It is Not like We Need It to Breathe or Anything - the Issue of Air Pollution in Utah One of the largest issues that our society currently faces as it moves towards the future is the issue of air pollution, and its effects on our daily lives. A negative externality caused by our dependence on modern technology, industrial fields, and engineering, this increasingly dangerous impurity is harmful to both nature and people. Air pollution is a constant problem all over the United States, especially in the larger industrial sectors such as large cities where fossil fuels are constantly being burned by factories, motorized vehicles, and power plants. In the state of Utah, air pollution is a constant problem caused by many different factors, such …show more content…
Severe air pollution, as the one experienced in Utah’s Wasatch Front and surrounding counties can have very dangerous effects on the health of individuals constantly exposed to it. In Utah, smog and air pollution is caused by inversion. Inversion is when the air closest to the Earth is colder than the air above the lower atmosphere. Inversion is common when cities or high-pollution areas are surrounded by mountains, trapping the air released by emissions in a cloud-like dense layer of pollutants. These pollutants, called particulate matter, are miniscule amounts of solid and liquid particles in the air condensed into …show more content…
These sources are emitters of nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, and sulfir dioxide, SO2, which can react with other chemicals to form fine particular matter through processing. (The, 13)
While a majority of Utah’s electricity is generated from the combustion of coal, the resultant emissions do not contribute significantly to Utah’s periodic inversions because a majority Utah’s power is generated outside of the Wasatch Front and Cache County. However, large, rural power companies do have a role in summer ozone in rural areas and the rest of the state since ozone can travel great
“The American people have a right to air that they and their children can breathe without fear” — Lyndon Baines Johnson (Pollution). One should be able to inhale the air. It’s a fundamental necessity for everyone. Filling the lungs to their satisfaction and breathing out in relief. The cycle continues day and night.
Author, John Cagney Nash, in his news article Texas Environmental Problems, elaborates to the problems caused by the insignificant increase of pollution in the air around the state of Texas. Nash’s purpose is to further inform others of the environmental impact natural resources such as petrochemical and chemical goods are causing in Texas. He adopts a serious yet informative tone to further convey his significant message on the struggles the huge state of Texas faces for his adult readers and the people who would like further information on Texas. Nash initiates his article Texas Environmental Problem by establishing facts about the state of Texas and their form of economic survival while contradicting the use of such economic prosperities. He evokes that “Texas is the largest emitter of carbon in the United States” (2) to rationalize the reason the air is polluted and that gases such as “ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide” (2) might contaminate the air but are essential to the Texan industries for their flourishing success.
Perhaps the most glaring fact presented in this segment was the declaration that there are literally no ambient air standards, either on a state or federal level, requiring companies to limit the amount of hazardous air pollutants they release into the air. This disturbing lack of laws regarding clean air is an issue of Houston Mayor Tom White who stated that, “nobody has the right to chemically alter the air that somebody else breathes without that person's consent.” He has pledged to reduce toxins in the air, even if he has to play hardball to do
Sulfur dioxide is a risk to children with asthma. Hazardous air pollutants have been linked to birth defects, cancer, and other serious illnesses. In addition, the dropping gas prices fuel the public to consume gas without second-guessing about spending it, engendering air pollution and health hazards. Some areas in Texas have the worse air quality that has surpassed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, also known as nonattainment areas. Texas has four nonattainment areas: Houston/Galveston, Dallas/Ft.
Shenandoah National Park is located in Virginia, reaching a height of 4,051 feet or 1,235 m. The park includes more than 100 miles of the Appalachian trail and 518 miles of hiking trails. Because of air pollution in Shenandoah National Park they are now monitoring the air by how it looks, gases around this area and the atmospheric deposition. Ground level ozone requirements do not meet that of the parks which has caused around 40 of the park’s plants to be harmed. While monitoring the air they discovered that it was human-caused air pollution and is the reason for the air quality, visibility, soils, native fish, vegetation and stream-water chemistry. Air pollution is a harmful thing that can cause the environment harm like it did to Shenandoah.
The Bronx is an incredibly urban and populated area attracting traffic from all over. It is home to waste sites, distribution centers, power plants, and so much more. Though each building gives off a different type of waste, whether it be smog from smokestacks or diesel exhaust from trucks, each of these large sites that exist throughout this small area give off a fine particulate matter known as PM2.5. This matter is essentially what contributes to the difficulty breathing people experience as these tiny particles can become lodged in a person’s lungs over time. Studies have consistently found a strong correlation between PM2.5 and conditions like asthma, lung disease, and heart disease.
Air quality is known to be a key factor in affecting the wellbeing and quality of life of the general populous and there is a large body of knowledge indicating that certain underrepresented groups may be overexposed to air pollution. (Zou et al. 2014). This is an example of the air quality in locations with a lower known location that is associated with poor air
Source #2 is filled with many informative facts. One of its main discussed topics is the cause of the pollution within Mount Everest. It would be a suggested passage to apprehend if one were to have written an article on the issue with garbage on Mount Everest, as opposed to the first source. To validate, the text exemplified, “By mid-2013, a total of nearly 4,000 people had reached the mountain’s summit. With that number of people comes an even greater amount of food containers, tents, empty oxygen canisters, and even human waste.
The documentary film, about air pollution in El Paso, targets on how humans assist the greenhouse effect increase in this area. In 2004, El Paso was ranked in the top 10% of the whole United States in toxic wastes. The factories and power plants contribute the most toxins that is distributed in the air. There is laws in El Paso that aid to conserve and reduce pollution within the atmosphere since the city has a history of acquiring such toxic fumes. A survey conducted by University of Texas-El Paso students expose that only about 10% of people are aware of the law.
This industry not only provides the populous with inexpensive power but also creates a steady employment option. Besides an increase in the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, the mass accumulation of coal ash and its leaks and spills into local rivers negatively affect the environment (“Energy-Related”). According to Earthjustice, “North Carolina generates over 5.5 million tons of ash per year” ("Coal Ash Contaminates”). In Eden, N.C. in 2014, the largest coal ash spill occurred, releasing 39,000 tons into the Dan River, which supplies drinking water to surrounding communities, a habitat for aquatic organisms, and recreational activities (Gallucci). Coal ash, also known as coal combustion residuals or CCRs, contains hazardous byproducts from power production, including arsenic, lead, mercury, and chromium, that can poison drinking water sources for humans and devastate wildlife habitats (“Coal Ash Basics”).
this occurs when pollutants in the air have a chemical reaction. This is very effective against the atmosphere. But if we all use different sources like battery powered cars ten we could use our limited supply of fossil fuels for other more important things, or just leave it alone. Not only is there battery powered cars, but we also have wind powered cars. These could be very important, and you can’t tell me this isn’t really cool!
1. Introduction Air pollutin is a public health concern and it has been since the discovery of fire. Incidents and episodes of air pollution have been recorded throughout the history. Air pollution is divided into two, it is the indoor air pollution and the outdoor air pollution. Indoor air pollution is produced in households or at offices by pollutants such as tobacco smoke, household products or pesticides.
Environment: Air Pollution Annotated Bibliography Holden C. Edmonds COMM 2367: Persuasive Communication TR 8:00-9:20 Kristie Sigler September 5, 2016 Environment: Air Pollution Annotated Bibliography Newspaper or Periodical Hawthorne, M. (2011, April 1). High levels of toxic lead found in air outside Chicago school. The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct- met-pilsen-lead-problems-20110331- story.html
b. Credibility: Air is a necessity to be able to live. But today air becomes an element to kill us slowly. Air pollution is a major problem in the world yet it is not given enough attention to. Cities have higher air pollution compared to provinces because of the inevitable huge number of vehicles and heavily congested areas. According to Eva Ocfemia, the assistant director of the DENR-EMB in 2015, the air pollutant concentration of NCR reached 130 micrograms per cubic meters in terms of total suspended particulates (TSP), higher than the previous year and the safe level.
There are many problems that threatens society and one problem in particular, air pollution is a problem that threatens everyone. Air pollution is the contamination of air with pollutants that are harmful to humans, animals, and the environment. It began to be a problem when humans discovered the uses of fire and then the amount of air pollution exponentially grew after the industrial revolution, and is still a problem even today. The largest causes of air pollution are from human activities such as burning of fossil fuels and gas emissions from manufacturing plants. There are ways that ordinary people can help contribute to prevent air pollution and or else face the dangerous consequences of polluted air.