Pollution and How It Affects Elements within an Environment Essay Example for Free

Pollution and How It Affects Elements within an Environment Essay The Earth is entirely surrounded by a blanket of air which is called the earth’s atmosphere. The atmosphere allows human, plants, and all the earth’s creatures big and small to exist. The atmosphere protects the earth and without it the heat from the sun would burn all that is exposed to its rays, and we could be frozen by the low temps at night. Gas, particulate matter, odors that have been introduced into the air by mankind or nature can destroy the natural balance, this is pollution. There are Primary pollutants and Secondary pollutants, which we will be covering in this presentation, when pollutants are introduced to/in the air, it travels very easily and spread as well, since we breathe in air, we cannot avoid these toxins or pollutants. The efforts on solutions to the problems regarding pollution has, and will continue to be an issue due to mankind disrespect towards mother-nature. We as human beings breathe in an estimated 20,000 liters of air each day meaning that the more polluted the air is, the more we in hale into our lungs the hazardous chemicals, in London of 1952, â€Å"The Smog Disaster†, claimed the lives of four- thousand people within a few days mainly due to the high levels of concentrations of pollution. In March of 2011, an earthquake in the sea of the coast of Japan also known as a â€Å"Tsunami†, the sea level rose and waters flooded the land damaging four of the six reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which can be located on the BBC website. The biggest lifetime risks were seen in humans exposed were in the infants, compared to children and the adults. Females who exposed to radiation from this incident which was found in a report that a four percent increase above the lifetime expectancy, were at risk of solid tumors and a six percent increase above that said to be expected of breast cancer. Men/male exposed to the radiation as infants were expected to have seven percent increased risk of leukemia above that expected on the normal population. The highest risk was noted in thyroid cancer, as for the infant girls, they were estimated to be up to seventy- percent than expected over a lifetime. † (BBC website: /news/health- 21614722). The World Health Organization (WHO) experts confirmed that there is a slight increased risk of different cancer types for those people who were exposed to the radiation, including people residing in this area and employees of the plant. Air pollutants come in the form of gases, particles, and chemicals released into the air, motor vehicles are a major air pollutant, the use of one full commuter bus is equivalent to forty cars driving through your neighborhood. Vehicle exhaust contributes to roughly sixty-percent of all carbon monoxide emissions (discharge) nationwide, and up to ninety-five percent in the cities. Air pollution may contribute to asthma and allergy by corrupting protective cells in the human body that tones down immune system reactions, the pollution components seem to also increase overactive immune warriors already linked to allergies that actually require no prompting. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the product of burning of fuel in diesel engines, furnaces, wood fires, wildfires, and barbeque grills. A new study done by researchers found that children exposed to these high levels of PAHs had poor functioning T-regulatory cells (peacekeeper cells), which normally keeps immune –caused inflammation down. Kari Nadeau, a biochemist and physician at Stanford University, held a study on the effect of air pollution and these PAHs, she and some colleagues obtained blood samples, took in lung function readings, and recorded health information from 153 children at the age of four-teen in Fresno, CA. She sampled airborne PAHs to estimate rates of exposure due to Fresno’s high rate of air pollution levels. Kids with a high exposure made higher amounts of Immunoglobulin E and showed low rates of T regulatory cell function than those exposed to lower levels. It is said that air pollution may harm populations in ways so subtle and slow that it may have gone undetected, these reasons research is being done to determine the long-term effects of chronic exposure to low levels of pollution-what some may experience –as well as to determine the interaction between air pollutants in the body, nutrition (physical factor), stress, alcohol, smoking (tobacco), and medicines. It also has been linked to defects in birth, cancer, and genetic mutations. The Montreal Protocol of 1987required that developed nations signing the accord not to exceed 1986 CFC levels. Several more meetings were held from 1990 to 1997 to adopt agreements to hurry the phasing out of ozone-depleting substances. † Pollution is known to cause holes in the ozone layer in the atmosphere above Antarctica and the Artic. Depletion of the ozone layer can increase the amount of ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth, causing damage to crops and plants as well as causing sk in cancer and cataracts.