Effects of Air Pollution
EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION Nowadays, we are busy with our lives and do not realise that what we have done to our environment. In fact, there are a lot of pollutions which have caused by human’s activities especially the air pollution. Air pollution is a commonly understood environmental issue. According to a study by the World Health Organization, there is an average of 2 million people are killed worldwide every year due to air pollution. So, it has shown us how seriously the tendency of air pollution all around the world. This environmental issue has brought us a lot of effects like greenhouse effect, acid rain and ozone layer depletion. One of the effects of air pollution is greenhouse effect. Greenhouse effect means the phenomenon whereby carbon dioxide traps solar radiation in the earth’s atmosphere. As the heat is trapped in the atmosphere, the temperature is rising and caused the global warming. With the occurrence of global warming, the icebergs at the North Pole and South Pole will melt. This situation brings about the extinct of animals such as polar bears and the happening of natural disasters like tornadoes because of the rapid increase warmer air. Secondly, air pollution also causes acid rain. Acid rain can have serious damaging effects on aquatic, forest and wildlife ecosystems. This is because aquatic and terrestrial organisms cannot survive in acidic water and soil. So, the ecosystem in the area will be damaged severely. Besides, acid rain can also damage man- made materials and structures like metals, paints, limestone and others. It helps speed up the process of deterioration of the buildings. As a result, governments need to spend a lot of money to repair the buildings. Lastly, ozone layer depletion also happens due to the air pollution. The depletion of the ozone layer enables harmful ultraviolet rays to enter the earth’s atmosphere. Ultraviolet rays can bring us a lot of health problems like skin cancer, eye damage, immune system damage