Air Pollution

April 7th, 2006

A Delicate Balance

In today's dominant capitalistic society the greed of humanity is upsetting the delicate balance that is our atmosphere. Pollution is one of the main causes (if not the main cause) of the imbalance that humanity is causing on the planet. There is an incredibly large list of different forms of pollution; the major one's being air and water pollution but air pollution appears to be the bigger problem. Namely the destruction of the ozone layer by CFC's, vehicle and factory emissions affecting the weather, and both of these combined, causing premature death to individuals all around the globe.

It is air pollution that is causing holes to form in the ozone and in turn causing global warming. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) used in refrigerators, air conditioners, aerosol cans, etc. are extremely toxic to the ozone.

CFC's are exposed to an intense level of ultraviolet radiation from the sun and under go photodissociation, releasing atomic chlorine which, in turn, has been identified as the principle catalyst for the destruction of atmospheric ozone. It is estimated that a single stratospheric chlorine atom may catalyze the destruction of a 100 000 molecules of ozone. (Stix 5622)

In 1990 an agreement was formed for a gradual reduction of CFC's and since then new alternative substances are being used to replace them (Lь, Wu, Yu and Shen 280). This was, of course, great progress towards making sure the ozone layer remain intact. After meeting, however, developed countries decided to give developing countries their chance to catch up. These developing countries were given up until 2010 to completely phase out the use of CFC's (Musumba). In a way some might see this as being adequate and fair. The developed nations, after all, got the chance to use CFC's so why should the developing countries be forced to spend more and cause their economies to slow. It seems quite reasonable to let these countries catch up, does it not? Yes it does sound reasonable but it's not the only solution. As it is, the amount of CFC's already put out will take years and years to break up in the atmosphere (Lь, Wu, Yu and Shen 280) but what will happen if these developing nations are allotted to do the same thing the already developed countries have done? The ozone will be destroyed even further not to mention the amount of CFC's left in the atmosphere that will not degrade for an even longer time. What the developed nations should be doing is helping these countries to skip the CFC stage altogether and move right on the environmental friendly chemicals. There is no time to allow them to phase out gradually. CFC's have to stop being used altogether and right now. Any citizen in any country can see the catastrophic results global warming is having on the planet and its inhabitants. One of the outcomes is skin cancer which is affecting more and more people each year and causing many premature deaths (Singer 36). Also, with a diminishing ozone layer, more radiation from the sun is getting into the atmosphere and helping to further what has been dubbed the greenhouse effect (Patz). This can not be let to continue. It must stop and it must stop now. The developed countries have the statistics and they know what's happening. They have to start seeing the world as one instead of focusing on only themselves. There needs to be a coming together of all nations in order to mutually benefit of the world.

Another major effect air pollution is having on our environment also ties in with global warming. It comes from the factories and vehicles that are such a major part of our daily lives. Cars and other vehicles emit Carbon Monoxide (CO) which is toxic when inhaled. Factories that burn coal, natural gas, and oil give off Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Also given off from burning coal is Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen Oxide (NO). NO is also produced when gasoline is burnt and helps produce smog as well as acid rain (NSC). Some of these are naturally put into the atmosphere from forest fires, volcanic eruptions, etc. but mankind is adding onto all the natural means of putting these chemicals into the environment and creating a huge problem. What is happening is these man induced chemical reactions are putting more and more chemicals into the air which creates an imbalance in the atmosphere. What human's are literally doing is poisoning the air. For example, if Ken lives in a large room and in the center of the room is a small fire which provides adequate heat and is good for cooking one meal at a time and when the fire burns it gave off just enough CO2 to allow the trees in the room to breath and the trees, in turn, produce oxygen Ken can breath then we would suppose that as long as he lives his life and cooks his meals he would be perfectly happy and well. (There are many other factors but for the sake of argument let us believe that this is a perfect ecosystem). Well what would happen if Ken decided he wants to be warmer. He wants to be warm and cuddly and so he builds up the fire. The limited trees in the room can't take all that Carbon Dioxide and get rid of it so it just begins to build up. Then Ken suddenly runs out of firewood so he begins to cut down his trees. In a few weeks Ken is dead of suffocation. Not only did he create an imbalance in his atmosphere that he needed for survival but he cut down his only supply of oxygen in order to feed the fire that caused this. This is essentially what human beings are doing. Air Pollution