Air pollution refers to the presence of polluting substances in the air we breathe. There are a number of air pollutants resulting from different human activities. For example, the use of fossil fuels for transportation and other purposes releases gases like Carbon dioxide (CO2), Carbon monoxide (CO) and Sulphur dioxide (SO2). These gases, when emitted in large quantities, pollute the air, making it harmful to breathe.
Long and Short Essay on Air Pollution
Essay 1 (250 words)
Air pollution is the mixing of foreign substances into the whole atmospheric air. Harmful and toxic gases emitted by the industries and motor vehicles causing huge damage to the living organisms whether plants, animals or human beings. Some of the natural and various human resources are causing air pollution. However, most of the air pollution sources are stem out of human activities like burning fossil fuels, coal, and oil, the release of harmful gases and substances from factories and motor vehicles.
Such harmful chemical compounds like carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, solid particles, etc are getting mixed to the fresh air. The level of air pollution has become increased to a great extent because of a 690% increase in damaging pollutants because of the expanded need for motor vehicles from the last century.
Another source of air pollution is the decomposition of garbage in landfills and disposal of solid wastes which are emitting methane gas (dangerous to the health). The rapid growth of population, industrialization, increased use of automobiles, airplanes, etc has made this issue a serious environmental problem. The air we breathe every moment is full of pollutants going to our lungs and the whole body through blood causing uncountable health problems. Polluted air is causing damage to the plants, animals and human beings in many direct and indirect ways. If the environmental protection policies are not followed seriously and strictly, the increasing level of air pollution may increase up to one million tons annually in recent decades.
Essay 2 (300 words)
When the fresh air gets polluted by means of dust, toxic gases, smoke, motor vehicles, mills, and factories, etc called air pollution. As we all know that fresh air is the most important element of a healthy life, we need to think that what happens if whole atmospheric air gets dirty. First of all air pollution is a matter of great regret for the whole human fraternity. Some of the big reasons for air pollution are the use of poisonous fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides in the agricultural sectors by innocent farmers in order to increase crop production. Released chemicals and hazardous gases (ammonia) from such fertilizers are getting mixed into the fresh air and causing air pollution.
Burning of fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum including other factory combustibles is the major causes of air pollution. A variety of smoke emissions from automobiles such as cars, buses, motorcycles, trucks, jeeps, trains, airplanes, etc are also causing air pollution. An increasing number of industries are causing release of toxic industrial smokes and harmful gases (like carbon monoxide, organic compounds, hydrocarbons, chemicals, etc) from the factories and mills to the environment. Some indoor activities of the people like innocent use of cleaning products, washing powders, paints, etc emit various toxic chemicals to the air.
The ever increasing level of air pollution also enhances its negative and harmful effects on the health of living beings. Air pollution is causing global warming to increase because of increasing atmospheric temperature due to the increasing level of greenhouse gases. Such greenhouse gases again causing the greenhouse effect and forcing sea levels to increase, glaciers to melt, weather to change, climate to change, etc. Increasing air pollution is causing many lethal diseases (cancer, heart attack, asthma, bronchitis, kidney diseases, etc) and death to occur. Various important animals and plants species have been destroyed completely from this planet. The increasing level of harmful gases in the environment is causing the occurrence of acid rain and depleting the ozone layer.
Essay 3 (400 words)
Increasing concentration of the harmful and toxic materials in the fresh air of the atmosphere is causing air pollution. A variety of foreign particles, toxic gases and other pollutants released from various human activities are affecting the fresh air which has an adverse effect on living beings like human beings, animals and plants. The level of air pollution depends on the type and amount of pollutants released from various sources. Topographical and meteorological conditions are increasing the spread and concentration of the pollutants. A variety of raw materials used in the manufacturing process in industries is increasing the type and quantum of emissions of harmful gases. Increasing population density is demanding the need for more industrialization which ultimately causes air pollution.
Air Pollutants like harmful liquid droplets, solids particulates, and toxic gases (oxides of carbon, halogenated and non-halogenated hydrocarbons, nitrogen and sulfur gases, suspended inorganic particulate matters, inorganic and organic acids, bacteria, viruses, insecticides, etc) which are generally not the constituents of fresh air are very hazardous to the plant and animal life. There are two types of air pollution sources which are natural sources and man-made sources. Some natural sources of the air pollution are like volcanic eruptions, volcanoes (ashes, carbon dioxide, smokes, dust, and other gases), deflation of sands, dust, salts spray from seas and ocean, soil particles, storms, forest fires, cosmic particles, rays, bombardment of asteroid materials, comets, pollen grains, fungal spores, viruses, bacteria, etc.
Man-made sources of air pollution are industries, agriculture, power plants, automobiles, domestic sources, etc. Some of the air pollutants from the man-made sources are like smokes, dust, fumes, particulate matters, gases from the kitchen, domestic heating, emissions from different vehicles, use of insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, the heat created from power plants, smokes, fly ash, etc. Because of the increasing number of air pollutants, it has been divided into two types such as primary pollutants and secondary pollutants. Primary pollutants are those affecting the fresh air directly and emitted from smoke, ash, dust, fumes, mist, spray, inorganic gases, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, nitric oxide, and radioactive compounds. Secondary pollutants are those affecting the air indirectly by chemical interactions to the primary pollutants and other atmospheric constituents such as sulfur-trioxide, ozone, hydrocarbons, nitrogen dioxide, etc.
The get-together effort of human beings all over the world may help in controlling the level of air pollution. The establishment of industrial estates should be away from residential areas, motivate the use of tall chimneys (with filters and electrostatic precipitators) instead of small, promote the use of high-temperature incinerators, use of non-combustive sources of energy, promote use of non-lead antiknock agents in the gasoline, promote re-plantation and so many positive efforts.