Air Quality

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Air Quality
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Pollution

• Pollutants are harmful substances in the air,
  water, and soil. Air pollution affects the health
  of all living things. Some pollution occurs
  naturally and some is a result of human activity.
• Sources of Air Pollution
• 1. Natural Sources events like forest fires,
  soil erosion, dust storms, and volcanoes release
  smoke, dust, ash, and dangerous gases into the
  air.

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Natural Air Pollution Iceland Volcano

• Icelands Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in
  2010.
• The E volcano shot smoke and ash (CO2, SO2 and
  SiO2) 7 miles up into the atmosphere, and
  prevailing winds carried this ash across Europe.
• 100,000 flights were cancelled over 8 days,
  resulting in a 1.2 billion loss to the airline
  industry.
• Main impact of this event was economic.
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vO16rxSMWT2E

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2. Human-Caused Air Pollution

• Most human-caused air pollution is created when
  people burn fossil fuels (coal, oil, gasoline) to
  produce electricity and fuel transportation.
• Burning these fuels releases the following
  pollutants into the air
• Photochemical smog -- Pollutants/smoke mix with
  H2O vapor and react with sunlight to form bad
  ozone
• CO2 -- greenhouse gas linked to global warming
• Carbon monoxide (CO) can creat bad ozone
• SO2 -- makes it difficult for blood to transport
  oxygen to the cells, forms acid rain
• Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) -- can cause lung damage,
  forms acid rain

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Human Air Pollution Londons Killer Fog

• From December 5-9, 1952, a Killer Fog took the
  lives of over 4,000 people in London, and made
  over 100,000 people sick with respiratory
  infections.
• SO2 and soot from burning coal combined with
  water vapor to form a 30-mile wide air mass of
  poisonous smog over London.
• The Killer Fog was caused by human and natural
  factors
• In response, England passed the Clean Air Act of
  1956

Natural Factors Human Factors
1. Unusually cold winter in London 1. Lots of coal burned to heat homes
2. High-pressure air front little air movement over London 2. City buses and cars burning diesel fuel added to pollution
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Improving Air Quality

• Over the past 50 years, many laws have been
  passed to reduce air pollution in the U.S. and
  globally.
• The environmental protection agency (EPA)
  monitors and regulates air pollution in the U.S.
• Globally, air quality has generally improved
  because of
• 1. Improved technology in cars and power plants
• 2. Stricter laws on air pollution
• However, there are more cars on the road and more
  power plants than in the past, so air quality is
  still an issue.
• Regulations must constantly be made to control
  air pollution.