The Sources and Affects of Air Pollution

The Sources and Affects of Air Pollution

Air pollution is the contamination of the air by noxious gases and small particles of solid and liquid matter in amounts that can cause harm to living organisms. Sources of air pollution include: transportation engines such as automobiles, power and heat generation, industrial processes, and the burning of solid waste. The combustion of gasoline and other fuels in automobiles, trucks, and jet airplanes produce the most common pollutants, nitrogen oxides, gaseous hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide, as well as particles of matter like lead. When nitrogen oxides combine with hydrocarbons they form other types of pollutants, like ozone, peroxyacetylnitrate which stings the eyes, and nitrogen dioxide which forms when nitrogen oxides react with oxygen. In cities where transportation is the major cause of pollution, nitrogen dioxide colors the sky brown, because the nitrogen dioxide has combined with other forms of pollution and water vapor to pro...