Air pollution : sources and types
Answers
Answer:
Most air pollution, harmful gases and particles in the air, affecting national parks is created outside park boundaries.
Types of Sources:-
There are four main types of air pollution sources:
•mobile sources – such as cars, buses, planes, trucks, and trains
•stationary sources – such as power plants, oil refineries, industrial facilities, and factories
•area sources – such as agricultural areas, cities, and wood burning fireplaces
•natural sources – such as wind-blown dust, wildfires, and volcanoes.
Mobile sources account for more than half of all the air pollution in the United States and the primary mobile source of air pollution is the automobile, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Stationary sources, like power plants, emit large amounts of pollution from a single location, these are also known as point sources of pollution. Area sources are made up of lots of smaller pollution sources that aren't a big deal by themselves but when considered as a group can be. Natural sources can sometimes be significant but do not usually create ongoing air pollution problems like the other source types can.
Pollution On The Move
Pollution from human-generated and natural sources is often created in one place and transported through the air. Sometimes chemical reactions in the atmosphere change pollutants before they are deposited. Pollutants in the air can create haze, making it harder to see, and pollutant deposition can have biological effects. NPS areas experience these effects just like other places. Location and even the time of year can determine which pollution sources are most important to each park.
Parks downwind of power plants that lack modern pollution controls can have increased smog. Tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks, as well as industrial processes such as oil and gas development, give rise to elevated ozone concentrations. Summertime wildfires can also reduce visibility in NPS areas. There are even examples of pollutants that originated from other countries and were transported thousands of miles arriving at parks. The effects of this pollution can be seen as haze and through negative biological effects. Learn more about effects of air pollution on nature and visibility, and human health.
Answer:
Sources of Air Pollution:
Sources of air pollution refer to the various locations, activities or factors which are responsible for the releasing of pollutants in the atmosphere. These sources can be classified into two major categories which are:
•Anthropogenic sources (human activity):
i. “Stationary Sources”
ii. “Mobile Sources”
iii. Chemicals, dust and controlled burn practices in agriculture and forestry management.
iv. Fumes from paint, hair spray, varnish, aerosol sprays and other solvents.
v. Waste deposition in landfills, which generate methane.
•Natural sources:
i. Dust from natural sources, usually large areas of land with little or no vegetation.
ii. Methane, emitted by the digestion of food by animals, for example cattle.
iii. Radon gas from radioactive decay within the Earth’s crust.
iv. Smoke and carbon monoxide from wildfires.
v. Volcanic activity, which produce sulphur, chlorine, and ash particulates.
Types of Air Pollution:
- Air pollutants may be natural, such as wildfires, or may be synthetic (manmade). Air pollutants are classified as primary pollutants and secondary pollutants.
- Primary air pollutants are emitted directly into the atmosphere by the original source
- ·Secondary air pollutants are formed because of reactions between primary pollutants and other elements in the atmosphere, such as the ozone.
Major primary pollutants produced by human activity include:
i. Sulphur oxides (SOx)
ii. Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
iii. Carbon monoxide
iv. Carbon dioxide (CO2)