We will see what APPA tells us about air pollution. But since the book dates from 1998, we will look at the trends from that time and compare them with current trends.
The book that shows describes all aspects of air pollution.
In this book, there is the presentation of the polluting sources, the effects of pollution and finally the prevention. But, this book dates from 1998, so it is to see what the trends were at that time and add everything that is happening today.
We will start by looking at all the information in the book. But before we do that, let's define what the atmosphere is, from the Greek atmos meaning vapour and phaira which is the sphere is the layer of air surrounding the globe. Chlorofluorocarbons (a subclass of fluorinated gases, they are greenhouse gases that degrade the stratospheric ozone layer that protects life on the planet from ultraviolet radiation).
Explanatory image of the atmosphere
Air pollution comes from many different aspects such as planetary phenomena (volcanic eruption), smoking, urban pollution which is the most present. According to surveys, air pollution is a concern for the society of the most developed countries because they are the ones that release the most air pollution. It is for good air quality that is important. It is mainly caused by industrial activities, car traffic and waste disposal. The air we breathe is the lower part of the atmosphere, it is composed of carbon dioxide (0.035%), argon (0.9%), oxygen (21%) and mainly nitrogen (78%), it is dry air.
The sources of pollution are road traffic, air or even sea transport, but also heating, pollens, agriculture, volcanoes. This is the cause of the polluting emissions from vehicles and therefore from fuels. In addition to this, there is a great increase in the number of cars in the population, it is increasingly accessible. The combustion processes are carbon (coal, wood, natural gas, fuel oil) which is a source of CO2. The sources of pollution are industry, natural sources, household waste, agricultural activities. But there is also accidental pollution such as toxic gas leaks, forest fires, or the explosion of a nuclear reactor like in Chernobyl and therefore many adverse health effects due to radioactivity. The effects of pollution are devastating in the long term, such as the risk of lung cancer, but much lower than that of tobacco, of course, but also psychological illnesses (depression and aggravation of cardiovascular diseases, etc.).
The greenhouse effect is natural, it allows the development of life on Earth, and therefore the temperature is 15°C on the ground. Without this phenomenon, the Earth would have an average temperature of -18°C. But the emission of certain gases, due to human activities, is causing a radiative imbalance and some climatologists are worried. Solar radiation passes through the atmosphere and then some of the sun's radiation passes through and is absorbed by the ground and some is reflected back into space by the atmosphere, except that this thermal radiation is initially absorbed and then reflected back and so the heat increases. Unfortunately, this is threatened by atmospheric pollution and therefore human activities are causing increases in the concentration of greenhouse gases, which has created new culprits such as chlorofluorocarbons (a subclass of fluorinated gases that degrade the stratospheric ozone layer that protects life on the planet from ultraviolet radiation). The greenhouse gas pollutants are methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), ozone (O3) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Carbon dioxide, CFCs and methane are the main sources of greenhouse gases.
We must fight against greenhouse gases because sea levels are rising, glaciers are melting, deserts are advancing, and rivers are changing. We are going to see how to fight against atmospheric pollution. There are laws that have been created, such as the technical controls on cars in 1972, for example. There are European regulations and others are international. There are plans in place, the PDU (urban travel plans) which aim to reduce car traffic, but this will not happen; the development of public transport or also the development of cycling and walking, which is now decreasing for walking but less brutally thanks to applications which give money according to the number of steps. For cycling, it is on the rise, thanks in particular to electric bikes. And for public transport, carpooling is a success as with the BlaBlaCar application or there are buses and trains which are still very much used today.
The preventions are the reduction of fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas). The solutions are nuclear energies, but their waste is very polluting if they disintegrate. There are also renewable energies but their electricity is weak compared to the construction of products for solar energies like windmills for example, even with hydraulic energy it is the same. These renewable energies are still interesting because there are less greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuels should be abandoned even if they are very important for the world population. The alternatives are renewable energies such as solar, wind, hydraulic,...
Photo with windmills and solar panels.
Is a book written in French.
Les retombées acides Les retombéés acides proviennent de pollution d’origine agricole, industrielle ou urbaine. L’acidité de ces retombées de ces retombées est mesurée en unités de pH ou potentiel hydrogène. Ces retombées sont sèches ( gaz, particules ) ou humides ( pluie, brouillard ou neige ). En France, le pH « naturel » de l’eau de pluie est de l’ordre de 5,6 alors que les neiges tombées à l’époque préindustrielle, aux environs de 1800, présentaient un pH égal ou supérieur à 6. La pollution a pour effet d’abaisser le pH des précipitations. A ces retombées acides, il faut ajouter les dépôts non acides en tant que tels mais acidifiant les sols au cours de leur transformation, comm l’ammoniac ( NH3 ). Les polluants responsables Les émissions de dioxyde de soufre ( SO2 ) par les industries, les centrales thermiques ou les chauffages domestiques ainsi que les émissions d’oxydes d’azotes ( NOx : monoxyde d’azote NO et dioxyde d’azote NO2 ) par les foyers industriels et domestiques et par les moteurs d’automobiles, sont les principaux responsables de la formation des retombées acides. Au contact de l’humidité de l’air, ces polluants se transforment en acide sulfurique ( H2SO4 ) pour le SO2 et en acide nitrique ( HNO3 ) pour les NOx. Les dépôts d’ammonium ( NH4 ) issus de l’ammoniac ( NH3 ), provenant essentiellement de l’agriculture et de l’industrie chimique, représentent un potentiel d’acidification équivalent, en France, à celui des oxydes d’azotes. Dans une moinder mesure, le chlore ( combustion de PVC - polychlorovinyle ) et le fluor ( les industries du verre et de l’aluminium ) participent aux retombées acides par la formation respective d’acide chlorhydrique ( HCI ) et d’acide fluorhydrique ( HF ). En France, pour l’année 1995, l’agriculture a contibué pour 35% aux émissions relatives à l’acidification, les transports pour 26% et l’industrie pour 10%. L’extension des retombées acides à l’échelle planétaire, due à l’émission de polluants, leur transport et leur transformation par les phénomènes météorologiques ( voir chapitre « la pollution atmosphériques et la météorologie » - p. 24 ), est à l’origine de l’expression « pollution transfrontière ». If you want to know more you know what you have to do.