Air Pollution

Air pollution is the presence of one or more unwanted substances in the air. Air pollutants have negative impacts on humans, animals, plants and air quality.

The four most frequent categories of air pollutants are sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOS) and small dust particles (aerosols.)

Like most pollution, air pollution is mostly caused by human activity, such as industries, traffic, energy generation and agriculture. When large concentrations of these substances are emitted into the air, this negatively affects ecosystems, materials and public health.

Examples of the effects on the environment include:

Acid deposition – which causes more metals to dissolve in water and pollute the water, which kills the aquatic life.

Eutrophication – occurs when there is an increase in plant nutrients in water. The word “nutrients” sounds like a good thing, but this can cause certain plants and algae to grow so much, it blocks the sunlight and absorbs a lot of oxygen, which causes a disruption to the ecosystem.

Smog – has an effect on plants and animals. In people, this can cause eye and respiratory damage.

Ozone loss – Ozone is very important for all life on earth, because it absorbs harmful UV-B radiation from the sun. When the ozone concentrations decrease, a UV-B radiation may reach the earth. This radiation damages DNA and causes skin cancer. The radiation can also damage the human immune system, causing humans to become more susceptible to infections as well as cataract and nearsightedness. Ozone loss also affects plants, because it can decrease growth and photosynthesis. Primary crops, such as rice, corn and sunflower are susceptible to this, as well as trees. UV-B radiation also wreaks havoc on aquatic life up to twenty meters under the water surface. It is damaging to species, such as plankton, fish larvae, shrimps, crabs and seaweeds. Phytoplankton forms the basis of the aquatic food chain. When radiation causes phytoplankton to decrease in number it will affect the entire ecosystem.

Air pollution has been a problem long enough for humans to have at least developed a way to deal with it. Air pollution is easily detected using computer models. Wind speed, wind direction, temperature, air humidity and cloudiness are all ways to predict air pollution, which is beneficial to the inhabitants of certain places that may be affected by the pollution.

What do you tell a class of 4th graders about air pollution? That it’s bad? I think if you can detail some of the dangers of air pollution, without sounding too preachy, you can create enough awareness to pique their interest to learn ways to combat air pollution. A guest speaker, field trip and videos would be a great place to start. From there, if just a handful of kids are passionate enough about the environment and, specifically, air pollution, and feel like they want to spend their lives pursuing it as a career you’ve done a good job.

Source: http://www.lenntech.com