In America, air pollution causes about 200,000 early deaths a year according to

Jennifer Chu of phys.org. Air pollution is the atmosphere being contaminated by harmful
chemicals that can affect people in many ways, they can cause illnesses to get worse and can
even kill. Most of the chemicals come from burning fossil fuels in cars and other means of
transportation, from the waste products and ignorance of proper dumping of factories and power
plants, using gas to heat buildings, smoking cigarettes, and wildfires. Health problems like
asthma, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases can get worse for people who have that issue
and are breathing in all the toxins and pollutants in the air making it harder for them to breathe
and eventually die from lack of fresh oxygen.

The environment gets affected by this too. Acid rain, less oxygen and Global Warming
are the results of air pollution. There is so much pollution that the chemicals started forming a
barrier-like layer around the Earth that causes the heat from the sun to come in and get trapped
making temperatures go up and having drastic changes on the climate and the animals, scientist
call this phenomenon the Greenhouse Effect. Simple solutions like walking to your grocery
store, if it is walking distance, carpooling or catching the bus there instead of driving can make a
big difference in how much pollutions go into the air and save you gas money as well.

According to National Geographics article Air Pollution (2013), there are different types
of greenhouse gases that contribute to air pollution including methane, carbon dioxide, and
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC). The reduction of sulfur dioxide can make global warming worse.
According to Conserve Energy Futures article What is Air Pollution (2013), using public
transportation and carpooling are some ways people can reduce air pollution. Conserving
energy can also contribute to reducing air pollution.


In National Park Services article Air Pollution- its Nature, Sources, and Effects (2013),
the main sources of air pollution are factories and power plants. Mobile sources include cars,
and sport utility vehicles. In Natural Resources Defense Councils article A Historical Step in
the Right Direction for Clean Air (2012), mentions that Americas power plants are our
biggest industrial polluters. Each year they pump more than two billion tons of carbon dioxide
into the air.


The official definition of air pollution is the contamination of air by smoke and harmful
gas, mainly oxides of carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen (Dictionary, 2014). Most only know or heard
about air pollution in todays society but air along with other types of pollution can be tracked all
the way back to the time humans havent walked the earth yet. Natural disasters like volcanoes,
wildfires and dust storms were the main causes of air pollution in prehistoric times. The ashes
and smoke from volcanoes and wildland fires are both considered toxic and can block out the
suns rays (U.S. Department of The Interior, 2014). Thousands of years later, humans are up and
about and eventually human activities like burning material and cooking became part of the
contribution of air pollution, but the period that triumphs them all is the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution was the time period when everything started being made by machines
that started in Europe from the 1700 to the late 1800. This era of technology manifested in hopes
of making time consuming and difficult task into an easy and efficient and to meet the demands
of customers. About a few years later, the movement moved to American soil and boomed even
more than it did in Europe, but so did the amount of pollution that was created.

As people, most activities we do that requires us to use fossil fuels can contribute to the
pollution, but the most noticeable are factories, power plants and transportation. Factories were
created in order to mass produce and item or food so that they can be sold for profit. During that
process, toxic waste is created and discarded in an ignorant manner, meaning that companies are
unaware of the actual damage they are doing to themselves and their surroundings. Picture this; a
person is driving to work cruises past a factory. On top of that factory is a large chimney.
Emanating from that chimney is a horrendous size cloud of black smoke that billows out the
chimney and into the atmosphere, at that moment and time people dont pay any attention to it
but if everybody were to think about it a connection could be made that the same black smoke
coming from the factory is being mixed in with the air we live and breathe in.

Although cars, trucks and other means of transportation help get people from one point to
another in a short amount of time and also allows the process of carrying cargo from one place
to another, all means of transportation converts the fuel it needs and spews out the waste that
called Exhaust. Everyone heavily relies on transportation and it is a big problem just because
of the waste product and the amount of times the vehicle is used. Driving everywhere causes
more exhaust to go into the air which can create more pollution. More pollution means more
health issue from lack of oxygen. Respiratory issues like Asthma, Bronchiectasis, Lung disease
and Pleural Empyema are all results of the amount of pollutants that constantly introduce the the
air that can create breathing problems and make peoples lives difficult (Osha, 2012).

Dangerous chemicals are often going into the atmosphere and is being mixed in with the oxygen
that humans need in order to maintain homeostasis, meaning to keep the body at a healthy state.
Carbon Monoxide, Hydrocarbons, Sulfur Dioxide and Greenhouse Gases are only a few of the
chemicals that are toxic to the body and is in the air as we speak (Osha, 2002) .

Carbon Monoxide or known in chemistry as CO is a poisonous gas that has no odor,
taste, or color and is hard to detect. According to the Osha Fact Sheet data, Carbon monoxide is
an industrial hazard that is a result of material that has not been completely burned and contains
carbon like oil, propane, coal, wood, gasoline and kerosene. Carbon Monoxide have a very
dangerous health effect to the human body, basically this chemical prevents your major organs
from getting fresh oxygen when breathed in, consuming too much can suffocate an individual
which can cause loss of consciousness without any detection (citation). When it comes to the
symptoms one can experience with this exposure vary from person to person. Some might have
tightness across the chest, dizziness, headaches, fatigue, and nausea while others may get pains
in the chest or muscle weakness (Osha, 2002). Below is a 3D example of a Carbon Monoxide
molecule.









("Carbon
Monoxide Molecule ," Carbon Monoxide Molecule )
Unlike Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide has a very strong smell and is more detectable.
The initials for it is SO2. Sulfur Dioxide comes from burning coal and oil ("Dhec fact sheet," ).
Power Plants seem to be the one of the main sources of Sulfur Dioxide and can cause damaging
effects on both human and environmental bodies. Diseases like lung cancer can result in
breathing in Sulfur Dioxide and can cause burns if come in contact with skin and irritation with
eye contact. With the environment, Sulfur Dioxide can lead to acid rain. From that, damages
would be done to forest areas, aquatic habitats and can corrode statues and monuments ("Dhec
fact sheet," ).
(Sulfur Dioxide [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sulfur-
dioxide-3D-vdW.png)




From wood to coal and coal to steam, man have been using alternate fuels in order to
satisfy the everyday necessities of living. As technology advanced so did the need of advanced
alternate fuel, thats where gasoline comes in. Gasoline has become one of the top fossil fuels
man uses today but all fossil fuels have something in common; burning them can create toxic
black smoke that gets mixed in with the oxygen needed to sustain life. Creating fake fuel to
power machines might have been a great idea for the moment but the truth is it causes even more
problems than ever. It might have solved the how to make our cars and trucks go problem but
nobody ever thought of what will happen in the future with all the toxic gases from burning the
fuel going in to the air and being mixed with the oxygen that people breathe in or what type of
drastic changes this might have on the very environment that we get all of our items and
materials from.

Even though people dont pay it any attention to it, the environment is the most important
asset we have in the world but thanks to the repetitive use and abuse of resources that comes
from the the Earth devastating changes are being made not only to the atmosphere but also the
actual climate is being change and that changes the habitats that animals and areas people live
in. Temperatures in certain parts of the world, the polar regions are have the biggest affect of
them all. The higher temperatures causes the ice caps to melt at an alarming rate causing more
water the usual to flow into the arctic oceans and all of the oceans in general and it make things
harder for the wildlife of the arctic who depend on the ice to give birth, hunt, hide, and travel
when there is barely any ice to even walk on. The increase of temperatures also causes problems
for the crocodiles and other species of large reptiles. When a crocodile lays her eggs, the gender
of the babies heavily relies on the temperature around them. If the temperature is between 72 and
80 degrees then they will hatch into males, anything higher or lower than that the gender will be
female. Drought, wildfires and other natural disasters can also occur with the heat increasing in
places that are already too hot for most to survive in.

Nothing in the world is more important than somebodies own well being health wise. A
man can have anything in the world but how can you enjoy life when that same man health is
poor? Air pollution is greatly affecting the health of everyone who breathes in the toxins cause
breathing problems and respiratory diseases to appear. Respiratory diseases are health conditions
that affect the lungs and any muscle that is attached to them. Diseases like Lung Cancer, Asthma
and Bronchiectasis are conditions that can result from air pollution. Lung Cancer can
permanently damage your lungs to the point of them shutting down causing death. Asthma and
Bronchiectasis tightens the airways that leads to the lungs causing breathing problems and
wheezing, an asthma pump in required in order to battle out the condition.

All of the subjects that are mentioned in this paper are both frightening and shocking but
there are simple solutions that people can do to reverse and decrease the amount of pollution that
is already out there. As mentioned before people rely on transportation a little more than the
normal usage, so the solution to that would be; dont drive everywhere. If the destination is a
block or two away then just walk there or ride a bike, driving will just burn gas needed for much
farther locations. When going to work, school or a relatives or friends place, carpooling is a great
idea especially if people you are close to are going to the same place. It saves time, money and
gas all in a single round trip. Being stuck in traffic sucks and waiting for it to clear up can be a
real pain and a real gas guzzler just sitting there with the car on waste precious gas needed for
getting to point B then go back to point A and more exhaust and dangerous chemical gets in the
air. If traffic takes a good while to clear its best if you turn the car off and wait till things starts to
clear up.

Being more aware of the damage that using less non eco-friendly materials for products
and irresponsibly dumping waste is changing the environment around them and seeing the
government taking action towards reducing pollution, companies are figuring out ways to reduce
pollution as well. Its actually very simple; use more natural materials to make the products and
recycle the leftovers that can be used again, for the ones you cant recycle, dispose of in a proper
and respectable manner. They can also change the air ducts in the buildings.

Changing fuels to something more environment friendly can really make a difference for
the person and the surrounding area. Instead of using gasoline for everything, replace a few with
items that can be electrically powered like electric heaters and stoves. Get cars that are fuel
efficient, Cars like these can go farther distances with less gasoline and that means less money
coming out of pocket and the harmful, toxic that comes out will be less harmful to the people and
the environment.


General Electric, or GE for short, is one of Americas most relied on electric company
since light bulbs were invented. Over the years, as all companies do, GE was ignorantly dumping
waste into rivers but in this case it was the Hudson river. Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric
chairman and CEO realized that this was going to impact us and the company in a big way so the
company is now cleaning the waste from the river. Not only that Jeff Immelt announces that GE
is shaping its business strategy at least in part to invest in pollution-reducing technologies such
as wind power and water purification.



Whether we know it or not, the environment is the most reliable asset human being have
on Earth. Being more mindful about the surrounds and the environment can reduce and
eventually reverse any damage done to the people and the ecosystem. Factories can use more
eco-friendly material, recycle more, and properly disposing of waste can make a big difference.
Simple solutions like carpooling, take public transportation or walking to areas that are walking
distances can also have its good effects on society.