HOW IS AIR POLLUTION

CAUSED
A PPT BY-ARNAV BARMAN
VIII-F

POLLUTION
The presence of unusually high
concentrations of harmful or poisonous
substances in the environment.
The introduction of contaminants into an
environment which cause harm to human
beings, other living organisms and the
environment.
There are 4 types of pollution- 1 soil
pollution
2- noise pollution 3-air pollution 4-water
pollution.

POLLUTANTS
The unwanted or harmful substances which
contaminate the air, water and soil.
The substance which causes pollution.
Major pollutants are-CO,SO2,NO,NO2,Dust
and Smoke.

AIR POLLUTION
The contamination of air with harmful gases, smoke
and dust is called air pollution.
The substance whose presence in air makes the air
polluted is known as air pollutant.
The air over large cities is heavily contaminated with
harmful gases like sulphur dioxide, nitrogen
oxides,carbon monoxides, smoke and
dust,etc.

SOURCES

There are two types of sources of pollution1)Natural sources. For eg- volcanic eruption,
dust storm, forest fires.
2)Man made sources. For eg-burning of fuel,
auto exhausts, industries, smoking, thermal
power plants, other human activities.

HOW IS AIR POLLUTION

CAUSED ?
Burning of fuels- Burning of coal, wood , kerosene,
petrol and diesel produces black smoke which
pollutes the air. Smoke from these fuels contains
poisonous gases like CO,SO2 and unburnt carbon
particles which import black color to smoke.
Auto exhaust- Vehicles such as cars, buses, trucks,
scooters, mopeds, etc. also produces smoke burning
petrol or diesel. The gases emitted by the engines of
these vehicles is known as auto-exhaust. Autoexhaust is a major cause of air pollution in big cities.

 Industries- The chemical industries

discharge poisonous gases into the air which
pollute the air. For eg- a bleaching powder
factory emits chlorine gas into the air
similarly, other factories may produce SO2,
NO2, CO2, etc. all these gases escape into
the air and causes pollution.
Autoexhaust and the smoke form the factories
are the two major source of air pollution.
Smoking- Smoking produces carbon
monoxide and nicotine which are
poisonous chemicals and pollute air.

Thermal power plants- Thermal power plants generate

electricity by burning fossils fuels such as coal or natural gas.
Coal contains sulphur which produces sulphur dioxide upon
burning in addition huge amounts of ash and soot are produced,
which cause the emission of black smoke from chimneys. The
burning of natural gas however, does not cause air pollution, it
produces neither sulphur dioxide nor ash and soot.
Other Human Activities- Many human activities cause air
pollution. Dust particles get into air during harvesting of wheat
and rice, causing respiratory problems. Stored petroleum
products , fertilisers, insecticides and other chemicals emit
fumes that pollute

air. CFC`s used in refrigerators, which were considered

harmless earlier, have been found to be causing
depletion of the ozone layer. Garbage disposal sites,
where the garbage of a city is dumped, cause huge
amounts of air pollution.
Dust produced by the movement of
heavy traffic and various industrial operations pollute
the air.

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