Air Pollution is Ruining the World

There’s nothing better than breathing fresh and clean air. However, have you ever wondered how
clean the air is? Almost 6.5 million people die each year caused by air pollution. (WHO) Air pollution is
an issue that needs to be addressed quickly, many believe that air pollution is only affecting cities that
produce large amounts of Co2, instead the whole planet is in a crisis due to air pollution. Issues like
global warming, damage to the ozone, as well as the damage it has towards human health are all causing a
major crisis towards the planet and needs to be addressed. In our modern society, we create pollution and
other forms of greenhouse gases from any device that utilizes fossil fuels, however, the use of fossil fuels
is causing detrimental effects on the society and environment.

Air pollution is global warming's primary cause and is the result of constant emissions of Co2 and
greenhouse gases and is one of the causes of it destructing our environment. Global warming is the
process where the Earth’s surface, atmosphere and ocean is gradually being heated through emissions
produced by Co2 and greenhouse gases. Through this, it creates higher temperatures for many globally
which can greatly interfere with weather patterns as well as worsening natural disasters immensely that
influence certain areas to either become dryer or wetter causing a disruption in the ecosystem and making
it shift. How is this happening? Since the primary cause of global warming is Co2 which is a form of
heat-trapping gas. This signifies that greenhouse gases and the emission of Co2 are releasing these
particles that retain the heat and are spread into the atmosphere. As a result the gases gradually spread
worldwide due to the carbon concentrations built up in the atmosphere, meaning the more we produce and
emit these gases the more it's going to affect the atmospheric levels. Also “carbon dioxide controls the
amount of water vapour in the atmosphere and thus the size of the greenhouse effect. Rising carbon
dioxide concentrations are already causing the planet to heat up.” (Nasa Earth Observatory) With the
continuous issue of global warming, we are going to have “extreme heat waves that have caused tens of
thousands of deaths around the world in recent years. And in an alarming sign of events to come,
Antarctica has been losing about 134 billion metric tons of ice per year since 2002.” (NRDC) Furthermore
if global warming continues “ the expert consensus is that global sea levels will rise somewhere between
0.7 and 1.2 meters by the end of the century if global warming continues unchecked (that's between 2 and
4 feet). And that's only the average. In regions like the eastern United States, sea-level rise could be even
higher.” (Vox) Resulting in countries gradually being engulfed in water which signifies the extinction for
some regions. Thus, global warming has many detrimental causes from the causes of air pollution.

With the ongoing effects of global warming, an additional problem caused by air pollution is
damage to the ozone. The ozone layer is a reactive gas located in the Earth’s troposphere and
stratosphere. This gas is composed of three highly reactive atoms of O3 making these atoms a triatomic
molecule signifying that the molecule itself is composed of either different or of the same element.
However, without the ozone layer in the stratosphere, Earth would not be a pleasant place to live in. So
why is the ozone important? The ozone helps us by protecting all living things from ultraviolet radiation
from the sun. This illustrates how it's shielding us from the light of the sun and without it, we would
suffer as a society (EPA). Although we are greatly benefitted from the ozone found in the stratosphere the
issue is that air pollution is damaging the ozone. “Ozone layer depletion causes increased UV radiation
levels at the Earth's surface, which is damaging to human health. Negative effects include increases in
certain types of skin cancers, eye cataracts and immune deficiency disorders.” (European Union) As a
result, there is a hole formed in the atmosphere caused by the chemicals from the air pollutants.
Furthermore, chemicals that are utilized by refrigerants contain many chemicals including chlorine.
Chlorine is so harmful to the ozone where one atom can destroy up to thousands of atoms from the ozone.
This results in a hole in the ozone where the protective layer is greatly reduced allowing for UVB to harm
us. (UCAR) Consequently, the ozone helps to protect us from ultraviolet radiation UVB and with air
pollutants being released into the air it creates a hole in the ozone layer of the atmosphere. Without the
ozone layer, the world would be harmed by the radiation of the sun. The cause of air pollution is greatly
affecting the ozone as well as living things on this Earth.

Subsequently, the effects of air pollution have resulted in many receiving different illnesses as
well as having many deaths. Human health is a state of well-being when it comes to physical, mental, or
emotional health it revolves around the individuals themselves, and having good health can result in a
good indicator of supportable development. We continuously rely on the ecosystem to provide us with
essentials for good health, for example; the air we inhale, different nourishments, receiving the proper
nutrients etc. However, if one of the most essential things for a living is breathing fresh air, then envision
yourself breathing polluted air that is full of chemicals that cause harm to the body. The constant and
continuous production of these air pollutants causes the air we breathe full of impurities which causes
many illnesses such as cognitive, and respiratory damage, liver damage, heart damage etc. All these
illnesses are applicable when inhaling polluted air. According to the World health organization “, over 6.5
million people die each year caused by air pollution.” This is true because those cities with smog over
them have the people continuously inhaling the air which soon causes long-term cognitive damage in
general to many individuals' health. In today's day in age, we need to be aware of the production and the
use of fossil fuels and how it is slowly but surely going to damage our society and the environment with
it. If we don't continue innovating and finding new ways to stop this ongoing there might not be a liveable
civilization in the future. Resulting in the effects of air pollution on human health is detrimental.

Despite all these issues we use fossil fuels as a form of energy to get by, however, we have to
realize that the production of air pollution is horrendous towards the environment. Resulting in global
warming gradually affecting the Earth's temperature and causing disruptions in the ecosystem and through
air pollution, it is damaging the ozone which is our main protection against the sun, as well as we are
sometimes subconsciously inhaling polluted air and it can cause many health-related issues. As a society,
we should consider how air pollution is affecting our planet and our very source of living.

Bibliography

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