Air Polution Essay, Research Paper

AIR POLLUTION

Some causes of air pollution are Smog, Acid Rain and Nuclear Problems. Smog is a word that discribes a mixture of smoke and fog. In some places you are advised to stay indoors when smog is bad. One of these places is Mexico City in Mexico. It has some the worst air pollution in the world. If you were to fly over Mexico City, you would be able to see the smog hanging over the city. As you were landing you would be able to smell and see the smog in side the airplane.Common air pollution is carbon monoxide which is found in most city streets.Carbon monoxide is mostly from cars and is highly poisonous.

The combustion of coal, oil, and gasoline accounts for much of the airborne pollutants. More than 80 percent of the sulfur dioxide, 50 percent of the nitrogen oxides, and 30 to 40 percent of the particulate matter emitted to the atmosphere in the U.S. are produced by fossil-fuel-fired electric power plants, industrial boilers, and residential furnaces. Eighty percent of the carbon monoxide and 40 percent of the nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons come from burning gasoline and diesel fuels in cars and trucks. Other major pollution sources include iron and steel mills; zinc, lead, and copper smelters; municipal incinerators; petroleum refineries; cement plants; and nitric and sulfuric acid plants. Potential pollutants may exist in the materials entering a chemical or combustion process (such as lead in gasoline), or they may be produced as a result of the process itself. Carbon monoxide, for example, is a typical product of internal-combustion engines.

water pollution?

There are many causes for water pollution but two general categories exist: direct and indirect contaminant sources.

Direct sources include effluent outfalls from factories, refineries, waste treatment plants etc.. that emit fluids of varying quality directly into urban water supplies. In the United States and other countries, these practices are regulated, although this doesn’t mean that pollutants can’t be found in these waters.

Indirect sources include contaminants that enter the water supply from soils/groundwater systems and from the atmosphere via rain water. Soils and groundwaters contain the residue of human agricultural practices (fertilizers, pesticides, etc..) and improperly disposed of industrial wastes. Atmospheric contaminants are also derived from human practices (such as gaseous emissions from automobiles, factories and even bakeries)