Air pollution is a major problem facing our environment today. This dilemma is harmful to every living creature on this planet. How can we limit the causes of air pollution? There are industrial as well as residential causes of air pollution. We need to limit the effects of air pollution. We all know it affects the environment, but it also can affect us directly. Air pollution needs to be controlled. Air pollution can be defined as pollution in the air. It is all around us. It might not be as clearly visible in some areas as others but the fact is that air pollution is still there affecting us in some way. It has been known to cause illness or even death. Many people are not aware of th ...view middle of the document...
This is probably the most harmful cause. People have drive automobiles every day to get from one place to another. If automobiles did not exist, the air would be cleaner. But the luxury of being able to travel long distances in short periods would be gone. This is a problem because people need to go places, but automobile emissions are still harmful to the environment.Motor vehicle emissions are generated in several different ways and locations during their operation. The most important sources are those produced in combustion and vented through the exhaust pipe. These exhaust gases consist mainly of unburned HCs, CO, and NOx and it accounts for approximately 90- 92% of all vehicle emissions. Some products of combustion are not vented through the exhaust system because they slip by the piston rings and the cylinder walls. These "blowby" gases are mainly unburned HCs that accumulate in the crankcase exhaust port. A third source of emissions is the votalization of HCs through the carburetor and fuel tank vents. Carburetor emissions are pronounced during the time the engine shuts off. Forest fires caused by humans puts harmful smoke into the environment. These forest fires do not happen often, but when they do, there is much destruction caused to the atmosphere. In the early 1950's, forest fires in the Southeastern United States covered huge areas of the country with smoke so thick that flights were canceled in New York City. Chlorofluorocarbons or CFC's were developed by chemists at General Motors in 1928. When they were developed, they were looked upon as "miracle" gases that could be safely used for many purposes. They were not toxic. They did not corrode the materials that they came in contact with. They were not flammable either. Finally they could be manufactured easily and inexpensively.Over the years these CFC's have been made to serve many purposes from refrigerator coolants to jet streams in aerosol cans and polystyrene material to air conditioners. When people do not properly dispose of CFC's, they could escape into the atmosphere, creating a hole in the ozone layer.More and more, we are discovering what is polluting our earth, and how to stop it. The discovery in the 1980s that air pollutants such as fluorocarbons are causing a loss of ozone from ...
