Chapter 25. Chapter 25: Air Pollution
What is air pollution and what is its global impact?
Guiding Question 25.1
What is air pollution and what is its global impact?
Why You Should Care
The air around us is made up of gases, tiny drops of liquid, and floating particles of solids, but mostly, it is impossible to see any of these things—which we don’t fear because invisible things cannot hurt us, right?
Unfortunately, anything that is dissolved in the air can be an air pollutant: ash from a forest fire, gases from car exhaust, or aerosol liquids in smog. There are natural sources for these pollutants—forest fires, sea spray, and volcanoes all produce air pollution—and anthropogenic sources—fossil fuel combustion, factory smokestacks, and conversion of land to human uses also produce the same types of air pollution.
Air pollution flows wherever there is atmosphere, so where it is produced and the areas it impacts downwind can be separated by continents. It truly has a global impact because the global wind patterns spread out the pollutants wherever the wind blows. Areas closer to the source will have higher levels and those effects are more acute, but even at the North Pole, where there are no humans or human activities, there is measurable air pollution.
Question Test Your Vocabulary
Fill in the blank with the correct term for each of the following definitions:
9rmFaSemGS24kVHI is a chronic respiratory disorder in which airways in the lungs narrow, making it hard to breathe.
IxzRq6dkhKpJCY4jaRTuylHHQEY= is any substance added to the atmosphere (natural or anthropogenic) that harms living organisms, affects the climate, or impacts structures.
Question 25.1
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