For a healthy life, drinking water, environment, sea, soil and air must be clean. However, unfortunately, air pollution has become a major problem in Turkey as well as in the rest of the world. If you need to do something about it, you can gain environmental awareness by learning the answers to questions such as what is air pollution and how it occurs, and you can take action to leave a clean world to future generations.
What is Air Pollution?
Air pollution occurs when foreign substances in the air exceed a certain rate. The increase of these foreign substances can have a negative impact on the health of humans and all other living things.
Respiratory disorders such as asthma and allergies are among the health problems caused by air pollution. Failure to prevent air pollution may lead to the deterioration of the ecological balance and the living spaces of living things may shrink over time. In order not to encounter bad scenarios and to make the world livable, air pollution must be prevented as soon as possible.
Causes of Air Pollution
Foreign substances causing air pollution can be listed as follows:
Sulfur dioxide: This gas, which is mixed with the air due to coal-fired power plants and furnaces, can bring many diseases, especially respiratory tract diseases. It can also cause negativities such as smoke and acid rain.
Nitrogen oxides: Nitrogen oxides, which heavily pollute the air, are produced by the gases emitted by industrial establishments and factories. This gas, which can also be released from the exhaust of gasoline vehicles, can mix with the blood and cause respiratory diseases.
Carbon monoxide: Carbon monoxide, which is released when the fuels used in homes or workplaces are not fully burned, reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood. Carbon monoxide, also found in cigarette smoke, can cause serious respiratory diseases.
Air pollution can be caused by foreign substances or as a result of natural factors. The natural causes of air pollution are as follows:
Air pollution from volcanoes: Gas clouds emerge as a result of the eruption of volcanoes, and these clouds emit sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. The gas released primarily damages the settlements around the volcano and the living creatures living in these settlements. However, it is not limited to this, it can affect the world widely.
Forest fires: Forest fires are also one of the important factors that cause the release of harmful gases. Apart from causing air pollution, it causes the destruction of living things and living layers in the forest.
Sands: Thick layers of sand can be displaced as a result of weather events such as wind and storms, polluting the air. However, this situation does not cause the release of toxic gases and does not create a permanent danger.
There are also artificial factors that cause air pollution. Artificial factors, which outnumber natural factors, include air pollution caused by factories and individuals.
Warm-up methods: The use of coal, especially for heating purposes, is one of the harmful factors that cause air pollution. Natural gas, electricity or wood Heating with coal; It causes a higher level of pollution compared to the use of natural gas, electricity and wood.
Industrial pollution: Industrial facilities that do not use clean energy sources or that do not have filters in factory chimneys are among the most important causes of air pollution.
Pollution from traffic: It covers the pollution caused by the exhaust fumes of vehicles.
Pollution from thermal and nuclear power plants: It is the air pollution caused by the gases released by the coal used in the thermal power plants and the radiation emitted by the nuclear power plants.
Pollution from chemical waste: It is the pollution caused by products containing many chemicals such as cleaning materials. In addition, toxic substances used during mining also cause the release of harmful dust and chemicals into the air.
How to Prevent Air Pollution? Steps We Can Take Individually
In addition to the comprehensive struggle to prevent air pollution worldwide, there are many steps that individuals can take in this regard. Here's what you can do to reduce and prevent air pollution:
- You can reduce your individual exhaust emissions by reducing your travels with your private vehicle or by adopting methods such as car sharing. You can also prefer environmentally friendly electric vehicles instead of vehicles running on fossil fuels.
- You can contribute to the fight against air pollution by choosing chemical-free cleaning products in your home.
- Regular cleaning of the chimneys in houses heated by stoves, and periodic heater and combi boiler maintenance in houses heated with central heating ensures less fuel consumption, which can prevent air pollution. In addition, it should not be forgotten that interior and exterior insulation can reduce fuel consumption to a minimum.
- Burning garbage or stubble in open areas can cause air pollution and cause disasters such as forest fires. For this reason, open fires should not be lit.
- You can contribute to the collective effort by supporting environmental social responsibility projects.
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