Atmospheric pollution

There are two sources of atmospheric pollution: natural and artificial.

Natural pollution of the atmosphere occures when volcanoes erupt, rock is weathered, dust storms take place, forest fires occure as a result of lightning,and sea salt is washed ashore.

Artificial pollution of the atmosphere is characteristic mostly of cities and industrial districts. Cities and suburbs contain numerous industrial enterprises, automobiles and heating systems which pollute the atmosphere and negatively influence the local climate.

For a long time the problem of air pollution in the cities was chiefly connected with coal-burning in heating systems which emitted smoke, ashes and sulphurous gas. Today industrial enterprises and automobiles are the primary sources of atmospheric pollution.

Industry pollutes the atmosphere by emissions of harmful gases and industrial dust. Thermal electric plants, metallurgical and chemical factories, oil refineries, cement works are sources of air pollution.

The chemical composition of emission into the atmosphere is different depending on kind of fuel, of raw materials, technology, etc. For example, blast furnace gas contains poisonous carbon monoxide, while smoke of aluminium factories pollutes the atmosphere with fluoride compounds.

City air is polluted not only by exhaust fumes but also by the products of their oxidization, often more toxic than the initial substance. One of them is useful in small quantities but is deadly poisonous in large concentration.

The most promising way to solve the problem of clean air is to improve technology, reduce emissions into the atmosphere and make maximum use of waste.

Improvement in city planning is of great importance in keeping the air clean. Factories must be built beyond city limits and special zones must be established between housing estates and industrial enterprises protecting the population from smoke, gases, dust, noise and unpleasant odours.

Plant life cleans the air in cities of harmful components. Trees play the role of biological filters absorbing gas contaminants from the air while particles of dust settle on their leaves and branches.

Conclusion.

Scientists now predict that by the year 2050 the population will be doubled what is today. The fact remains that the rate of food production fell behind population growth in many of developing countries. The annual fish catch already exceeds what the world ‘s oceans can successfully sustain. If we go on using our natural recourses at today’s rates, we will have used up the intire reserves of cooper, natural gas and oil by the year 2054.

But the problem ahead lie not so much in what we use but in what we waste. What faces us is not so much a recourse crisis as a pollution crisis. The only solution is to try to change the areas of consumption, technology and population. Changes in technology must be baked by slower population growth. And it can be achieved by education in health and women’s rights. And there is a little hope of reducing consumption over the next half century.