The Effects of Air Pollution on Plants
Going hand-in-hand with the increase in development and population is the increase in air pollution. While air pollution has natural causes such as volcano eruptions and wind, human activity is the primarily cause. Fossil fuel emissions and industry lead the list of of sources of pollution. Pollution has a high economic cause. According to the Worldwatch State of the World Report, air pollution costs upwards of $40 billion annually in the United States alone. Its impact on the environment is even greater.
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Significance
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Air pollution effects are not limited to the short term nor to the plant damaged or killed. Rather, air pollution can have long term effects that affect not only plants, but the animals that depend upon them. It can cause irreparable harm to water resources and ecosystems. Rapid decline of ecosystem health can leave systems unlivable. For example, over 40 percent of U.S. rivers cannot sustain life according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The problem, however, is not isolated. A report from the Environmental Agency in Great Britain states that over 18,000 lakes in Sweden cannot support life due to acidic conditions caused by acid rain.
Effects
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Acid rain occurs as a chemical reaction fueled by the sun when contaminants in the atmosphere combine with moisture. The result is rain with an acidic pH. Depending up the pH level, effects can range from plant damage to plant death, depending on concentration and period of exposure to toxins. Entire ecosystems are in danger because of changes in soil chemistry.
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Considerations
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Contaminants in the air can cause the stomata or pores of a plant leaf to close. Stomata is where gas exchange occurs with the atmosphere. If plants cannot get adequate carbon dioxide from the air, photosynthesis ceases. In effect, a plant cannot exist without this means to make food and produce energy. Even a reduction in photosynthesis can have ill effects. Reduced growth in leaves and fruit make plants less productive. In turn, the wildlife that uses these plants is affected. Chemicals building up in leaves and soil can further impact wildlife.
Function
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Sulfur dioxide is a common pollutant and one of the causes of acid rain. The effects of exposure can be acute or chronic. Acute injury results in destruction of the vein network of leaves. Chronic injury, on the other hand, occurs during continuous exposure. What makes sulfur dioxide especially deadly is the fact that it can affect higher plants like trees and crops. Fortunately, reductions in sulfur dioxide concentrations have lessened into the 21st century.
Warning
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The effects of air pollution on plants go well beyond the forest. Losses due to crop damage raise the economic price of pollution. Plants make life possible on Earth by providing the oxygen in our atmosphere. A loss or even reduction of plants ability to photosynthesis can have dire consequences not just for plants and wildlife, but human life as well.
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References
- Photo Credit Leslaw Barczynski/Stock.xchng
