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Air and Pollution Paper

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Air and Pollution Paper

Albertis McCray

ENV/100

November 11, 2013
Mrs. Jennifer Lake

Air and Pollution

Air and water pollution play a large role in our environment. The two types of air pollution that will be discussed in this paper are carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. Both of these air pollutions have a daily effect on our environment. Air pollutants are either primary and/or secondary. Primary air pollutants produce a specific type of process, for example, sulfur dioxide released from industrial factories or ash from a volcano explosion. Secondary pollutants are not directly emitted, when primary pollutants react or interact, they form in the air.

The First Air Pollutant Nitrogen Dioxide

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is one of the many prominent pollutants. High temperature combustion creates Nitrogen dioxide, which are produced naturally during thunderstorms.

The Second Air Pollutant Carbon Dioxide

The second air pollutant is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is considered a primary pollutant due to its presence in the atmosphere but it does become toxic when increase releases cause it to rise about its natural concentrations. The increase levels of carbon dioxide is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect. The sources of primary pollutants are called mobile sources these include trucks and cars. Other sources of pollutants are known as stationary or industry which includes industrial sites or power plants, etc.

The most prevelant gases in the earth’s atmosphere are nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrogen is at 78% and carbon dioxide at 0.04%. When a source of energy, such as fuel combustion, yields increased temperatures, nitrogen oxide gases produce chemical connections between oxygen and nitrogen. The four layers in our atmosphere are thermosphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and troposphere. Greenhouse gases are created from many different chemical compounds found in the earth’s atmosphere. Sunlight enters the atmosphere freely by chemical compound. When sun hits the earth’s surface, part of the sun redirects to space as heat. Ideally, heat from the sun and heat sent back to earth should be the same amount.

Greenhouse gases could have an increased effect on the earth. For example, ocean levels might increase due to water expanding as it heats up, which means the city coasts would begin to flood. Mild places that generally get regular rain and snowfall may have their precipitation change and some spots might become hotter and drier. Animals, plants and humans that cannot tolerate heat may become extinct or become replaced by a higher temperature tolerant species.

Types of Water Pollution Disease Causing Agents and Sewage

The two types of water pollution that I will discuss are disease causing agents and sewage. Disease causing agents are caused by the waste of infected people penetrating the water supply. A few examples of this are viruses, bacteria, parasitic worms and protozoa. The impact of this pollution is the spreading of infectious diseases. Inadequate water quality can have an extreme negative effect on human beings. Downstream populaces are exposed to water pollution from upstream action. The increased use of wastewater and highly polluted surface water for

agricultural production makes humans highly susceptible to numerous microbial threats from the food chain. In addition to the direct human pain related to ill-health, it also has an increased socio-economic cost as sick humans begin to have a reduced ability to engage in societal activities.

The other type of water pollution is sewage. Sewage is caused by wastewater by sewers or drains. A few examples of sewage are detergents, human waste and soap. Sewage threatens public safety, causes enrichment and increased biochemical oxygen. Enrichment happens when high levels of algae nutrients and plants including phosphorus or nitrogen, which are both sewage products. When an aquatic ecosystem has increased levels of organic material or sewage, decomposing microorganisms use up the majority of the dissolved oxygen, leaving very little available for aquatic animals or fish.

The way you measure organic wastes or sewage are measured in biochemical oxygen demand. A large amount of sewage in the water generates a high BOD, which lowers the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. Additionally, it measures how quickly the organisms in the water dissolve the oxygen, which further deteriorates the water quality.

Conclusion

Disease causing agents and sewage are a few of the issues that unhealthy water cause. The overall pollution of both the air and water are a serious problem that must be addressed proactively in our environment.

References
Berg, L. R., & Hager, M. C. (2009). Visualizing Environmental Science (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Free Visualizing Environmental Science Essays 1-20. (n.d.). Retrieved http://www.bignerds.com/tag/visualizing-environmental-science/1/

http://www.epa.gov/

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