Eutrophication:
Rain can
carry and deposit the Nitrogen in some pollutants on rivers and soils. This will
adversely affect the nutrients in the soil and water bodies. This can result in
algae growth in lakes and water bodies, and make conditions for other living
organism harmful.

Ground-level
ozone:
Chemical reactions involving air pollutants create a poisonous
gas ozone (O3). Gas Ozone can affect people’s health and can damage vegetation
types and some animal life too.

Particulate matter:
Air
pollutants can be in the form of particulate matter which can be very harmful to
our health. The level of effect usually depends on the length of time of
exposure, as well the kind and concentration of chemicals and particles exposed
to. Short-term effects include irritation to the
eyes, nose and throat, and upper respiratory infections such as bronchitis and
pneumonia. Others include headaches, nausea, and allergic reactions. Short-term
air pollution can aggravate the medical conditions of individuals with asthma
and emphysema. Long-term health effects can include
chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer,
heart disease, and even damage to the brain, nerves, liver, or kidneys.
Continual exposure to air pollution affects the lungs of growing children and
may aggravate or complicate medical conditions in the elderly.

Government (or community) level
prevention
Governments throughout the world have already taken action
against air pollution by introducing green energy. Some governments are
investing in wind energy and solar energy, as well as other renewable energy, to minimize burning of fossil fuels, which
cause heavy air pollution.

Governments are also forcing
companies to be more responsible with their manufacturing activities, so that
even though they still cause pollution, they are a lot controlled.

Companies are
also building more energy efficient cars, which pollute less than before.

Individual Level
Prevention
Encourage your family to use the bus, train or bike when
commuting. If we all do this, there will be less cars on road and less
fumes.


Use energy (light, water, boiler,
kettle and fire woods) wisely. This is because lots of fossil fuels are burned
to generate electricity, and so if we can cut down the use, we will also cut
down the amount of pollution we create.

Recycle and re-use things. This will
minimize the dependence of producing new things. Remember manufacturing
industries create a lot of pollution, so if we can re-use things like shopping
plastic bags, clothing, paper and bottles, it can help.

2. Burning Fossil
Fuels
After the industrial age, transportation has become a key part
of our lives. Cars and heavy duty trucks, trains, shipping vessels and airplanes
all burn lots of fossil fuels to work. Emissions from automobile engines contain
both primary and secondary pollutants. This is a major cause of pollution, and
one that is very difficult to manage. This is because humans rely heavily on
vehicles and engines for transporting people, good and services.

Fumes
from car exhauts contain dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide, oxides of
nitrogen, hydrocarbons and particulates. On their own, they cause great harm to
people who breath them. Additionally, they react with environmental gases to
create further toxic gases. Click here
to see the effects



3. Household and Farming Chemicals
Crop dusting,
fumigating homes, household cleaning products or painting supplies, over the
counter insect/pest killers, fertilizer dust emit harmful chemicals into the air
and cause pollution. In many case, when we use these chemicals at home or
offices with no or little ventilation, we may fall ill if we breathe
them.

Anything additional gas, particles or odours that are
introduced into the air (either by nature or human activity) to destroy this
natural balance can be called air pollution.