Air Quality Notes

Atmosphere Composition

• Our planet’s air is naturally composed of Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide and water vapor

• When our planet has too much Carbon Dioxide or Nitrogen in the atmosphere it is called air pollution

Sources of Pollution

• Cars

• Factories

• Power plants

• Household goods

• Mining

• Wood burning fire places

• Largest contributor is cars and factories

History

• Air pollution has been around since the 1200s when people were burning coal

• King Edward the II made a law anyone burning coal would lose their head!

Pollution

• 1/3 of our air pollution comes from cars• The other 2/3 comes from factories• Many inventions have occurred in order to

control pollution• In cars, unleaded gasoline and the

catalytic converter• In factories the Electrostatic precipitator • These inventions add oxygen to the

pollutates

Temperature Inversion

• When hot air pollution is trapped by the earth’s surface

• This happens when a layer of warm air will not allow the pollution to escape into the atmosphere

• Usually in cities located in a valley like Mexico City and LA

• This causes smog

Effects of Pollution

• Pollution is found to be the cause of respiratory problems such as asthma.

• People who live in cities are more at risk to develop asthma, allergies and other life threatening problems due to pollution

Other types of Air Pollution

• Noise pollution

• People who live in more rural areas have better hearing than those who live in urban areas

• Light Pollution

• The inability to see the stars/night sky because of artificial light