Induction of toxic chemicals, particulate matter, or unsuitable materials that cause damage or discomfort to humans or other organisms, or erode the environment is named as Air Pollution. It’s critical to understand the causes of Air Pollution.
The biggest sources of human-created air pollution are energy generation, industries, and transportation contributing substantially to Global Warming. Sadly we are slave to all these and can not function as a modern society in without compromising economic progress and general development.
Power Generation in most conventional Power Plants involves burning fossil fuel. Fossil fuels contain carbon, sulphur and many other elements which upon combustion release toxic oxides and particulate matter. With an ever increasing demand for electric power the problem of air pollution is only aggravated. Generation of electricity in power plants using coal, oil or natural gas is translated into large amounts of smoke containing deadly gases and SPM & RSPM in the air. Fly ash poses a new challenge towards scientist finding ways to dispose it off safely.
The start of Industrial Revolution was promising enough to lure us into burning almost all our oil in very short span of time. Had we known that what we would be left would be smoke in the sky and holes in the Ozone layer….. A major share of air pollution caused by Stationary sources is accredited to Manufacturing industries and Oil Refineries.
Vehicular Emission is the most visible seed in creating the hazardous situation in an urban scenario but its essentially not an urban phenomenon. The damage done is not just limited to the cities; the overall air quality is affected. Smog poses a bigger problem than smoke itself. Motor vehicles and Aircrafts are the biggest culprits.
Other sources include Mining and quarrying, forest fires, domestic sources and cigarette smoking.
