Environmental Effects Of Air Pollution

Air pollution is one of the harmful substances to our environment, and it causes the damaging of the environment in the atmosphere such as, human and animal health and the quality of life. This is, recently there has been an increase in the death rates that result from diseases that caused by air pollution such as, asthma, respiratory system problem, lung cancer (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). Air pollution does not only affect humans’ live, but it also damages our ecological system as a whole such as plants and animals. Air pollution is a gas, liquid, or solid dispersed through ordinary air, which released in a big enough quantity to harm the health of people or other animals, kill plants or stop them growing properly,

This is, ozone is a colorless, odorless gas comprised of three oxygen atoms. Ozone is found naturally in the earth 's stratosphere (the Ozone layer) where it absorbs the sun 's harmful rays. But ozone closer to the earth 's surface is dangerous, and more commonly referred to as smog (Fresno Metro Ministry). Moreover, Particulate Matter (PM) is a generic term used to describe a mixture of fine airborne solid particles and liquid droplets that are present in the air. These tiny particles are invisible to the naked eye, but can cause serious health problems. Also called aerosols (Ahrens, 2011). Several cities in California are placed on top of the list for the nation’s worst air quality by every standard measure. Los Angeles has the worst ozone pollution in the United States while Fresno has the worst particle matter pollution, and the results were measured both on an annual basis and by the number of “bad air days”, which exceeding the federal standards (The Fresno

Firstly, Ozone or smog is created by chemical reactions and sunlight. Pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are called "ozone precursors." They combine in the presence of hot, stagnant, sunny weather to create ozone (or smog). Ozone is the primary ingredient of photochemical smog, which irritates eyes and throat and also damage vegetation (Ahrens, 2011). Ozone precursors in Fresno come from cars, trucks, buses, agricultural equipment, dairies, and consumer products such as paint and even hair spray. Secondly, Particle Matter is the most concern air pollutant in Fresno, and it causes Fresno to have the bad air quality especially during fall and winter seasons because Fresno is the one of the largest agricultural industry regions in the United States, and the agricultural produces the majority of particle matter to our environment. The factors that are responsible for the Particle Matter that causes the air pollution in Fresno comes from agricultural operations, industrial processes, combustion of wood and fossil fuels, construction and demolition activity, and road dust kicked into the air. Windblown dust and wildfires are also the major reasons that contribute to the air pollution in Fresno. Also, diesel soot is another major concern in the Valley because of the high volume of trucks and cars that use Highway 99. According