Air Pollution: The Atmosphere's Mask of Dust
Smoke fills the air. The sky shines a dull shade of bleak grey, the sun nowhere to be seen. A thick layer of smog coats the atmosphere, masking the difference of day and night. Every breath lets out a raspy wheeze; dust and debris floating around in the fumes like flies in thick honey. The scenery is so thick you could cut it with a knife- and not in the figurative sense. This is what awaits our world if we ignore the monster of the heights: Air pollution.
I admit, on this blog, most of the conservation we speak about is related to the ocean, or just water in general. I don't want that to form the image that all other kinds of pollution are negligible, so today we'll cover this new rising concern.
Firstly, we need to know what air pollution is. The simple answer: when the air gets polluted. Obviously, though, this isn't the answer we're looking for.
Air pollution is actually more of an entity than it is a concept. It is the collectivity of pollutants that harm our environment, in this case, the atmosphere. So when something contributed to air pollution, it adds to this giant mass of toxics in the air, and it is that giant mass that is considered as so- air pollution. This giant mass is a mixture of harmful gases and solids let out by vehicles, industries, and appliances. It consists of debris, chemical fumes, mold spores, factory exhaust and much more. When they are present in the atmosphere in excessive amounts, they disturb the balance preset by nature, harming our ecosystem.
Air pollution affects the environment in more ways than we can imagine. It causes lung diseases and respiratory problems that affect our health deeply. It's even linked to another major concern- climate change! While carbon dioxide on its own may not be a pollutant, the rising levels of it let out by cars and burning fuels results in the well-known global warming. As the sun's heat is trapped in the atmosphere by the said carbon dioxide, temperatures increase drastically, leading to topics we've spoken elsewhere on this blog- global warming which leads to ocean acidification which leads to coral bleaching... I think you can see where this goes.
Rather than the three types of pollution-air, water and land- being distant conceptions, they all link into each other, which is why we need to work towards preventing all of them, not just one. With all this being said, we still have much to talk about, starting with ozone.
You recognize oxygen has two oxygen atoms bonded together. If you add another O atom to the gang, you get ozone. Just that one atom is what differentiates our essence of living with this agathokakological gas. On one hand, the ozone layer high up in our atmosphere protects us from harmful radiation given out by the sun, like UV rays. Over the past decades, though, a giant hole has developed in the ozone layer. Excessive chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), emitted from appliances like refrigerators, have burned right through the layer, leaving a giant patch of nothing. While this doesn't seem like much now, the hole is growing, and without the ozone layer, all life forms would die from UV radiation.
Ozone has a naughty side as well, though, and it goes by smog. Smog is literally just smoke and fog combined, but it's mostly ozone. It is visible to the human eye, and can be seen as a thick layer of smoky fog. Aside from ozone, smog also consists of nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides. Evidently, it causes severe diseases, but can also affect humans in the long run by shortening our lifespans. In Delhi, the seasonal smog arrival was so severe this year that institutions were given a day off! The good news is that efforts are being taken, and this grave mistake can be fixed.
The final topic I'd like to cover today is acid rain, another popular side effect of air pollution. Acid rain is any form of precipitation, solid, liquid or gas, with a high pH. Nitric oxides and sulphur oxides enter the atmosphere by the means of burning fuel and vehicle emissions. They then combine with the clouds and the air, bringing the pH down to as low 5.2. This may not seem like a big number, but the normal pH of water is 7, so this is in fact, a very drastic change. Acid rain harms everything it touches, causing us skin problems, stunting tree growth and even bringing down statues! The iconic Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world, is slowly yellowing- the mark of acid rain. The countdown to restore it has begun!
Air pollution is everywhere, and will continue to stay and grow until we decide to do something about it. It's true that we can't give up our fridges and cars, but that doesn't mean an initiative can't be taken. Emissions of CFC and carbon dioxide can be regulated. We could carpool as much as possible, and keep our vehicles under good maintenance. Burning of waste and fuels in the open can be stopped, and instead, we can recycle most of our trash. With the right amount of hard work, we can accomplish anything together, so consider this the start of your journey. From here on out, let's make this world a better place.
Image Credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94693506@N00/2419349835
I admit, on this blog, most of the conservation we speak about is related to the ocean, or just water in general. I don't want that to form the image that all other kinds of pollution are negligible, so today we'll cover this new rising concern.
Firstly, we need to know what air pollution is. The simple answer: when the air gets polluted. Obviously, though, this isn't the answer we're looking for.
Air pollution is actually more of an entity than it is a concept. It is the collectivity of pollutants that harm our environment, in this case, the atmosphere. So when something contributed to air pollution, it adds to this giant mass of toxics in the air, and it is that giant mass that is considered as so- air pollution. This giant mass is a mixture of harmful gases and solids let out by vehicles, industries, and appliances. It consists of debris, chemical fumes, mold spores, factory exhaust and much more. When they are present in the atmosphere in excessive amounts, they disturb the balance preset by nature, harming our ecosystem.
Air pollution affects the environment in more ways than we can imagine. It causes lung diseases and respiratory problems that affect our health deeply. It's even linked to another major concern- climate change! While carbon dioxide on its own may not be a pollutant, the rising levels of it let out by cars and burning fuels results in the well-known global warming. As the sun's heat is trapped in the atmosphere by the said carbon dioxide, temperatures increase drastically, leading to topics we've spoken elsewhere on this blog- global warming which leads to ocean acidification which leads to coral bleaching... I think you can see where this goes.
Rather than the three types of pollution-air, water and land- being distant conceptions, they all link into each other, which is why we need to work towards preventing all of them, not just one. With all this being said, we still have much to talk about, starting with ozone.
You recognize oxygen has two oxygen atoms bonded together. If you add another O atom to the gang, you get ozone. Just that one atom is what differentiates our essence of living with this agathokakological gas. On one hand, the ozone layer high up in our atmosphere protects us from harmful radiation given out by the sun, like UV rays. Over the past decades, though, a giant hole has developed in the ozone layer. Excessive chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), emitted from appliances like refrigerators, have burned right through the layer, leaving a giant patch of nothing. While this doesn't seem like much now, the hole is growing, and without the ozone layer, all life forms would die from UV radiation.
Ozone has a naughty side as well, though, and it goes by smog. Smog is literally just smoke and fog combined, but it's mostly ozone. It is visible to the human eye, and can be seen as a thick layer of smoky fog. Aside from ozone, smog also consists of nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides. Evidently, it causes severe diseases, but can also affect humans in the long run by shortening our lifespans. In Delhi, the seasonal smog arrival was so severe this year that institutions were given a day off! The good news is that efforts are being taken, and this grave mistake can be fixed.
The final topic I'd like to cover today is acid rain, another popular side effect of air pollution. Acid rain is any form of precipitation, solid, liquid or gas, with a high pH. Nitric oxides and sulphur oxides enter the atmosphere by the means of burning fuel and vehicle emissions. They then combine with the clouds and the air, bringing the pH down to as low 5.2. This may not seem like a big number, but the normal pH of water is 7, so this is in fact, a very drastic change. Acid rain harms everything it touches, causing us skin problems, stunting tree growth and even bringing down statues! The iconic Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world, is slowly yellowing- the mark of acid rain. The countdown to restore it has begun!
Air pollution is everywhere, and will continue to stay and grow until we decide to do something about it. It's true that we can't give up our fridges and cars, but that doesn't mean an initiative can't be taken. Emissions of CFC and carbon dioxide can be regulated. We could carpool as much as possible, and keep our vehicles under good maintenance. Burning of waste and fuels in the open can be stopped, and instead, we can recycle most of our trash. With the right amount of hard work, we can accomplish anything together, so consider this the start of your journey. From here on out, let's make this world a better place.
Image Credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94693506@N00/2419349835
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