Term Papers on Air Pollution

Term Paper Title	Air Pollution
# of Words	690
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	2.76

Air Pollution

CFish Mr. Nollen
Biology 2B
8 May, 1996

The Problem

     Contamination of the atmosphere by gaseous, liquid, or solid wastes or
by-products that can endanger human health and the health and welfare of plants
and animals, or can attack materials, reduce visibility, or produce undesirable
odors.  Among air pollutants emitted by natural sources, only the radioactive
gas radon is recognized as a major health threat.  A byproduct of the
radioactive decay of uranium minerals in certain kinds of rock, radon seeps into
the basements of homes built on these rocks. According to recent estimates by
the U.S. government, 20 percent of the homes in the U.S. harbor radon
concentrations that are high enough to pose a risk of lung cancer.

     Each year industrially developed countries generate billions of tons of
pollutants.  The level is usually given in terms of atmospheric concentrations
or, for gases in terms of parts per million, that is, number of pollutant
molecules per million air molecules.  Many come from directly identifiable
sources; sulfur dioxide, for example, comes from electric power plants burning
coal or oil.  Others are formed through the action of sunlight on previously
emitted reactive materials.  For example, ozone, a dangerous pollutant in smog,
is produced by the interaction of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides under the
influence of sunlight.  Ozone has also caused serious crop damage.  On the other
hand, the discovery in the 1980s that air pollutants such as fluorocarbons are
causing a loss of ozone from the earth's protective ozone layer has caused the
phasing out of these materials.

Current information about the problem

     The tall smokestacks used by industries an utilities do not remove
pollutants but simply boost them higher into the atmosphere, thereby reducing
their concentration at the site.  These pollutants may then be transported over
large distances and produce adverse effects in areas far from the site of the
original emission.  Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from the central
and eastern U.S. are causing acid rain in New York State, New England, and
eastern Canada.  The pH level, or relative acidity, of many freshwater lakes in
that region has been altered so dramatically by this rain that entire fish
populations have been destroyed. Similar effects have been obser...

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