Air Pollution
Biology: Cambridge International GCSE Supplement, topic 20.3.5
Air Pollution
Air pollution comes from many different sources.
Burning fossil fuels
- Burning fossil fuels releases large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that would otherwise have been locked away for millennia.
- Methane and carbon dioxide enhance the greenhouse effect, causing global warming and climate change.
Respiration
- Carbon dioxide is produced naturally in respiration.
Livestock and some man-made processes produce methane
Power stations and cars
- Power stations and cars constantly pump gases into the atmosphere.
- Sulfur dioxide dissolves in atmospheric moisture to form acid rain, which has been shown to negatively impact forest, freshwater and soil ecosystems as well as human health. A complication with acid rain is that it can fall far from where the gases were produced.
- Modern cars are fitted with catalytic converters to reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide they produce.
Test yourself on Air Pollution
What is formed when sulfur dioxide dissolves in atmospheric moisture?