This article discusses the types of air pollution and their significant effects on humans, animals, and the environment.
The effects of air pollution on human health and the natural environment are critical and detrimental to our existence.
Air pollution is the release of pollutants into the atmosphere. Or the contamination of the atmosphere with contaminants detrimental to humans, plants, the environment, and other living organisms.
There is always a need for a proper balance between humanity and the environment. With the growth of the human population across the globe, pollution in the atmosphere increases daily. This increase in pollution affects our residential environment and severely affects our health.
The main reason for this increase is deforestation and large-scale human activities.
Fuel combustion, electricity production in power stations, and industrial machinery continuously increase environmental pollution, which dangerously affects human health.
Air pollution is a leading cause of death across the globe. Breathing in polluted air involves many health problems such as Lung cancer, Heart attack, Asthma attacks, and many more!
This blog post explains air pollution and other health and environmental issues. So, let’s dive into the topic.
Health Problems Due to Air Pollution
- Lung Cancer
The dirty particles in the environment disturb the proper functioning of the lungs. Lungs play a vital role in the breathing system. When you inhale in a polluted environment, these dirty particles of the air cause different lung diseases such as cancer; these particles may also be the reason for many other diseases like urinary tract and bladder cancer.
- Pneumonia Due To Polluted Air
The two primary compounds in the air cause pneumonia and lung inflammation. These involve nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. When you breathe in the presence of these compounds, the chances of pneumonia increase. You may notice different symptoms of this disease, such as:
- Chest pain
- Cough
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Shortness of breath
This disease increases the children’s death rate across the world. Older people are also at a high risk of this health problem.
- Heart Issues
People who inhale polluted air are at a higher risk of many heart diseases, such as:
- Heart Attacks
- Arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)
- Stroke
- Heart failure
These tiny polluted particles can travel easily through blood vessels. People who lived in the factory areas or on busy streets easily damaged their hearts with dirty smoke. However, you can also hurt your heart if you breathe in such an environment for the short term.
- Asthma Attacks
There are two types of air pollution. One is that you can see through your naked eyes, such as smoke. One that you can not see, like carbon monoxide. Any particle of gas that is not the natural part of the air causes it to pollute the environment. Two pollutants cause asthma.
- Ozone is the gas formed when the oxygen molecule reacts with an oxygen atom. It makes smog that affects your breath rate.
- Tiny particles of dust affect your lung and damage them slowly.
You may get attacked with this disease frequently and need some external source to return to the regular breath rate.
- Learning And Memory Problems
The central part of the body is the brain. If it works well, then you can make many decisions fastly. Traffic-related air pollution has a severe effect on the brains of adults. Polluted air harms the different parts of the brain:
- Basal ganglia
- Grey matter
- White matter
The chances of dementia increase, and behavior development can change often.
Environmental Problems Due to Air Pollution
Everyone wants to live in a good and clean environment. Pollution in the air also has a significant effect on the environment. Such as;
- Acidic Rain
The rain becomes acidic due to nitric and sulfuric acid. The compounds involved in the formation of these acids are:
- Oxides of nitrogen
- Oxides of sulfur
The burning of fuel releases these compounds into the atmosphere. When mixed with rainwater causes the formation of acidic rain. The result causes damage to plants and animals.
- Eutrophication
This condition occurs when the concentration of nutrients is raised in water bodies. This increase harms the life cycle of many aquatic plants and animals. However, it is a natural process, but human activities greatly enhance the amount of nitrogen in the marine ecosystem.
- Depletion of the Ozone Layer
Ozone is the gas available in the second layer of the earth’s atmosphere. In the stratosphere, the layer of this ozone gas protects the human body from ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Due to manufacturing activities, this layer is depleted day by day. Chemicals involved in this depletion are:
- Chlorofluorocarbons
- Halons
- Hydrochlorofluorocarbons
The harmful radiation from the sun quickly reaches the earth due to the thinning ozone protective layer. This UV radiation causes many problems:
- Skin cancer
- Cataracts
- The immune system doesn’t function well
It not only affects human health but also damages crop yields.
- The Cause of Haze
It is the condition when tiny air particles are mixed with sunlight. It affects the clarity of human eyes. Power-plant pollution and industrial activities are also the reason for haze production. Moreover, gasses such as sulfur and nitrogen oxides also produce haze-causing pollutants.
- Air Pollution Harms The Wildlife
Many pollutants in the air can harm wildlife in a variety of ways. Along with humans, animals suffer health problems if they inhale toxic air. This air pollution can and does lessen the life period of animals, according to research.
Editor’s Note:
To live a healthy life, the quality of air matters a lot. It would be best if you had an efficient solution to reduce the pollution in the air. Everyone involved themselves in the fight to clean the air. Do the following actions to reduce air pollution.
- Try to clean your surroundings and roadways
- Reduced the use of wood stoves
- Reduce the usage of vehicles
- Planting more and more trees
A pollution-free environment is the guarantee of a healthy life!
Bottomline
- What Are the 3 Main Effects of Air pollution?
Air pollution causes many problems. The three significant effects of it:
- It depletes the ozone layer
- It badly disturbs the human health
- It also harms the wildlife
- What Are The Types of Pollution?
The three main types of pollution are:
- Air pollution
- Land pollution
- Water pollution
- What Are The Causes of Pollution in the Environment?
Air pollution badly affects our environment. The leading cause of this pollution is the combustion of fuels, industrial smoke, and many other dust particles that impure the air quality.
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