yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Air Pollution 101 | National Geographic


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

  • (piano music) -

[Women Speaker] Air pollution consists of chemicals or particles in the atmosphere that pose serious health and environmental threats. But what causes air pollution? And what does it mean for our planet? Some air pollution comes from natural sources, like volcanic eruptions, wildfires, or allergens. But most air pollution results from human activities, such as energy used in agriculture.

There are different types of human-made air pollution. When we burn fossil fuels to produce energy, they release greenhouse gases into the air. These emissions, such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases, trap heat from the sun in Earth's atmosphere, leading to a rise in global temperatures. This creates a cycle where air pollution contributes to climate change, and climate change creates higher temperatures. In turn, higher temperatures intensify some types of air pollution.

For example, climate change increases smog because it forms in the presence of high heat and increased levels of ultraviolet radiation. More frequent extreme weather, such as flooding, contributes to damp conditions and therefore a rise in mold. Warmer weather also leads to longer pollen seasons, and therefore more pollen production.

Smog is a type of air pollution that reduces visibility and has serious health effects. Smog can be divided into two categories: sulfurous and photochemical. Sulfurous smog is made up of chemical compounds called sulfur oxides. It occurs when burning sulfur-bearing fossil fuels, such as coal.

Photochemical smog, also called ground-level ozone, is a result of the reaction between sunlight, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds. Nitrogen oxides come from car exhaust, coal power plants, and factory emissions. Volatile organic compounds are released from gasoline, paints, and many cleaning solvents.

Smog not only creates a brown haze that reduces visibility but also harms plants, irritates the eyes, and causes respiratory distress. Another category of air pollution is toxic pollutants. These are chemicals such as mercury, lead, dioxins, and benzene that are released during gas or coal combustion, waste incineration, or burning of gasoline.

In addition to adverse environmental effects, toxic air pollution can cause serious health problems, such as cancer, reproductive complications, and birth defects. While air pollution has many consequences for our planet, there are solutions. We can limit toxic pollutants, smog, and greenhouse gases by decreasing the use of fossil fuels, such as in transportation, manufacturing, and electricity generation.

Reducing air pollution not only contributes to a cleaner environment and better human health but can also slow the rate of global warming. (chime music)

More Articles

View All
How 3D Printing Can Preserve History - Tech+Art | Genius: Picasso
The genius is a word that gets used so much more feminine. I’ve always found that word very problematic. I’m here to change that. Here we are. I was doing a lot of 3D animation and 3D modeling, but just like seeing something that you modeled in a virtual …
Why creating a strong password really matters
All right, Guemmy. So, as long as I can remember on the internet, you know, there’s always been, you create passwords, and I feel like every year they’re asking me to create more and more hard or more difficult to remember passwords. Why is this happening…
Multiple points of influence due to separation of powers and checks and balances | Khan Academy
In several videos, we have touched on the idea of separation of powers between three branches of government in the United States. You have the legislative branch that writes laws and decides on the budget for the government. You have the executive branch …
Captain Cook Snags a Big Tuna | Wicked Tuna | National Geographic
Getting anything better down there, Johnny? A lot of bent rods. So we’re just getting set up right now on the Regal Sword. We made the move down from Crab Ledge last night. Might just set up right in here. Yeah. You know, you just get panic in panic mode…
Advice on Organizing and Running Growth Teams from Dan Hockenmaier and Gustaf Alströmer
Today we have Dan Hakan Meyer and Gustav All Strimer. So, Dan was the founder, advised investor, and advisor at Basis One, which is growth strategy consulting. Previous to that, you were a director of growth marketing at Thumbtack. Gustav’s a partner at Y…
He Risked Death as First American to Explore Africa's Deepest Parts | National Geographic
We have to go back to who William Stamps Cherry was at the age of 20. He does head out for Africa against everybody’s advice, who said, “You’re going to die over there.” He went into Africa in 1889 and went further in the Congo than any other white man ha…