AIR POLLUTION DESCRIPTION AND PROBLEMS: Burning, automobile combustion and factories are responsible for producing a large amount of the hazardous air pollution. Air pollution is most concentrated in urban areas. These urban areas and areas downwind suffer enormously. Air pollution is responsible for developing or making worse human health problems such as those concerned with the respiratory system. AIR POLLUTION FACTORS: There are several meteorological factors that when combined together make air pollution worse over a particular location. Air pollution increasingly becomes a greater problem as the concentration of pollutants increases over a particular area. Meteorological factors that increase air pollution include: light wind, high pressure (stable lower troposphere) and persistence of the previous two factors. When the atmosphere is stable the air near the surface does not mix with the air higher aloft. This traps pollutants close to the earth's surface. Light wind keeps the pollutants over the same area. Over time the concentration of pollutants will increase if the wind remains light and the troposphere stable. WAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM AIR POLLUTION: 1. It helps to live upwind from urban areas in a rural location 2. Use an air filtration system at home and at work 3. Stay inside on days with high levels of air pollution 4. Change air conditioning and heater filter regularly 5. Do not burn or use combustion engines on days with very light wind and stable weather, especially in urban areas. GOVERNMENT ALERTS: A scale has been developed to notify people of the level of concern they should have about air pollution on any given day. This scale is called the Air Quality Index. A link to this index and the current air quality for locations around the nation can be found at the link below: http://www.epa.gov/airnow/ |