Causes deposition of Acids on the earth's surface through the processes of precipitation rain, snowfall etc. This results in a pH value in the low 3's and 4's approximating vinegar. Of the two, sulfur dioxide causes more property damage. Source: Derived primarily from combustion of impure fossil fuels mainly in the US manufacturing belt.
Coal burning power plants from Illinois to Pennsylvania are the greatest culprits. The largest single source in the world is a nickel smelter at Sudbury in Ontario, Canada. Effects : Because a drop in pH makes minerals more soluble, acid rain adversely impacts fish, plant communities like forest, drinking water, work of art, building stones and exposed metals. Control: Requires International cooperation, but the following might help:. Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming. The greenhouse effect results because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is transparent to the relatively short-wave solar radiation but opaque to the long wave terrestrial radiation.
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere therefore causes an atmospheric lid trapping heat on the earth's surface. Increase in carbon dioxide content result from the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and soil deterioration loss of soil carbon. Global Impacts : a Causes more rapid plant growth, b Average temperature of the atmosphere may rise or increase in cloud cover may serve to lower temperatures. Depletion of Stratographic Ozone.
These chemical compounds are widely used in refrigeration, aerosols and in many industrial processes. They are chemically inert, and remain stable and intact in the atmosphere and do not break down for a period of over years. Winds, Rain and Snow can help clean up urban air pollution as against other conditions that promote the concentration of air pollutants:.
Temperature Inversion:. The build up of atmospheric contaminants on the earth's surface is facilitated by a meteorological condition known as Temperature inversion. It is a condition in the atmosphere during which warm air overlies cooler air. This prevents the vertical rising of warm air and hence little or no winds may blow. Inversions restrict air circulation and thus may serve as atmospheric lids that trap pollutants in urban areas.
There are three main types:. Radiation inversion: Develops in clear, relatively calm weather. On clear nights, the ground radiates heat upward and without clouds, it escapes into space. As a result, both the ground and the air layer close to it cool off rapidly- more quickly than the air above them forming and inversion. Subsidence Inversion: Less common than radiation inversions but lasts longer and may be more extensive.
Subsidence develops when an air mass sinks slowly over a large area towards the ground as in high pressure cells. As the air mass sinks, the atmosphere is compressed and hence the air warms up more than the ground layer of air.
Advection inversion: Occurs on the west coast when warm sea breezes pass over cold currents prior to reaching land. The air over the cold surface of the ground thus becomes cooler than the intruding warm air that overlies the cool air. Controlling indoor Pollution :. Installation of air-to-heat exchanger to expel heated air and replace it with fresh air. The use of vegetation as living air purifiers. The use of a sub-basement vent system.
Controlling smoking indoors. And therefore that goes for the land surface too. Even in the remote Gobi desert, there are shredded tyres and plastic bottles Getty Images. That said, however, there are places where the air is cleaner. While pollution does move around the world, there is less mixing between the hemispheres due to barrier-like wind patterns. The South Pole, therefore, probably contains the cleanest air on Earth given its remoteness. Air pollution, unfortunately, also affects water, and therefore cancels out hope that perfectly clean freshwater bodies exist.
Chemicals, fertilisers and waste seep into groundwater and wash into lakes, streams and rivers, often winding up in the ocean. The result is dead zones — swathes of fresh or saltwater devoid of life. Dead zones occur when nutrient loads from land cause massive microbial blooms, which in turn deplete the water of oxygen.
The polluted Yamuna river in India Getty Images. Raw sewage and industrial waste are primary culprits wreaking havoc on freshwater. Every day, more than 2, million litres of untreated sewage flows into the Yamuna river in India Getty Images. As with the air, freshwater bodies furthest from humans are probably also the cleanest. Glacial layers that formed prior to the Industrial Revolution as well as sub-glacier lakes trapped far below the surface could in fact be pristine.
But these water bodies are clean because humans cannot physically get to them — other than by using drills. When it comes to more accessible areas, remote corners of the Congo Basin and the Amazon rainforest could be close contenders for second place. Of that pollution, plastic is the most pervasive. A black-footed albatross pecks at plastic on a Hawaii beach SPL. Surprisingly, some of the remotest places in the ocean are also some of the most polluted, thanks to the patterns of the currents.
Midway Atoll, a speck of land in the middle of the North Pacific, for example, is uninhabited save for scientists who visit for a few weeks at a time. More particularly, an environmental perspective in science education allows for. Application of scientific tools and knowledge in estimating environmental degradation and its consequences on health, and in revealing pertinent social injustice;. Application of scientific knowledge in considering the environment as a system comprising other natural and social systems and in understanding their interrelations as well as the relations producing social injustice;.
Development of scientific method skills to support critical and systemic thinking and promote the idea of the social role of science and technology in dealing with environmental injustice. The preceding analysis indicates that the connection of science with environmental education can elucidate environmental and social injustice inherent in environmental problems. Supporting students in developing thinking skills e. Supporting students in developing communication and collaboration skills so that they are capable of formulating and comparing different views, of constructing new, synthetic and consensual ideas ensuring environmental quality for all citizens;.
Developing learning processes that support students in constructing more adequate explanatory models about the natural world and the environment;. Revealing interrelations between science, technology, the environment, and society, and promoting positive attitudes towards the environment, aiming at improving its quality to the benefit of all people;.
Presenting science and technology as useful means for the adaptation of humanity to the environment, since they provide rationally structured explanations of reality —as interpreted in every period and developmental phase- to ensure environmental quality for all;. Making clear that science and technology entail —apart from the necessary information and knowledge- value and ethical issues.
As already mentioned air pollution is related with environmental injustice inherent in its causes as well as its consequences. On the other, they are related to developmental choices and financial investments made by higher socio-economic strata, and to political decisions forming their institutional context. At the same time air pollution is associated with the way in which cities are organised, with their infrastructures and green spaces available determining the quality of urban environment and producing inequalities between residents.
Thus, air quality is recognised as one of the priorities for healthy and sustainable cities. On the other hand, those who attribute environmental problems to human activities embrace a more politicised stance Wals, In the first case an individual may not develop further interest or an intention to act to protect the environment, given that technology can solve any problem. Their main findings can be summarised as follows:. Pupils conceptualise air pollution as presence of harmful substances into the atmosphere Ali, Students describe cars and transportation, industry, waste, fires and sprays as the primary anthropogenic pollution sources Boyes and Stanisstreet, ; Thornber et al.
They regard air pollution as exclusively man-made Ali, ; Boyes and Stanisstreet, ; Brody, ; Brody, ; Dove, ; Thornber et al. Some students attribute other global environmental problems to air pollution Batterham et al.
They often consider air pollutants in general as enhancing the greenhouse effect and ozone depletion. They are familiar with a variety of its components -such as sources of pollution, pollutant types, consequences on living things and on the environment- but they do not seem to comprehend the relationships between these components.
At the same time they do not have an adequate understanding of the degree to which individual and social decisions and practices influence the intensity of air pollution. On the other hand, they seem to have a more appropriate understanding of the effects of air pollution on human health and explicitly express their concern about them. The preceding analysis reveals that students are not aware of all the dimensions of air pollution and therefore cannot fully understand the interrelations and interactions between its components.
Understanding the framework of relations between natural and human dimensions composing an environmental phenomenon such as air pollution is —in our view- a prerequisite for developing critical reasoning about it and should constitute a key educational objective for supporting future citizens in thinking about the world. Therefore, students should become competent in recognising and interpreting the framework of physical, ecological, social, economic and political relations underlying environmental issues, the contradictions inherent in those components, as well as possible alternative explanations and solutions to these issues.
They should also become capable of sincerely examining their personal views, practices, prejudices and stereotypes, make appropriate decisions and implement changes at individual and collective level.
In other words, students should be equipped with knowledge, skills and thinking tools necessary for interpreting the world around them in order to change it, since the world cannot change unless it is adequately explained Huckle, In this context, educational programs on air pollution should ultimately aim at determining all relevant components, indicating their interrelations and the ways in which these interrelations enhance or reduce the problem and its consequences.
In other words, educational programs need to be designed in the framework of a systemic approach for air pollution, considering all the systems with which it interacts. These systems reflect the social, political, and financial dimensions of air pollution and are tightly connected with the way individuals and organised societies institutions, legislation, etc. This approach provides the possibility of a holistic study of air pollution in order to understand natural and human components causing it and their interrelations.
At the same time it provides an opportunity for understanding the temporal evolution of this issue due to human interventions —be it in terms of managerial practices or protection practices for its resolution. The previous discussion allows for developing educational programs about air quality degradation and the relevant social injustice by studying indoor and outdoor local environments. Within this context, environmental justice in the perspective of sustainability is a crucial component for maintaining a healthy environment for all, and for creating sustainable places to live and work, now and in the future.
By integrating scientific knowledge with life experiences students would be encouraged to make personal decisions and become active members of society to ensure better air quality and environmental justice. More particularly, educational programs about air quality degradation and the relevant social injustice could aim at:. Investigating different lifestyles and the ways these affect air quality and enhance —or reduce-air pollution.
Lifestyle describes the way an individual lives. It includes, among others, individual consumption behaviours and everyday life practises. Almost all of our daily activities and habits eventually produce indoors and outdoors air pollutants. Investigating their different lifestyles would give students the opportunity to understand how themselves and others affect air quality in their daily lives.
Moreover, students could be encouraged to investigate alternative habits that would contribute to air pollution reduction, such as using alternative energy sources e. Assessing the personal ecological footprint on air and comparing ecological footprints of different socio-economic status individuals.
This approach would provide students the opportunity to explore the way individuals of different economic status consume natural resources consequently affecting air quality. Since socio-economic status is plays a crucial role in determining consumption behaviours and everyday practices, such an assessment would aid students develop a deeper understanding of social and environmental injustice related to air pollution.
Estimating the factors influencing urban space quality urban design, transportation networks, green spaces and evaluating its quality in privileged and underprivileged areas within the same city to reveal ensuing injustice. They are also assisted in recognising the relationship between environmental quality and human wellbeing and to locate environmental injustices in their local environments to concretise that urban quality is not the same within the same city.
Students living in underprivileged areas, in areas of injustice, should be empowered to develop and participate in communities of resistance and planning Peloso, Estimating the effects of air pollution on human health and the distribution of relevant diseases in respect to environmental quality in privileged and underprivileged areas within the same city. Estimating the distribution of diseases that are attributed to urban air pollution gives students the opportunity to understand that environmental justice is the most significant tool for a healthy environment for all people regardless of socio-economic status.
Exploring pollution sources and their distribution in the local environment in relation to the socio-economic status of residents. This approach gives students the opportunity to realize that people of low income usually live in degraded residential areas where the main air pollution sources, such as industries, landfills, biological treatment facilities, highways, are usually located.
Determining the factors influencing air quality in different workplaces. Students could be encouraged to investigate air quality at different workplaces to locate related environmental injustice experienced by specific groups of employees. Measuring air pollutant concentrations in the school, local and broader environment. This activity would give students the opportunity to locate air pollutant sources in their immediate environment and suggest alternative interventions to their school in order to render it sustainable.
Such interventions could include -among others- using building material, heating sources, furniture, and equipment with a low impact on air quality. Such actions would also enable all students participate in school life and in decision-making processes, to cooperate with local citizens and broaden their activities to improve the quality of the local environment and thus improve wellbeing of the local community. Studying national and international legislation referring to air quality and engaging students in proposing legislative directions for the formation of urban environments, improvement of urban air quality and elimination of environmental injustice.
Familiarising students with national and local institutions in order to understand their role in the formation and conservation of the local environment. It is also expected to increase their interest in local issues and their willingness to work together on reducing air pollution and promoting sustainability. To determine environmental injustice at an international level, educational programs to assist students in understanding injustice between developed and developing countries could be developed.
Indicative objectives of such programs would include:. Studying indoor air pollution effects on human health and especially on children;. Studying geographical distribution of diseases related with air pollution in developed and developing countries;.
Comparing personal ecological footprints on air between inhabitants of developed and developing countries;. Understanding poverty experienced by people in developing or unprivileged countries as determinative factor for the environmental injustices they experienced. Probably, one could object that studying local environmental problems and pertinent injustices solutions is much more meaningful to students than grasping —for instance- environmental injustices between development and developing countries.
Are students able to cope with these injustices and promote air quality for the people in developing countries? We strongly believe that education has to promote global citizenship and allow students to understand that environmental problems are linked to the social, economic and political situations in countries all over the world. Therefore, science and environmental programs about air pollution could start from the local environment and deal with real, everyday and concrete problems facing students and their community and subsequently be enriched with activities that enable students to develop a deeper and global understanding of poverty as a critical dimension of environmental injustice UNCSD, In this chapter we attempted to present environmental quality in the context of environmental injustice.
The discussion was based on data provided by international institutions mapping environmental degradation, its consequences on human health, wellbeing and life quality. These data reveal that environmental injustice within countries is particularly experienced by low socio-economic level groups of the population living in underprivileged areas. Moreover, environmental injustice between countries is more intense and degrades health quality of their population, indeed contributing to increase of mortality.
The chapter particularly focused on the environmental problem of air pollution aiming at highlighting environmental injustice caused by the types, sources, and distribution of air pollutants along with their effects on human health and wellbeing. These issues were discussed in the scope of sustainability, which in our view is the only means to ensure environmental quality and justice for all. This is a requirement and a fundamental challenge for modern societies.
Sustainability and environmental justice can only be accomplished by means of active involvement of citizens in environmental actions. In other words engaging people in making crucial decisions about the quality of their environment is a prerequisite for environmental sustainability and justice to occur.
Therefore, individuals should be supported in demanding life quality based on respect and justice for all human beings; in ensuring equal access to natural resources and health for all; in deciding upon a development of their cities in harmony with nature and with respect to the cultures of different communities. In this direction we propose the design and implementation of relevant educational programs deriving knowledge, methods, and modes of thinking from science and environmental education.
These two fields provide the necessary tools for understanding environmental degradation and pursuing sustainability and environmental justice. More particularly, science education supplies tools and methods for estimating environmental quality and protection, and for creating a healthy environment ensuring life quality and health for human beings.
Environmental education can complement this endeavour by critically supporting individuals in understanding environmental challenges and their causes, developing actions, and adopting practices to resolve them. Injustice, inherent in environmental degradation, can constitute an organising principle in designing and implementing educational programs for the environment, and more particularly in relation to air pollution. The conjunction of science and environmental education organised along the concepts of sustainability and environmental justice also opens new grounds for research.
Application of the general principles and stances outlined in this chapter in real school environments in the context of specific educational activities would allow a systematic and reliable estimation of their value. Systematic research on these topics is expected to yield documented, valuable, and productive outcomes to further promote education for sustainable development. Licensee IntechOpen.
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Edited by Mohamed Khallaf. Edited by Nicolas Mazzeo.
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