A Look at Atmospheric Pollution

If we take a look back to the world two hundred years ago, we learn to be grateful for all the inventions and advances that make our life so much easier. We thank Thomas Hancock, Thomas Edison, and Alexander Graham Bell for inventing elastic, the light bulb and the telephone, and of course we thank Otto Fredrick Rohwedder for invented sliced bread. All those and many more inventions turned us into the technological advanced society that we are. With all those new advances come many new problems. If we take another look back we also see how simpler life was 200 years ago. Relationships were stronger, crime was lower, and the air was cleaner. The image in my mind is two young girls working hard by the river while scrubbing their laundry, but they are breathing the freshest air imaginable. That air is forever gone from today's advanced world. The most advances cities like Tokyo, London, New York have a permanent grey cloud surrounding them. The pollution in the air is a big problem for thriving countries. Pollution causes multiple health issues and destroys ecosystems around the world.

Pollution is the result of contaminants that are introduced into our atmosphere. Many different energy sources that we use to power our cars and different machinery introduce contaminants into the air. Those contaminants get into our bodies and into our ecosystems and harm important part of our lives (Mosley, 2008). Although some sources of air pollution are natural occurring like from fires or dust, most of the sources are human caused. The air that we breathe is primarily made up of nitrogen, oxygen, argon and carbon dioxide. Those gases are all in the right amounts needed to sustain life. Humans and animals and vegetation in the USA emit approximately 264 ton of pollutants into the air. There are many types of pollutant. Some of the major ones are Nitrogen oxides, Hydrocarbons, Ozone, Carbon Monoxides, and Carbon Dioxide (Berg & Hager, 2009) Most of the those pollutants in moderate numbers are harmless but because we emit high amounts of those pollutants each day, they upset the balance of the atmosphere and can causes destruction of precious parts of the ecosystems and pose as a hazard to our health in many ways (Buchanan & Horwitz, 1996) . There are many ways that we contribute to the atmospheric pollution. Vehicle emissions are of the greatest contributing factor. Sixty Seven Percent of the Nitrogen Oxide in our atmosphere is from cars emissions (Cadle, et al., 2008). Although the government and many environmentalists have successful lowered the emission rate in new cars, many of the old cars and construction vehicles still are responsible for high levels of NOx_x chlorofluoCadleboet.alFC is found in aerosol cans, in sprays and certain household items, like refrigerators (Causley, 2006). All those are sources of pollution that are caused by human activity. There are also many naturalNOxcurring causes that contribute to pollution. Volcano eruptions and hurricanes can contribute to pollution as well. Even leaves can contribute to air pollution. Forest can emit high amounts of hydrocarbon which will be visible in large areas of forests (CausleyHager, 2009). All those and many more sources are what make up what we call pollution.

Pollution is harmful to the environment in many ways. Many health issues are a result of pollution. Asthma, lung cancer, bacteria's and lead poisoning can all be a result of air pollution. When we breathe in large amounts of gases that are bodies don't need and we get sick througHagerm. Nitrogen Oxide and sulfur oxides, both a result of combustion of fossil fuels, is proven to cause many types of respiratory disorders including asthma, lung cancer, bronchitis. A high level of CFCs and bacteria'she air leads to depletion of the ozone layer and higher the risks of skin cancer (Buchanan & Horwitz, 1996). Not only does air pollution have many health risks, it also wreaks havoc on many parts of our environment. Air pollution leads to acid rains which pollute our waters and soil. Polluted water leads to the natural ecosystems in the water to brCFCsdown, and the polluted soil can't produce the crop it used to. Many of the great parks in the USA have beenHorwitzd by too much ozone in the air. Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountains, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, and Lassen Volcanic National Park all have had their vegetation damaged by air pollution (Enviornment Defense , 2003). The NO_x Also affects the water. When excess Nitrogen Dioxide enters the water system through rain or air pollution, it kills many marine ecosystems. So even if water pollution is a different study, air pollution does have a direct effect on it. So the question is: What are we doing to stop this and what more should we do?

Managing the leEnviornmentution is not an easy tNOx. According to the vast atmosphere, the earth is just a small speck. So even if one country limits their harmful emission, the ozone layer above them might still be thin and the pollution level might still be high because of a neighbor's high emission level. So if we want to combat this the countries need to work together. That's why many of the laws and protocols as passed on an international level in the United Nations. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or the UNFCCC, is a division in the UN that works with the environmental issues of climate change, and one of the issues they try to work on is atmospheric pollution. The passed an amendment called the Kyoto Protocol that instructs countries how to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxides and other gases that area part of the pollution problem (KYOTO PROTOCOL TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK, 1998). Besides for the international work to combat pollution, the United States also have their own regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has worked since 1970 to educate the public about certain gases which are harmful to us. They establish standards that are harmful to our health and work to illegalize gases that are carcinogen. The US has also passed the Clean Air Act which highlights the responsibility of the EPA. They work with the local governments to measure and lower the harmful gas emissions and develop substitutes for problematic zones. They also started the carbon trading systems which allow big polluters to pollute in exchange for trees or otheillegalizehat will enhance the air quality (UNFCCC, 2008).

In order to further the advances to clean our air, the local and federal government must establish a clear plan on how to accomplish set goals. First they must establish a committee that unites the scientific, environmentalist, federal and local aspects of pollution. We need to scientist to work on new substitutes for coal, gas, and other widely used energy sources that are major attributors to pollution. The environmentalists must work on educating the public about the pressing issues. If the public is comfortable with the present state of affairs hey will never work hard to change it. SO once we have a practical scientific plan on how to change transportation methods, industrial energy sources, and we have the public's support, then we can attributorsegal aspects of it. The federal government should establish set rules that tell the factories on how much pollution their products can emit, and how much pollution they can generate by making the products. Once we have more air friendly products only then will it be practical for the public to switch to them. Then the local gpublic'sts should offer incentives to local business if they generate lower than a specific amounts of emissions based on their product lines. They should also hike up the prices and taxes on the "high danger" products, like certain cars, machines or household items that attribute to the high levels of pollution. If the price of air friendly cleaner is going to be lower than a harmful one, the public will slowly switch to the products that help the atmosphere. Another important part of educating the public is incorporating awareness classes in the school system. IF the children come home passionate about saving the environment they will influence their parents to take the right steps. It will also help because the future generation will already know about the importance of lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and on lowering the pollution levels.

One problem that people have with making changes is that they are stuck in their present state. People don't want to sell their cars, throw out their appliances and remodel their homes and businesses. So the results will only show if there is enough time given, and if the authorities make it easy to change. If we institute a system that makes it easy to change the lifestyles we are leading now, by offering free appliances to families who can't afford them and we give tax cuts to businesses that follow an earth friendly production plan, then we can expect to see changes. Of course to see this plan to action we will need a lot of government funding, and sociality's support. If the science world and the public activists and the federal and local government unite, then we can see the results we want. But if they continue to work their own separate paths then it will be hard to implement any changes.

Now we know how pollutions affecting our world, and how it will only get worse if we don't do something proactive to csociality'sf we look into the future and recognize the needs for reform then we can hope that we will enjoy a world as it was created to be.

Reference Page

Berg, L. R., & Hager, M. C. (2009). Visualizing Enviornmental Science. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons.

Buchanan, M., & Horwitz, C. (1996). Pollution and Society. Michigan: University of Michigan.

Cadle, S., Ayala, A., Black, K., Graze, R. R., Koupal, J., Minassian, F., et al. (2008). Real-World Vehicle Emissions: A Summary of the Seventeenth Coordinating Research Council On-Road VeHager Emissions Workshop. JournalEnviornmental wast ManaHobokenAssociation , 3-11.

Causley, R. (2006).Horwitzg a Deeper hole. Alive: Canadian Journal Of Health and Nutrition , 28.

Cadleornment Defense . (2003). Fact Sheet- AirKoupaltion. Minassiannt Defetsal.

KYOTO PROTOCOL TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK (United Nations 1998).

Mosley, S. (2008). nventing Pollution: Coal, Smoke, and Culture in Britain since 1800. Journal Of Social History , 507.

CausleyC. (2008). Emission trading. Retrieved June 12, 2009, from UNFCC: http://unfccc.int/kyotoEnviornmentechanisms/emissions_trading/items/2731.php

UnEnviornmenterned Scientists. (2009). Enviornmental Impact of coal Power: air pollution. Retrieved June 12, 2009, nventingon of Concerned Scientists: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c02c.html