Air Pollution Basics
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- 2. Air and itsComponents Air is a mixture of many gases including Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, Water Vapor and other trace gases.
- 3. What is AirPollution…?? Any change in the Earth’s atmospheric composition of gases that has harmful effects.
- 4. Air Pollutants…?? CO SO2 Pb Ozone Nox PM2.5, PM10 CFCs HCFCs Hg Aerosols Asbestos VolatileOrganic Compounds Propellants Six Major Pollutants Categorized by EPA,US
- 5. Causes – Naturalsources?? Dust Gases released from the body processes of living beings (CO2 during respiration, CH4 from cattle’s digestion, oxygen from plants during photosynthesis) Pollen Dispersal Smoke from forest fires, volcanos Evaporation of organic compounds Natural radioactivity
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- 7. Other Gases Pollution CO2,O2 Release NH3 Release
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- 9. Smoke Pollution Forest FireForest Fire Volcano eruption
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- 11. Evaporation of organic Compounds Largegroup of carbon-based chemicals that easily evaporate at room temperature. E.g : Personal care products such as perfume and hair spray Cleaning agents Dry cleaning fluid, paints, Lacquers, varnishes, Hobby supplies Copying and printing machines
- 12. Natural Radioactivity From Naturallyoccurring elements in soil and rock. Unstable nucleus Emit 3 kinds of radiations like α-particle (alpha-particle), β- particles(beta-particle) and γ-rays ( gamma-rays) or γ-radiation Eg. uranium, thorium, and radium
- 13. Causes- Man MadeSources?? Burning of Fossil Fuels – Coal, oil, natural gas and gasoline to produce electricity and power vehicles. – SO2, CO, NOx, SPM Agricultural activities – NH3 is very common byproduct. Landfill activities- CH4 Exhaust from factories and industries - CO, Hydrocarbons, organic compounds. Mining Operation – Dust Use of chemicals like cleaning products, painting supplies Artificial radioactivity
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- 18. Exhaust from factoriesand Industries
- 19. Bhopal Gas Leak Happened in Dec, 1984 Company Responsible : Union Carbide (Now Dow Chemicals) Leak of Methyl Isocyanate Gas
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- 22. Pesticide DDT Happenedin 1962 Synthetic pesticides DDT used to combat typhus and malaria. It is non degradable so accumulated in the environment. Decimated Bald eagle and other bird populations Later turned up in human breast milk and was linked with premature births.
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- 24. Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Happened in April, 1986 Plant’s core went melt down Released 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped on Japan. 19-mile exclusion zone around the plant remains uninhabitable. 4000 cases of thyroid cancer were diagnosed among children and adolescents, mainly due to contaminated milk.
- 25. Effects…?? Human health– Respiratory and heart problems, Cancer Poor Visibility Global warming – Greenhouse gases like CO2 Acid Rain - Water droplets + NOx, SOx Eutrophication – Depletion of Oxygen content in water bodies Depletion of Ozone Layer – Presence of chlorofluorocarbons, hydro chlorofluorocarbons
- 27. Poor Visibility -Smog = Smoke + Fog
- 28. Sulfurous smog (or'London-type' smog) Happened in Dec, 1952 due to Industrial revolution. Use of sulfur-bearing fossil fuels, particularly coal High concentration of Sox, Humidity and low temperature in the air Thermal Inversion Smoke + SOx + Fog droplets = Sulfurous Smog
- 29. Worst Type ofSmog – Thermal Inversion Abnormal arrangement of air masses causes pollutants to be trapped near the earth’s surface Stop horizontal winds Warm air collects over the polluted air, acting as a lid to stop the pollutants from being dispersed.
- 30. Photochemical smog('Los Angeles- type'smog) Happened in 1944 due to Automobile Pollution
- 31. London-type smog inBeijing, China
- 32. New York-type' smog Happenedin Nov,1966 in New York
- 33. Delhi -type' smog Dueto high vehicular and industrial emissions, construction work and crop burning in adjoining states.
- 34. Solutions to reduceSmog Alkaline Scrubbers reduce SO2 and SO3 levels Electrostatic precipitators reduce particulates Catalytic Converters change NO to N2, Lean burning engines reduce Nox but create more CO and Hydrocarbons.
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- 36. Major Greenhouse GasesMajor Sectors releasing Greenhouse Gases
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- 40. Eutrophication Decrease inOxygen Content in water bodies
- 41. Depletion of OzoneLayer
- 42. How does AirPollution Move? Emission Source (i.e., smokestack, chimney, exhaust pipe) Receptor (i.e., soil, vegetation, water bodies, human lungs)
- 44. Solutions…?? Use publicmode of transportation Conserve energy – Switch off fans and lights – Save electricity – Save fuel burning Understand the Concept of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Emphasis on clean energy resources like solar, wind and geothermal Use energy efficient devices – CFL lights against conventional lights
- 45. Conclusion…?? Air Pollutionis one of the major concerns and a challenge we need to overcome to see a tomorrow. This is a direct attempt at slacking Global warming. World wide on personal, industrial and Govt level know the intensity at which Air Pollution is rising. We must not forget that air is what we breathe in to survive every day.
- 46. Keep the airclean because we breathe 7 or 8 liters of Air per minute