxic chemicals emitted into the air by human activities may have serious short and long term effects on human health and environment. Our cars emit many toxic substances including large amounts of carbon monoxide which interfere with the bloods ability to absorb oxygen. This, in turn, may threaten the growth and mental development of a newborn baby. Over half of our air pollution is caused by automobiles.

Exposure to airborne toxins in the workplace is generally much higher than in the ambient. Harmful indoor pollutants include airborne pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi, as well as radioactive gases. In the upper atmosphere, where ozone is needed to protect people from ultraviolet radiation, the ozone is being destroyed by manmade chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons. Health related standards for one or more of the criteria pollutants are not being met. The earth radiates the heat as infrared rays, some heat escapes, but carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere trap the rest, warming the earth. Combing with water vapor in the atmosphere to form sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide emissions are one of the major contributors to acid rain.

During acid rain storms these compounds fall to earth as acid rain or snow. The compounds may also join dust or other dry airborne particles and fall as dry deposition. Sulfur dioxide can be transported long distances in the atmosphere because it bonds to particles of dust, smoke, and aerosol. The clearing of trees means that less carbon dioxide is removed from the air by plants.

The consequences of global warming are already being felt, such as sea levels rising..