Problems of Air Pollution

Air pollution, “aerial garbage”, is not a new problem. Natural processes such as forest fires and volcanic eruptions, or burning cities set afire during war, have long contaminated the air. Smog and the by-products of coal burning have long been recognized as irritating disturbances plaguing many areas and clouding the skies. As long ago as 1272, King Edward I of England proclaimed and edict forbidding the use of a certain coal that was making London`s air smoky and sooty.

Air and water pollution act interchangeably; together they present a world problem. All people on the earth share the oceans and the air. Significant local pollution of either can greatly affect distant areas, especially if the oceans cannot by the processes of precipitation, oxidation, and absorption cleanse the atmosphere before harmful effects occur. Given enough time the ocean can cleanse the atmosphere. But if the amount of pollution exceeds the ocean`s capacity to neutralize the waste, then the harmful effects are dispersed into the atmosphere and we realize the effects by breathing contaminated air.
References :

Braubaker, Sterling, To Live on Earth. New York : New American Library, 1972.

Murray, RB and Zentner JP., Nursing Concepts for Health Promotion, Second Edtion, Prentice-Hall, Inc, Englewood Cliffs, N.J, 1979.