Effects of Air Pollution on the Environment

Many businesses are in need of an air pollution control system.

You have probably heard of Greta Thunberg. If not, Greta Thunberg is a teenage climate change activist. Also, she rose into the public eye in 2019, to spread the news about earth’s slow death to air pollution. From then on, countries have set measures to reduce the carbon footprint.

One of these measures includes changing the way that they create and maintain power. Another action includes swapping coal power plants for the wind power approach.

Many countries have adopted air pollution control solutions.

For example, some countries place limits regarding what kind of cars will be available in the future. Moving from petrol and diesel to electric and hybrids. Moreover, England is taking steps forward to bring our carbon footprint down. It is essential to acknowledge and help to prevent the effects that air pollution has had on the environment.

Reasons Why You Need an Air Pollution Control System

Acid Rain

Burning fossil fuels can release harmful amounts of nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere. Also, it can release sulfuric oxide into the atmosphere. This creates acid rain.

Acid rain drains the aluminium, minerals and nutrients from the soil. What is the problem? The problem is that this means trees and other plants cannot get the nutrients they need to grow. Furthermore, if the acid rain forms a fog, it will affect the tree foliage, causing them to die.

Also, the acid rain’s fog will form a barrier around a leave, blocking out sunlight. This can stop the plants from protecting themselves from the elements. 

Acid rain affects large bodies of water, by changing the water’s Ph balance to a more acidic one.

Younger animals and fish can’t survive if the Ph balance shifts to a more acidic one. For example, if the Ph balance reaches Ph5 or lower the larger, older fish start to die. However, this does not only affects marine life but also the food chains. For instance, if some animals can tolerate the more acidic climate, their prey’s habitats might not. This means that their food source is cut short. 

Eutrophication 

What is eutrophication? It is a naturally occurring process. A process that occurs when a body of water becomes enriched with too much nutrient. For instance, nutrients such as nitrogen or phosphorus. Usually, this would be a good thing. However, a large number of nutrients can stimulate algae growth. This can cause fish, plants and animals to die.

Man-made products, such as power plants and vehicles, give off nitrogen oxide. This speeds up the process of introducing nutrients to the eco-system.

Haze 

Haze is when the sunlight meets pollution particles. Also, it changes the clarity, colour and texture of what you are looking at. Haze is the direct waste product of vehicles and powerplants. Furthermore, haze contributes to acid rain. Similar to eutrophication, haze can either be manmade or natural.

For example, one of the natural causes of haze is wind breeze picking up dust and soil. These natural causes are harmless to the environment. There are a few natural ones which are volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions, like acid rain, can kill plants. 

Wildlife 

Pollution can affect wildlife ecosystems in many different ways. For example, acid rain:

• Firstly, acid rain destroys the habitats of animals and insects
• Secondly, acid rain makes the soil more acidic
• Finally, acid rain releases metals into the environment. This causes the soil to become toxic to the animals and insects living there.

Pollution causes animals to develop health problems. Such as the ones that humans develop when exposed to high levels of pollution. Some examples of these health problems include birth defects, respiratory diseases and reproduction failure.

Global Climate Change 

There are many gases in the earth’s atmosphere. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are two of the most common ones. They both work together to keep the earth’s temperature stable.

However, there is evidence that human pollution is unbalancing these gas levels. Some causes of the pollution stem from vehicles, planes and power plants.

The steady increase in pollution is warming up the earth’s atmosphere.

As the earth gets warmer, it is easier to see the impact of air pollution on the environment. For example, there are ice caps melting in the Arctic. Melting ice caps can affect the habitats of Arctic animals.

Also, the Pharmaceutical plays a part in water pollution. During medicine production, waste products release into the environment through wastewater. Such pollution can cause a great amount of damage to the environment and the animals that live in it. For instance, contaminated water can cause some fishes to mutate.

The Industrial sector produces large amounts of pollution. Also, it releases this pollution into the environment through water and air. This harmful pollution can:

1. Firstly, add to greenhouse gases.
2. Secondly, raise the earth’s temperature.
3. Finally, contribute to acid rain and eutrophication.

The chemical manufacturing industry releases a lot of pollution in the environment. Chemical pollution can cause severe long-lasting effects on large bodies of water. This can cause its inhabitants to become poisonous. Also, this has a knock-on effect on the food chain. 

How Can Parsons Air Pollution Control System Help?

At Parsons, we try and tackle toxic fume emissions head-on, with wet scrubbers which remove particles and gases from exhaust steam. Meaningless pollution is being emitted into the atmosphere.

Want to learn about how our air pollution control systems can help you? Simply click here.