What is Air Pollution?

“Some old fashioned things like fresh air and sunlight are real perks of life”.

Quite relatable right? Who does not enjoys a cold fresh breeze or a lovely bright sunlight. Life blooms in the planet earth with such an environment.

Air doesn’t just plays the role of providing pleasure but it has many scientific roles engraved along with it. Air, undoubtedly is the most critical resource for humans, plants, animals  and other organisations. Air is such preliminary requirement that one can  live without food for few days but without air he will perish within minutes. Oxygen, the essential component of life is a free gift from the fresh air that we breathe. Overall health is entirely dependant on the purity of air that is available.

Apart from health benefits it also helps in other benefits such as cleansing the interior of house by eliminating stale air and bringing in fresh one. It also helps in pollination.

 

Know About Air Pollution

As the saying goes “Fresh air impoverishes the doctors” but that is a complete dream. In Fact, it looks like doctors are the best friends we all will need.

Effectively Air pollution simply means contamination in fresh air. Contamination which erodes the healthy percentage of gases inside it and corrupting them with presence of all harmful gases that affect life. In other words, it can be defined as the presence of toxic chemicals or compounds in air, at levels that pose a health risk. In an even broader sense, air pollution purely certains the existence of chemicals or compounds in air which are not normally existent and which diminishes the quality of the air and can cause detrimental changes to quality of the life.

 

Types of Air Pollution

 

Radioactive Pollution

Radioactive pollution means  an  increased level of natural radiations caused by human activities. Statistics says that about 20% of radiation happening is due to the human activities. Human activities capable of releasing radiation involves activities associated with radioactive materials such as mining, handling, and processing of radioactive materials, handling and storage of radioactive materials.

 

Chemical Pollution        

Chemical pollution, as the name suggests is nothing but presence or increase in our environment of chemical pollutants that are not naturally normal/equivalent or found in higher degrees as compared to their natural background values. Maximum chemicals involved in polluting the earth are man made that is caused by various activities carried by man for their comforts

 

Oil-Spill Pollution

Oil spills basically involves any sort of spilling crude oil or oil distilled products that erupts the natural balance associated with the surface of the land, air, and many water environments.

Oil spill pollution definitely includes a variety of quantities and numbers beginning with ones or more gallons of oil and may extend  up to millions or even hundreds of millions of gallons spilled.

 

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution familiarly expressed as regular exposure to elevated sound levels that may cause adverse ill effects in human or other living organisms. The world health organisation exclaims that , sound levels less than 70 dB are normal for living organisms to tolerate , ignoring how long or consistent the exposure is.But exposure for more than * hours to continuous noise extending beyond  85 dB may be hazardous.

 

Major Causes of Air Pollution

Pollution, now can be called as a daily playmate we meet in our playschool, or the watchman who greets us every morning or the colleague who sits just next to us.

All we want to highlight is the familiarity of pollution with our daily lives. It has taken a toll over our lives and definitely we are attuned to it. And air pollution being the most severe once just because it can disrupt the entire physical, chemical, biological, geographical balance of our ecosystem.

Being surrounded by fresh air and respiring and blooming around it looks like a myth and after all the attention the topic of pollution is getting from media, it has become a part and parcel of life. We  are accepting it as a everyday event and getting familiar with it instead of adopting steps to make a difference.

The major truth always being ignored, that is our activities are core cause of this pollution.

The causes can be listed as below

 

1. Fossil Fuel Combustion : The emission of harmful gases being the most prominent reason. Carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide being some of the major mentions. Burning of fossil fuels leads to emission of sulphur dioxide. On the other hand, increase of vehicles leads to increase of emission of such gases. For our comforts we definitely fail to realise how our travelling convenience is taking toll on our environment. Nitrogen oxide emitted due to incomplete combustion is another major concern.
2. Effects Factories and Industries : The harmful release of exhaust from industries undoubtedly affect the sanity of air around. Well development and modernisation is incomplete without establishment of industries. But these industries are a hub which releases major air pollutants such as carbon monoxide.,ozone, sulphur, nitrogen. Hydrocarbons are a major release of the oil refineries.
3. Gold, Silver or Diamond Mining : Invading in mother earth and finding these precious metals is definitely important but isn’t healthy. While mining lots of dust and chemicals are released in the air that definitely pollutes the air. And that’s the main reason why workers associated with mining industry are deprived of a healthy lifestyle and are often sick.
4. Indoor Air Pollution : Seems new but exists. Yes the home we consider healthy or at least believe to be healthy is not free from the trap as well. Artificial cleaning products, smoke emitted from insect repellants, room fresheners, paint  all insanely pollute the atmospheric air inside our house and that’s why we feel difficulty in breathing, nausea, sometimes.

Impacts of Air pollution

1. Respiratory and heart problems:Cardiac arrest  or asthma is  like an universal disease known to affect all. The adults or the senior citizens or the kids none are secluded for its disheartening effects. The scenario is alarming. 
2. Global warming: Emission of ozone and thus global warming  is a compulsory topic of discussion in any debate, extempore. And why not it’s like an emergency. The alternation caused in the climatic setup is tension awakening. Be it any event  such as temperature rise, or increase in sea level, or melting of ice in the colder region. This creates havoc and financial crisis too by destroying many habitats. This demands immediate concern and calls for normalisation.
3. Acid Rain: Harmful gases like nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides are released into the atmosphere during the burning of substances. During rains, the water droplets that falls down combines with these air pollutants, turns  acidic and then falls in the form of acid rain. It causes adverse effects on human, animals and crops.
4. Eutrophication: When high amount of nitrogen is present in some pollutants and gets deposited on Sea level and turns into algae, this is known as Eutrophication. Fish, plants and animal species are endangered because of this.Lakes with green colour has this colour because of the deposition of algae  created because of nitrogen present in pollutants.
5. Effect on Wildlife: Just like humans, the wildlife is not at ultimate peace. Animals are forced to change their habitat because of toxic chemicals polluting their natural habitat immensely . The water species are also effect by deposition of chemicals at the water bodies.
6. Depletion of Ozone layer: Ozone  entitled with the responsibility of protecting human beings exist in the stratosphere layer of earth . But the layer is deflated due to the unwanted intervention of chloro fluoro carbons, and hydrocarbons . Ozone layer will losing its thickness , will cause harmful rays falling back on earth and initiating skin and eye related problems. UV rays does not mercy the crops hence affect them too.

 

Life with Air Pollution

Life is a blessed gift, certainly true but it looks like along with air the life on earth also looks like contaminated. Diseases, impurities sufferings are things that are surrounded everywhere. For this reason this topic draws such attentions. Media, newspaper, Research organisations, Ngos all are bothered about its effects and condition.

 

Fighting Air Pollution

Fighting air pollution is certainly important seeing its emergent situation all around. The following steps can be adopted:-

• Avoid smoking indoors
• Use craft supplies in well ventilated areas.
• Make sure your gas stove is well ventilated areas
• Minimize clutter
• Remove carpeting if possible
• Use a dehumidifier
• Use air conditioner as less as possible
• Use public means of transport
• Shift to biodegradable methods
• Plant trees
• Industries shift to ways to lessen their emission
• Using air purifiers at home, car, office