1.
Air Pollution

2. Pollutants
Breathing brings air into your lungs, but not everything in the air is healthy for you.
Pollutants are harmful substances that are in air, water and soil
Air that has harmful things in it is polluted
Air pollution can harm a person’s health

3. Sources of Pollution Some air pollution is natural
Many types are a result of human activities
Natural Sources of pollution:
-forest fires
-soil erosion
-dust storms
-volcanoes

5. Human Activities and Air Pollution
Burning fossil fuels
oil, coal, gasoline, diesel fuel
Almost half of this pollution comes from cars and motor vehicles
When fossil fuels burn they release particles and gases
All fossil fuels contain hydrocarbons, when burned not all hydrocarbons are burned and escape to the air
Burning these produces carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides

6. 22 Lanes of Traffic

7. Brain Break
Turn to your neighbor and ask them what is the biggest cause of pollution today?
What do you think “smog” is?

8. Smog and Acid Rain
Smog was created by combining words “smoke” and “fog”
Word was originally created 100 years ago for the coal pollution in London, England

9. London type smog is no longer common
Now there is a brown haze called photochemical smog
Photo “light”
Formed by the action of sunlight hitting the pollutants
When ozone is in the troposphere it is a pollutant that can irritate the eyes, throat and lungs
Damaging to plants and materials too

10. Photochemical Smog

11. Brain Break Smog….EWW GROSS!
Stand up, stretch, and then write down one place that you have seen smog.
On T.V? Traveling?

12. Acid Rain Another result of pollution
Rain that has more acid than normal
Forms when nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides combine with water in the troposphere
This forms nitric and sulfuric acids
Rain, sleet, snow, fog carry acids to trees and lakes

13. Can be strong enough to damage buildings and statues
Can make water too acidic that animals and plants cannot survive

14. Improving Air Quality
In U.S. Laws and Regulations have been passed to reduce air pollution
EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
Improved in the U.S. in the last 30 years
Newer cars cause less pollution than old ones
Newer power plants also produce less pollution

15. However, more cars on the road
Cities still polluted
More public, mass, transportation is needed
Many think we need stricter regulations
Some believe that reducing air pollution will be expensive and that the cost isn’t worth it.

16. Summarizer What do you think?
Now that you know more, write down three sentences expressing your feelings about air pollution efforts.