Air Pollution

• What do we mean by air pollution?

• Major Causes Of Air Pollution
⚬ The burning of plastic wastes.
⚬ Are there any alternatives for plastic?
• Industrial Emission
⚬ How can we reduce industrial air
pollution?
• Wildfires
• Transportation
⚬ How can we reduce pollution caused by
vehicles?
• What are the health issues due to air pollution?
• How does air pollution affect environmental
health?
• Conclusion
 Introduction

Fresh air is equally important to every one us as food and

water. Even plants need oxygen to convert food into energy.
From these things, we can understand the importance of
oxyglive, we need to breathe. To breathe, we need fresh air.
Fresh earth. en and fresh air. A place without oxygen will be a
dead zone with no humans, animals, and plants. Without
oxygen, nobody can survive on earth.

All these facts point the fingers at the importance of keeping

air pollution-free. But the truth is, the air is getting polluted at a
massive rate every day. There are hundreds of causes. In
these, there are some which are very harmful to us. But how
can we reduce the rate of air pollution? Well, there are different
ways that we could try to stop air pollution. Before that, let us
find out what are the utmost causes of air pollution. Here are
they. air is one of the basic and essential things we need to live
onTo
 Do you know the quality of the air?

The purity of air measured using an AQI thermometer that

runs on a scale from 0 to 500. The AQI refers to Air Quality
Index. It measures how pure or polluted the surrounding air is.
If the numeric value on the scale is between 0-50, the quality
of the surrounding air is considered healthy and satisfactory.
As the values increase, the quality of the air decreases. If AQI
is showing a value of 500, that means you are standing in a
hazardous surrounding. Have a look at the AQI chart below for
more details.
 What do we
mean by air
pollution?

It's simple. Air pollution refers to the release of

pollutants into the air like Nitrogen Oxide, Volatile
Organic Compounds, Carbon Dioxide, Sulphur Oxide,
dioxins, and other harmful gases. Once these gases
are released, they become a colossal threat to the
environment and human health.
Major Causes Of Air Pollution

It is well known to everyone how air pollution

happens. It happens in many ways.
Sometimes careless and reckless human
activities lead to the major reasons for air
pollution. Even though, here are some of the
common causes of air pollution.

• The burning of plastic wastes.

• Industrial Emission
• Wildfires
• Transportation
The Burning Of Plastic Wastes.

How do we avoid plastics from our houses? Either we

throw them or light them up, right? These careless
acts will lead to the worst pollution ever. Burning them
releases toxic gases like dioxins, furans, mercury, and
polychlorinated. These gases are a threat to the
atmosphere, vegetation, humans, and animal health. If
we throw them out, they can remain in the soil for 20-
500 years before fully decomposing based on the
material and structure. Over these years, it pollutes the
soil and harms the earth.
 So, burning and throwing plastic does not work and
leads to air pollution or soil pollution in the long term
perspective. Then what will we do? Well, we can
recycle and reuse plastic to an extent. But once the
plastic is melted and reformed into new products, the
quality of plastic gets reduced. In addition, the quality
of plastic will keep reducing with every successive
recycling. Furthermore, recycling is limited to a
number 3 or 4 times because of the quality
compromise of plastic.

In fact, we only have a limited number of

opportunities in the case of plastic. Either we reduce
the use of plastic or recycle and reuse them as much
as we can.

Limiting the use of plastic seems more practical and

smooth in our day-to-day life. There are many
instances where we can reduce the use of plastic.

Here are some of the tracts where we can instantly act to limit the usages of plastic

• Use cloth bags instead of plastics bags while going to the shops.
• Use paper plates and tumblers instead of plastic ones when you arrange a tea party or get-togethers.
• Use paper straws in restaurants and coffee shops.
• Use paper bottled soft drinks.

There are more and more situations where we can reduce the unnecessary use of plastic covers and materials. It
can turn out well when more people come forward with the same mindset of bringing down plastic use.
 Are There Any Alternatives For Plastic?

Yes, there are. But literally, there are no materials with the exact matching properties with plastic. For instance,
properties like durability, strength, water-resistant, lightweight, and inexpensive are rare to find in materials
without polymer as an ingredient. Scientists and researchers are trying to formulate materials with the
matching properties as plastic but with less pollution.

As said earlier, there are many instances where we can reduce the use of plastic and always try to avoid it as much as we
can. Even if they are baby steps towards reducing plastic, take it and help our environment. Moreover, be a part of keeping
the city and your premises clean.
 Industrial Emission

Industries play a colossal role in all kinds of pollutions. They contribute almost one-third to the overall when we
compare industrial pollution with other causes. Industries will be the 2nd largest cause of air pollution, water pollution,
and sound pollution. Pollutants like carbon monoxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Sulfur dioxide are released when they operate
factories and industries. The volume of pollutants released into the atmosphere is way more than we imagine.

It is necessary to know where the pollution happens and who pollutes the air most. Studies say that industries that produce
electricity pollute the atmosphere more than any other industry. A considerable amount of pollutants is kicked from the industries
when the continuous burning of fossil fuels happened. These emitted gases make the most of the troubles to the ozone layer and
cause ozone layer depletion.
 How Can We Reduce Industrial Air Pollution?

We need both electricity and earth. We can not avoid one or the other for any reason. The only way is to protect both without
harming each other. The only solution for this will be the rise of green energy. Only the challenge facing is the continuous supply
of energy. Green energy like solar and wind are very cost-effective and pollution-free when comparing to the traditional ones.

Each and every individual can contribute and can be a part of saving the earth from air pollution and global warming. Switch to green energy as
much as we can and reduce the consumption of traditional electricity from the government or private companies. Nowadays, everybody has
inverters in the home as a standard facility. It will not cost you much to connect 2 or 3 solar panels to the battery and save 60% power usage
from the traditional electric supply.

As we said earlier, industries and factories are essential for the growth of the people and nation. We can't stop factories in the
name of air pollution. What we can do is, we can find some ways to reduce the amount of air pollution. For instance, we should
try to convert these harmful gases to regular gases with the help of proper techniques and setups.

Most importantly, people living near industrial areas are very likely to have many allergies and lung diseases. Always wear a mask when
you are going out or going near industrial and factory areas. If you are working in an industrial area, always wear a mask and other safety
gear to ensure maximum safety.
 Wildfires

• Wildfires can take place at any time. It is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire caused by lightning strikes. As the name says, it occurs
largely in forest areas. Mostly, the lighting strikes on the trees, branches, dry grass, and then the fire is generated. Eventually, this fire
will spread to other trees, branches, and grasses and becomes wildfires, and causes air pollution.

• Wildfires are common forested areas of the United States and Canada. It is one of the causes of air pollution, deforestation, and animal extinction.

• In a wildfire, many animals lose their lives and shelter. Some get burns and wounds in the running through the wildfire. All these will continues
until fire settles down. Sometimes it takes 2-3 days to settle down completely. But in the end, we lose animals, trees, the environment, and what
not?

• Also, sometimes the causes of wildfire can be different. Sometimes it happens due to the carelessness of people living around the
forest. For instance, even trash burning and campfires can spread fire if not concerned well. So it is always recommended to take

precautions while doing wildfire potential activities .

 Transportation

• Transportation holds a neck-to-neck position with industries in the rate of air pollution. As we all know, the number of vehicles on the
road is increasing day by day. Just look around, we could see houses with more than three vehicles even if they don't need all of
them. As the number of vehicles increases, the rate of pollution also tends to be increased. Old model vehicles are more likely to
produce more pollution than new ones. Because when the vehicles get older and older, the amount of carbon emission increases.

• The rate of pollution is still on the rise even after the government and authorities made pollution laws strict. Every country has its own vehicle
emission standards or norms for the safety of the environment and people living in the country. But still, transportation holds the position for the
majority of air pollutions happening around the world.
 How Can We Reduce Pollution Caused By Vehicles?

• Earlier, it was challenging to find an alternative for fuels like petrol or diesel. Right now, technology has improved - researchers
found a better alternative solution for the petrol and diesel engines for automobiles. Yes, they are EV's. Electric vehicles are
completely different from traditional vehicles. They are pollution-free and highly efficient than fuel engines. Electric vehicles can
be charged from the house or charging stations in and around the city. EV's have 5x efficiency more than the regular diesel or
petrol-fueled automobiles and 4x lesser reduced pollution.

• EV's are on the rise. By 2025, at least 50% of the new vehicles coming out from the factories will be electric vehicles. It will seriously help to
reduce the rate of pollution to some extend. People will switch to EV's when companies launch better models with luxury and comfort.

• It may sound crazy to most of us. But think about walking a little every day and avoid taking cars or bikes for smaller distances. Or, use a
bicycle to travel nearby. It will help us to improve both our health and the earth's health.
 What Are The Health Issues Due To Air Pollution?

• The quality of the air we breathe is very crucial. Poor quality can cause many health diseases in both adults and kids.
Especially to the people living in cities, the chances of getting a disease like heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and acute lower respiratory infections are very high.

• Long-term exposure to polluted air in kids can lead to loss of lung capacity, asthma and emphysema. In addition, senior citizens are
more likely to get allergies and breathing difficulties since they are less immune to the conditions. As a precaution to all of these, we can
wear a mask while going out and traveling. If you are living in a highly polluted area, consider buying an air purifier for your home. An

air purifier can help to improve the quality of air by filtering and thereby enabling a healthy environment inside our home for everyone .
 How Does Air Pollution Affect Environmental Health?

 The toxic gases also affect the environment in the same way. As the amount of harmful gases increases in the earth, the uncertainty of
the environment's health also increases. Changes in climates like temperature hikes, monsoon pattern shifts, and unexpected cyclones are
a few examples. In these, ozone layer depletion is being the most complicated one.

 We already know what is an ozone layer, and whats does it do? Let's recall them for a while. The ozone layer is a part of the earth's atmosphere, and it
absorbs almost all of the sun's harmful ultraviolet light. Guess what will happen when the ozone layer gets holes. All the harmful rays will fall into the
animals, plants, and people on earth through the ozone layer holes. Studies say that by 2064 the ozone layer concentration levels may come to zero if the
rate of pollution continues invariably. If that happens, the earth will not be a suitable place to live. The fun factor is, we don't have any space other than
earth to live right now. So, we have to protect the planet from being a desert.
 conclusion

• The health of the public, especially those who are the most vulnerable, such as children, the
elderly and the sick, is at risk from air pollution, but it is difficult to say how large the risk is. It is
possible that the problem has been over-stressed in relation to other challenges in the field of public.