Air Pollution

Air pollution refers to the presence of chemicals and natural substances in the air which cause a
significant alteration of the air's property, especially when it relates to its breathability. While
environmental pollution can happen anywhere, air pollution is mainly a problem of urban areas,
especially large cities in heavily industrialized countries such as the U.S., China and Russia.

Evolution

1. Air pollution is mainly a modern problem. Up until a century ago, the major cause of air
pollution was sulfur dioxide, caused by volcanic eruptions. Since the industrial age,
however, man-made pollutants have become the main problem. This is especially due to the
combustion of fuels, the widespread use of toxic metals (especially lead) and the production
of chemical and industrial products.

Effects

2. Cardiopulmonary disease kills over a million people each year in the U.S. alone. Of
those cases, almost a 100 percent are somewhat related to air pollution and the effects of
the environment. This is especially true in children, which have reported increased levels of
asthma attacks , and the elderly, who frequently show signs of toxins accumulation in their
lungs and throat. Air pollution also increases the number and severity of bronchitis and
respiratory allergy cases, as well as worsening cardiac conditions and emphysema.

Identification

3. Air pollution can be invisible, as many of the gases are odorless and colorless, caused
by issues such as radioactive decay or toxic metals. However, most places with serious
pollution problems reached that position due to the heavy emission of nitrogen oxides,
which produces the hazy, grayish look that has become associated with large cities.

Geography

4. When it comes to air pollution in cities, China definitively holds the worst spots. In fact,
16 of the top 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China, with Linfen, in the Shanxi
province, taking the first place. Several cities in Russia (and former USSR countries) also
make the list, with Chernobyl and Sumgayit taking prominent place. In the U.S., Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania takes the lead, followed by several Californian cities.

Type

5. There are several types of air pollutants, some of which people are barely aware of. The
most common is smog, usually a concentration of carbon dioxide, mehane and
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). All three pollutants, known as greenhouse gases, are caused
directly by human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, the use of refrigerants and
the overuse of aerosol propellants. Sulfur dioxide is another common air pollutant. It is
mainly brought into the air by various industrial processes, including substance
discoloration, refrigeration and as a solvent.
Air Pollution Caused by Industries

Air pollution is defined as the addition of various hazardous chemicals, particulate matter, toxic
substances and biological organisms into the Earth's atmosphere. There are various factors
causing air pollution, but what comes from industries and factories is often considered a prime
factors in air pollution. According to a study conducted by the Environmental Protection
Agency, or EPA, it has been found that industrial pollution accounts for approximately 50
percent of the pollution in the United States of America. There are numerous serious ecological
implications and health risks associated with industrial air pollution. Some of them are discussed
at length below.

Global Warming

1. Global warming is largely considered one of the most hazardous and serious
complications associated with air pollution caused by industries and other stationary
sources of air pollution. The liberation of certain gases such as methane, or CH4, and
carbon dioxide, or CO2, together known as greenhouse gases, is often considered to be
prime factors causing global warming. These greenhouse gases often result in an increase
in the atmospheric temperature, causing global warming. Global warming has various
serious implications both on the ecological balance as well as human health. It often results
in the melting of glaciers and snowcapped mountains, resulting in an increase in the water
levels of seas and rivers, eventually increasing the risk of floods. Apart from this, global
warming also often has numerous serious health risks on humans such as increase in
diseases like Lyme, malaria, cholera, dengue and plague, among others.

Acid Rain

2. Industries often emit large amounts of nitrogen and sulphur gases into the Earth's
atmosphere. When these gases react with water vapors in the atmosphere, they often
change into more aggressive gases, namely nitric acid and sulphuric acid respectively. The
rain containing large amounts of these acids is known as acid rain. Acid rain has various
health and natural dangers. It results in the erosion of monuments and buildings, makes the
soil acidic in nature, resulting in reduction of plant and animal growth, among other issues.
Apart from these, acid rain causes serious health disorders such as cancer, skin disorders
and even death.

Respiratory Disorders

3. The emission of various gases such as carbon monoxide, or CO, often results in various
respiratory disorders such as bronchitis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or
COPD, in individuals. CO damages air passages in individuals, leading to respiratory
disorders. However, if carbon monoxide is present in increased levels in the atmosphere, it
can even cause the death of the person, by inhibiting oxygen intake by combining with
hemoglobin.

Ozone Layer Depletion

4. The ozone layer is a gaseous blanket that helps in supporting and sustaining life on
Earth by protecting us from various hazardous radiations such as UV rays. Hence, the
 addition of some of the above mentioned pollutants often damages the atmosphere, thus
causing various health risks in humans such as skin disorders like rashes, irritation and
even cancer in severe cases.

Other Effects of Industrial Air Pollution

5. Other common effects often associated with air pollution caused due to industrial
emissions include increasing risk of occupational diseases such as pneumoconiosis and
asbestosis.

Introduction
Air pollution has been aggravated by develop-
ments that typically occur as countries become
industrialised: growing cities, increasing traf-
fic, rapid economic development and
industrialisation, and higher levels of energy
consumption. The high influx of population to
urban areas, increase in consumption patterns
and unplanned urban and industrial develop-
ment have led to the problem of air pollution.
Currently, in India, air pollution is widespread
in urban areas where vehicles are the major
contributors and in a few other areas with a
high concentration of industries and thermal
power plants. Vehicular emissions are of par-
ticular concern since these are ground level
sources and thus have the maximum impact
on the general population. Also, vehicles con-
tribute significantly to the total air pollution
load in many urban areas.
Pressure
Increase in urban population
Between 1951 and 1991, the urban population
has tripled, from 62.4 million to 217.6 million,
and its proportion has increased from 17.3%
to 25.7%.
Nearly two-thirds of the urban population
is concentrated in 317 class I cities (popula-
tion of over 100 000), half of which lives in 23
metropolitan areas with populations
exceeding 1 million. The number of urban
agglomerations/cities with populations of over
a million has increased from 5 in 1951 to 9 in
1971 and 23 in 1991 (Pachauri and Sridharan
1998).
This rapid increase in urban population
has resulted in unplanned urban development,
increase in consumption patterns and higher
demands for transport, energy, other infra-
structure, thereby leading to pollution
problems.
Increase in number of vehicles
The number of motor vehicles has increased
from 0.3 million in 1951 to 37.2 million in
1997 (MoST 2000). Out of these, 32% are
concentrated in 23 metropolitan cities. Delhi
itself accounts for about 8% of the total regis-
tered vehicles and has more registered vehicles
than those in the other three metros (Mumbai,
Calcutta, and Chennai) taken together. Figure
10.1 shows the steep growth in the number of
vehicles in India (Photo 10.1).
At the all-India level, the percentage of
two-wheeled vehicles in the total number of
motor vehicles increased from 9% in 1951 to
69% in 1997, and the share of buses declined
from 11% to 1.3% during the same period
(MoST 2000). This clearly points to a tremen-
dous increase in the share of personal
transport vehicles. In 1997, personal transport
vehicles (two-wheeled vehicles and cars only)
constituted 78.5% of the total number of
registered vehicles.
Road-based passenger transport has re-
corded very high growth in recent years
especially since 1980-81. It is estimated that
the roads accounted for 44.8 billion passenger
kilometer (PKM) in 1951 which has since
grown to 2,515 billion PKM in 1996. The
freight traffic handled by road in 1996 was
about 720 billion tonne kilometer (TKM)
which has increased from 12.1 TKM in 1951
(MoST 1996). In contrast, the total road
network has increased only 8 times from 0.4

IMPACT OF AIRPOLLUTION BY VEHICLE

Extravagant Car Use

The decision to drive cars long distances to work was common among people in North America and
Europe in the past 60 years. Cities grew larger. The development of suburbs often placed homes far
from work places; massive road construction encouraged extravagant car use. In retrospect, it is clear
that commuters made a mistake. They should now stop commuting by cars. Their mistake had health
and economic consequences for them personally and for every other inhabitant of planet earth.

Emissions from passenger vehicles increased in Canada and the US despite attempts to make engines
more fuel efficient and despite the addition of antipollution devices. The two main reasons were: 1.
vehicle use  increased; 2. in the US and Canada, cars got bigger; pick-up trucks, vans and sports
vehicles often replaced smaller, lighter passenger cars. An average new vehicle in 2003 consumed
more fuel that its counterpart in 1988. In the USA in 1987 cars averaged 25.9 miles to the gallon. Fuel
efficiency dropped to 24.6 miles/gallon by 1998 and it dropped further as larger vehicles replace
smaller ones.

Despite scientific evidence of climate change, governments in many affluent countries have avoided
their responsibility to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The USA is the biggest emitter of
greenhouse gases worldwide. US emissions increased to 7 billion tones of CO 2 in 2004, 16% higher
than emissions in the late 90's. The UK did better reducing their emissions to about 0.6 billion tons,
14% below 1990 levels. An accurate analysis of total greenhouse gas emission is difficult or impossible
to achieve since there many variable and unknowns. Take the US estimates, for example, and pursue
the argument that the US is also responsible for some emissions from other countries, which provide
raw materials and manufacturing for the US economy.  Romm argued: "U.S. businesses have offshored
more and more of the U.S. economy’s and  CO2 emissions to parts of the world where the carbon
intensity is higher but labor is cheaper. The U.S. has essentially offshored its emission problem to the
rest of the world, turning their economies into dumping grounds for our own air pollution. "

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that originates from multiple sources, most of which are not
measured.  Nitrogen gases are also important, but are usually ignored in favour of CO 2 estimates.
Catalytic converters added to gas-burning engines reduce CO and CO 2 emissions but increase nitrogen
dioxide emissions.

Car exhaust is toxic at ground level

Exhaust from all combustion engines combine to produce local adverse effects on the health of car
users and all innocent bystanders. Cities have become islands of toxic chemicals from the unrestrained
use of vehicles burning fossil fuels. Cars are noisy, ugly, often dangerous and dominate the experience
of modern living. We are now used to the carnage on  roads and highways- attempts to reduce death
and disability from our motorized containers have not substantially altered the negative impact on
society. The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure. See Exhaust
Chemicals.

Pollution and Climate Change

Combustion engines contribute to greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere and are
responsible for climate changes. A sane, sober revision of vehicle use is long overdue. While ethanol
has been championed as an alternative to petroleum fuels, it mainly helps to reduce dependency on oil
producing countries. Ethanol can be blended with gasoline to reduce petroleum dependency. Gasoline
engines can use up to 10% ethanol without modification. New "flex" engines can use higher
percentages of ethanol.

There are problems however in the bigger picture of carbon consumption and emission. When ethanol
is made from corn, some its energy value (up to 70% in the least efficient plants) must be spent on its
production. While  innovations in production technologies continue, there will be an ongoing
requirement to invent new methods of production. Investment in new technologies will require
government policy changes, subsidies and research grants.  Burning ethanol still produces carbon
dioxide. Climate change with extreme weather events may reduce corn production in the US, where
for decades corn surpluses were common. The new competition between ethanol plants and food
production suddenly in 2008 became an international issue. If you are an optimist, you might argue
that improved technologies will save the day --- corn yields per acre have been increasing mostly
because of genetic engineering so that food and ethanol production need not compete in the future.
The ethanol industry uses only the carbohydrate fraction of the corn; the protein and oil fractions are
used as animal feed to be consumed by humans as dairy products, eggs and meat. If you are a
pessimist, you might point to the recurrent droughts in recent years in the US corn producing regions
and predict more crop failures in years to come.  Other non-food vegetable sources of carbon will
become alternative sources of raw materials.