The Effects of Air Pollution to the Environment, Human Health, as well as other Land and Marine Life

"Air Pollution affects everyone, nothing is Safe from its Destructive effects, from Humans to Plants and Animals"

We wouldn't be alive today without air. It is essential for all living things. Humans could only hold their breath on average of 30 seconds before gasping for air.

Air (dry) is naturally composed of Nitrogen (78.08%), Oxygen (20.95%), Carbon Dioxide (0.04%), Argon (0.93%) and traces of other gases. This composition is maintained by various natural cycles.

Today, air may contain toxic substances that can significantly cause either acute or chronic respiratory diseases that could eventually cause death to humans and animals. Plants are neither safe because of acid precipitation that can stout its growth factor.

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In Beijing, China, there is greater health risks such as respiratory diseases and lung cancer that threatens the life over a million Chinese. Bai Chunxue, the head of respiratory medicine at Shanghai's Zhongshan Hospital, pointed out that the dangerously high level of air pollution was taking an increasingly devastating toll on Chinese lungs.
Bai Chunxue warned that,

"If air pollution is not reduced we will have more and more respiratory disease, including lung cancer, COPD, asthma and even pneumonia and also heart disease, coronary heart disease."

Air pollution in Mexico City, Mexico, posed health risks to its people, majority may suffer from severe respiratory health problems by being exposed daily to fumes produced by over 3.6 million vehicles.

We were blessed with clean, fresh air. But because of industrialization and other anthropogenic (man-made) activities, air has been added with pollutants and other chemicals that may be harmful at higher concentration.

What is Air Pollution?
Any substance added into the atmosphere that has adverse effects (at certain level of concentration) on living things and the environment is considered air pollution.

Main Sources of Air Pollution

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There are four main sources:

mobile sources – such as cars, buses, planes, trucks, and trains
stationary sources – such as power plants, oil refineries, industrial facilities, and factories
area sources – such as agricultural areas, cities, and wood burning fireplaces
natural sources – such as wind-blown dust, wildfires, and volcanoes

Two categories of Air Pollutants:
• Primary Air Pollutants are harmful substances that is directly emitted into the atmosphere such as, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), etc.

• Secondary Air Pollutants are harmful substances formed in the atmosphere when a primary air pollutant reacts with substances normally found in the atmosphere or with other air pollutants. Ground level Ozone is a prominent example of secondary air pollutant, component of photochemical smog.

Major Air Pollutants

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Particulate matter are thousands of different solid and liquid particles suspended in the air that are extremely small and can lodged in lungs that may contain materials with toxic or carcinogenic effects.

Nitrogen oxides are gases produced by chemical interactions between atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen at high temperature.

Sulfur oxidesare gases produced by the chemical interactions between sulfur and oxygen, which causes acid precipitation.

Carbon Oxides are greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2).

Hydrocarbons are diverse group of organic compounds that contain only hydrogen and carbon atoms (i.e. CH4-methane), some of which are related to photochemical smog and global warming.

Tropospheric Ozone is a man- made pollutant in the lower atmosphere.

Health Effects of Major Air Pollutants

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What is Photochemical Smog?

When nitrogen oxides and VOCs react with sunlight to form secondary pollutants, such as ozone and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) creating a brown haze above cities. These secondary pollutants are the components of photochemical smog. Exposure or inhalation of smog can lead to several health problems due to its ozone content including coughing and throat or chest irritation, worsening of asthma symptoms, difficulty breathing and lung damage.

Acid Deposition and its Environmental Impacts
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions react with water vapor in the atmosphere and form acids that is deposited to the surface of Earth through precipitation such as rain, snow or sleet.

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Effects of Acid Deposition
• Declining Aquatic Animal Populations. Acid rain makes water acidic, and causes them to absorb the aluminum when the acidic water infiltrates the soil into lakes and streams. This makes waters toxic to crayfish, clams, fish, and other aquatic animals.
• Thin-shelled eggs prevent bird reproduction because calcium is unavailable in acidic soil.
• Forest decline. Acid rain damages forests, especially those at higher elevations. It erodes essential nutrients of the soil, releases aluminum, which makes it hard for trees to take up water. Trees' leaves and needles are also harmed by acids.

Air Pollution Control
To mitigate the harmful effects of air pollution is to reduce the release of the pollutants that cause it. Impose and Monitor the Standard Limits of Emissions of the gaseous pollutants from industries (cleaning using air pollution control devices like electrostatic precipitator, etc) and other sources and promoting alternative fuel sources such as renewable energy.

Conserving energy by individuals can also help to minimize the release of pollutants as less electricity people use in their homes, the fewer pollutants power plants will emit. Mobile vehicles are also major fuel users, drivers can help reduce emissions by using public transportation, carpooling, biking, or simply walking wherever possible.

Hello Steemians! I really hope our environmental issues will be addressed by the governments all over the world to help reduce and control our emission of pollutants into the atmosphere for the prevention of the destructive effects it can cause. Good day and thank you for reading. :)

References:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10646593/Toxic-smog-threatens-millions-of-Chinese-lives.html
http://www.world-weather-travellers-guide.com/air-pollution-in-mexico-city.html
https://www.slideshare.net/TejKiran2/air-pollution-35381436
https://www.nature.nps.gov/air/aqbasics/sources.cfm
https://www.healthline.com/health/dangers-smog-what-you-need-know-about-air-pollution#what-is-smog2