Tag: air pollution and its effects

Airborne fluorides have caused more worldwide damage to domestic animals than any other air pollutant. Fluoride is not biodegradable and gradually accumulates in the environment through the food chain, in human and animal bodies, where it settles in bones and teeth. Thus, the correct answer is option A.

Pollution is defined as addition of harmful components in the environment which alters the composition of an environment. The harmful component is known as pollutant. Enriched air, also called as oxygen enriched air, or nitrox has more oxygen in it. The two most commonly used nitrox mixtures are 32% and 36% oxygen with less nitrogen. The most common use of nitrox mixtures containing higher than normal levels of oxygen is in scuba diving. The result of breathing elevated partial pressures of oxygen is hyperoxia, an excess of oxygen in body tissues. 

Air pollution can directly affect plants via leaves or indirectly via soil acidification. When exposed to pollutants, most plants experience physiological changes before exhibiting visible damage to leaves like necrosis, chlorosis. The atmospheric SO$ _2$ adversely affects various morphological and physiological characteristics of plants through acid rain. 

Pollution in all forms can cause a disturbance in the ecosystem. Melting of glaciers can cause rising in sea levels, which increase the threat of mixing fresh and salt water and the species can be extinct, the food chain can be disrupted, climatic change can cause instability, several areas might become prone to erosions, landslides, heavy rainstorms can cause migrations and crisis of survival. When the abiotic environment is disturbed, the worst effects are finally faced by the biotic environment.

Bio gas is a natural gas produce through anaerobic decomposition of organic wastes. This burn with blue flame without producing fumes. It can be easily compressed and transported.

The visibility of less than 1 km is the standard range for fog, that is formed due to condensation of the water droplets near earth's surface. Mist is formed due to the dispersion of dust and smoke in the air along with nucleation of the water droplets and the visibility range for mist is between 1 km to 2 km. The visibility range for haze is between 2 km to 5 km.

In Tokyo, the excessive accumulation of the air pollutants in the atmosphere have severely deteriorated the oxygen availability because the primary pollutants like nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, hydrocarbon react with oxygen to form the ozone, PAN etc. So, the people working in fields like traffic policemen suffer from severe deoxygenation. So, they need hyperbaric oxygen treatment daily.

Waldsterben refers to the mass death of the trees wherein, the peripheral parts of the plants are killed and slowly the entire forest population dwindles. It was first reported in Germany in the early 1980s. The atmospheric pollution was the main cause of such deaths of trees. Tropospheric ozone is the secondary pollutant. Nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides are released by the industrial emissions and vehicular exhausts. Acid rain is the chemical reaction between these oxides and water to form their respective acids that precipitate with the rains. The pollutants have severe effects on the trees.

The big cities in India have witnessed an ever increase in the air pollution and deterioration of the air quality due to the increase in the use of the vehicles, construction material, industrial growth, deforestation etc. The increase in the suspended particles, the frequent appearance of the photochemical smog, the events of the acid rains and the increase in respiratory diseases in the population are the outcomes of air pollution. 

Atmospheric aerosol particles can be defined as any solid or liquid droplets suspended in the atmosphere. Fog, Dust, smoke are examples of aerosol. Aerosols increase atmospheric albedo due to which the rate of photosynthesis by plants on earth is decreased. Albedo is the part of the energy from the sunlight reflected back into the atmosphere.