What is air pollution?

According to Wikipedia, Air pollution is the introduction of

chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or
discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural
environment into the atmosphere .According to other research, the suggested
Federal limit of an “average” of 50 micrograms of “particulate matter” per cubic
foot of air ( in a one year period ) is considered poor air quality. The air pollution is
made up of many kinds of gases, droplets and particles that reduce the quality of
the air. The air pollution is the contamination of air by the discharge of harmful
substance.

Air pollution has both acute and chronic effects on human health. Human health
effects range from minor irritation of eyes and to the chronic diseases such as heart
disease, lung cancer and death. Air pollution has both short-term and long term
effect to human health and also to the environment. The World Health Organization
states that 2.4 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air
pollution, with 1.5 million of these deaths attributable to indoor air pollution. A study
by the University of Birmingham has shown a strong correlation between
pneumonia related deaths and air pollution from motor vehicles .Air pollution is
caused by both natural and man-made sources.

The major man-made sources of the air pollution include industries, vehicles and
power generation. There are many different chemical substances that cause the air
pollution. The fuel combination is the primary sources of a large numbers of health
damaging air pollutants, including fine and irrespirable particulate matter (PM),
sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (co) nitrogen oxides (N0x), volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), ozone (Os) and atmospheric lead (Lead). Some of these
pollutants are direct by products of fuel combination, but some are formed in the air
through the chemical reactions with other agents in the atmosphere. All of these
chemicals have terrible effects on natural ecosystems. They can kill plants and
trees by destroying their leaves, and can kill animals, especially fish in highly
polluted rivers. The sulfur dioxide is the precursor to acid rain which is able to
damage lakes, rivers, trees and give terrible damages to cultural relics. The acid
rain could pollute drinking water and entering the food chain and through global
warming and associated climate change and sea level rise. The nitrogen oxides
deposition ozone will reduce crop production and forest growth and it is the smog
precursor. The three major causes SO2, NOx and Ozone which give harmful effects
in the natural ecosystems also have harmful effects on human health which mostly
to respiratory and cardiovascular illness. Individual reactions to air pollutants
depend on the type of pollutant a person is exposed to, the degree of exposure, the
individual's health status and genetics.

VOCS volatile organic compounds is the vehicles burning leaded gasoline cause all
the fish and animals kills, it also accumulates in human blood stream over time and
can damages human nervous system. The volatile organic compounds which comes
from vehicles and industrial processes could cause eye and skin irritation, nausea,
headaches and carcinogenic. It also causes smog to environment. The smog
consists mostly of a mixture of sulfur dioxide and fog. Suspended droplets of sulfuric
acid are formed from some of the sulfur dioxide, and a variety of suspended solid
particles. Photochemical smog is also appearing in regions of the tropics and
subtropics where savanna grasses are periodically burned. Smog's unpleasant
properties result from the irradiation by sunlight of hydrocarbons caused primarily
by unburned gasoline emitted by automobiles and other combustion sources. The
products of photochemical reactions includes organic particles, ozone, aldehydes,
ketones, peroxyacetyl nitrate, organic acids, and other oxidants. Ozone is a gas
created by nitrogen dioxide or nitric oxide when exposed to sunlight. Ozone causes
eye irritation, impaired lung function, and damage to trees and crops. Another form
of smog is called industrial smog.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the major pollutants in the atmosphere, with all the
destruction and burning of the rain forests more and more CO2 is being released
into the atmosphere. Increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reinforces
this effect and is expected to result in a warming of the Earth's surface. It could
causes headaches and fatigue especially to those who with weak cardiovascular
health.

If we ignore the situation and allow it to get worse, maybe in a few years of time the
government will issue an official warning urging its residents to stay indoors and
avoid physical exertion. All the schools have also will be ask to cancel all its sporting
activities, all the children will most probably need to wear mask when they are at
outdoor, even worse oxygen tank will be sold as daily grocery in future. If we want
to save the world and to give a healthy and better air to our future generations, we
can help to reduce global air pollution and climate change by driving a car that gets
at least 35 miles a gallon, walking, bicycling, and using mass transit when possible.