Air Pollution Effects on Health and the Environment
You may not realize it, but air pollution impacts your everyday world, causing grave environmental damage. Air pollution exists in several forms, from emissions from your car to emissions from power plants to particulate matter pollution caused by fires and wood-burning fireplaces. Because it is mobile, it is nearly impossible to escape its effects. However, understanding the impacts can help you make good decisions regarding your own contribution to air pollution.
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Scope
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Unfortunately, the effects of air pollution are not limited to poor air quality. Air pollution indirectly causes water and soil pollution. Moisture in the air combines with toxic emissions, creating polluted precipitation. This acidic rain then acidifies surface water such as lakes as well as soils. Over time, the acidity builds in the soil and water, eventually becoming ecological dead zones which can support neither animals nor plants.
Greenhouse Gases and Ozone
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Greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to the so-called greenhouse effect. These gases trap radiant heat at the Earth's surface, causing temperatures to rise.
Emissions also create ozone, which has profound effects on plants. Plants carry out gas exchange through pores called stomata on their leaves. A 2005 study published in the journal Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences found that ozone reduces the size of the stomata, compromising a plant's ability to obtain carbon dioxide, vital for food and energy production. Further, toxic emissions have been linked to reduced crop yields, as reported in a 2004 study in Encyclopedia of Plant and Crop Science. -
Climate Change
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Climate change represents one of the greatest negative effects of air pollution on the environment. Carbon dioxide emissions have risen globally since the Industrial Revolution, with total emissions rising 17 percent from 1990 to 2007, according to the 2010 Fifth Climate Action Report. This rise coincides with an increase in ocean acidification. As oceans become more acidic, marine life suffers from a decreasing inability to build shells and skeletons. The health of the coral reefs and the organisms which depend upon them are threatened as well.
Human Health Effects
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Air pollution can have both short term and long term effects on human health. Effects occur most often with the respiratory system. Air pollution can irritate the tissues and membranes of this system. Long term exposure can reduce lung capacity and aggravate existing conditions such as asthma. Children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems are at the greatest risk.
Fuel Emissions and Human Health
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Most people tend to blame industry for widespread air pollution. However, fossil fuel emissions from automobiles potentially can cause serious human health issues. A 2010 study linked auto emissions and atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. The effect was greatest in those living in within 100 meters of highways. This fact raises the potential for heart attack and stroke deaths.
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References
- PLoS ONE: Ambient Air Pollution and the Progression of Atherosclerosis in Adults
- Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences; "Effect of air pollution on the Leaf Epidermis at the Submicroscopic Level;" K. Garg and C. Varshney; December 1980
- Encyclopedia of Plant and Crop Science; "Air Pollutants: Effects of Ozone on Crop Yield and Quality;" Hakan Pleijel; February 2004
- U. S. Department of State: Fifth Climate Action Report to the UN
- U. S. Environmental Protection Agency: Recent Ocean Acidification
Resources
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