AIR POLLUTION SOLUTIONS 1

Air Pollution Solutions

Gemini Boudrie and Nicolas Garnand

AP Environmental Science
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Table of Contents

Position Statement………………………………………………………………………..3

History of the Problem…………………………………………………………………...4

Causes of the Problem……………………………………………………………………7

Consequences of the Problem……………………………………………………….……8

Proposed Solutions.……………………………………………………………………...10

Counterarguments………………………………………………………………………..12

Resources………………………………………………………………………………...13
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Position Statement

Air pollution causes environmental and health degradation, placing every living thing in

its path at risk. When we deposit toxic gases into our air with no thought to the consequences, we

degrade our home and risk the lives of future generations that will face the extensive problems

caused by the poisonous air. Air Pollution Solutions comprehends the severity of this issue

which will only grow if left unchecked, so we strongly feel that intervention is essential for

survival. We know that this problem is completely solvable-- clean technology already exists, it

only takes dedication to widely implement it to significantly reduce our air pollutants. We

believe that only by working together with the community to educate on the issue and enforce

regulations on pollutants can we make a comeback for the health of the environment.
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History of the Problem

Air pollution has existed easily for thousands of years. Of course, this pollution was not

consequently harmful to the environment as it derived from natural forest fires and small man

made fires (Rowell, & Rossman, 2015). With the sudden emergence of the first Industrial

Revolution in the 1760s came an enormous surge of smog and soot into the environment as

machinery guzzled coal and petroleum (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1998). The

Industrial Revolution’s drastic increase of pollutants in the environment “had serious health

impacts on the residents of growing urban centers” (History.com Staff, 2009), according to

History.com’s staff. Air pollution in America grew steadily worse when Henry Ford introduced

the assembly line which mass-produced gas fueled cars in the early 1900s. Even today, cars are

still the leading source

of air pollution

(History.com Staff,

2009). As seen in the

pie chart to the right

that shows that 73% of

the pollution produced

is through

transportation. (Air

Quality, Vehicle Emissions). In Arizona, pollutants arise from “traffic (greater than 40%),

vehicle-generated paved road dust (12%), and dust from unpaved roads (8-10%)” (Schumacher,

2012) in addition to the gas emissions.

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Air pollution has been a growing issue over thousands of years. One of the first examples

of discovery dates back to King Edward I of England, who “threatened Londoners with harsh

penalties if they didn’t stop burning sea-coal” (History.com Staff, 2009) since he was working to

reduce air pollution back in the thirteenth century. The discovery of one of the detrimental

effects of air pollution, acid rain, was not until the 1850s (History.com Staff, 2009), when

scientist Robert Angus Smith

conducted experiments on the

acidity of precipitation in various

areas. In his experiments, he

discovered a “connection

between industrial pollution and

the acidity of urban rainfall”, then

later coined the term of acid rain

(Kitley, 2014). To the left the connection is shown through a picture, as the chemicals, sulfur

dioxide and nitrogen oxide, rise into the atmosphere they combine with the water in the clouds.

(Ozone Layer Depletion - Causes). In the clouds, the chemicals react and form deadly

combinations of acid rain, acid snow, and even acid particles and gases.

Currently, many local, statewide, and national programs exist to restore the environment,

and raise awareness of, or prevent of air pollution. The World Health Organization, Arizona

Department of Environmental Quality, Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental

Defense Fund, Don’t Waste Arizona, Inc., and AirNow all work to provide information about air

quality, either locally or widespread. Several of these organizations seek donations to provide

funding for the issue as well. The EPA sponsors an Air Quality Awareness Week ("Asthma and
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Air Quality", 2017) and the ADEQ “has been helping schools and other organizations to raise

brightly colored, pennant-type flags to assist… aware[ness] of daily air quality conditions”

("Arizona Children's Environmental Health Program", 2017).

In addition to providing awareness and support, the EPA also sets national regulations for

air quality. Whereas the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 provided funds for research, “[t]he

Clean Air Act of 1963 was the first federal legislation regarding air pollution control”

(“Evolution of the Clean Air Act”, 2017). It has since had multiple amendments, the most current

addition being in 1990. The CAA authorizes the EPA “ to limit emissions of air pollutants

coming from sources like chemical plants, utilities, and steel mills” and sets the standard that

states “may not have weaker pollution limits than those set by EPA” (“Regulatory Information

by Topic: Air”, 2017). Since its implementation, the production of many harmful pollutants has

dropped as companies have had to drastically reduce their emissions to adhere to government

standards.
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Causes of the Problem

The problem of air pollution goes back all the way to the 13th century (History.com

Staff), but became more prevalent when Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970 as scientists

started to investigate the link between air pollution and health (History.com Staff). One of the

first recorded major case of air pollution was in the later 18th century and early 19th century,

when coal was first used in a large-scale in the Industrial Revolution. Due to this, at least 4,000

people were killed in London during the Great Smog of 1952 and earlier in America, a deadly

smog that asphyxiated 20 people and caused 7,000 people to become sick (History.com Staff).

As of today, due to the production of automobiles in the early 20th century, motor vehicles

became the leading cause of air pollution (History.com Staff). Other sources of air pollution is

the burning of fossil fuels, agricultural activities,

exhaust from factories and industries, mining

operations, and indoor air pollution as well. As

shown in the pie chart to the left, these activities

release gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon

dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide,

particulates, and ammonia, many of which can be

toxic when ingested. (Biology Graphs: Primary

Air Pollutants). When these gases interact with

each other, more gases such as sulfur trioxide,

sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, ammonium, and

ozone are created (Scottish Environment Protection Agency). By depositing such gases into the

air, we create poisons which harm ourselves and disrupt the lives of all living organisms.
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Consequences of the Problem

Health consequences of air pollution affect the sensitive populations such as children,

older adults, people who are active outdoors, and those with heart and lung disease, like asthma.

These individuals may experience the irritation of eyes, nose, and throat as well as wheezing,

coughing, chest tightness, and breathing difficulties. With the increased risk of heart attack and

worsening of existing lung and heart problems. Long term exposure to air pollution causes

cancer and damage to the reproductive, immune, neurological, and respiratory systems ("Health

and Environmental Effects of Air Pollution”). When extreme, air pollution can even result in

death.

Humans are not the only ones affected by air pollution as the environment is as well. Air

pollution causes acid rain, eutrophication, haze, ozone depletion, crop and forest damage, as well

as global warming. Acid rain is produced when nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides are released

into the atmosphere after fossil fuels are burned, then fall in forms of precipitation. Acid rain

damages trees and causes water and soil to become unsuitable for life to be sustained, damaging

buildings, statues, and sculptures as well. Eutrophication causes an excess of algae to grow

which kills plants and animal biodiversity. Haze is directly emitted into our atmosphere through

power plants, industrial facilities, trucks, automobiles, and construction zones, which causes

vision to be obscured through color, clarity, texture, and form. Ozone depletion is caused by

man-made chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons, which destroy the ‘good’ ozone which help

reduce the UV radiation from reaching Earth. Forest and crops are damaged by acid rain and UV

radiation which is a result from air pollution. Global warming is caused by the greenhouse gases

warming the earth fast and air pollution is a part of the greenhouse gases. These are affecting our

environment faster than we can stop it all having air pollution as a part of it.
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Over the next 5, 10, 25, and 50 years, air quality will continue to decrease which means

the air pollution will increase.

As a result of the increase of

air pollution our ozone will

continue to decay and by the

end of the fiftieth year, the

surface layer of our ozone will

be about halfway depleted

(NOAA). With the ozone

depleted the earth's temperatures will rise significantly in the next few years and onwards. In the

picture above the ozone is shown the be depleting through the O2 being broken with chemicals,

with the steps of the ozone depletion being shown above as well. (Acid Rain _NYS Dept. of

Environmental Conservation). Those with asthma will have a very difficult time breathing and

more people will become vulnerable to asthma. Loss of biodiversity will occur in lakes due to

eutrophication killing most of the species in the lakes. Death tolls will rise as well due to the

decline of air quality and increase of air pollution.

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Proposed Solutions

Air pollution is a serious problem that is affecting everyone on Earth. To solve the

problem of air pollution, we will have to implement more than just one solution to accomplish

the goal of clean air. To start, we can increase our energy efficiency and conservation to decrease

the amount of emissions consumers release into the atmosphere. An essential but costly solution

would be to switch to renewable resources as solar, wind, or geothermal. The renewable

resources are extraordinarily helpful towards our environment because they do not release the

toxic fumes and debris that are released when fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are used.

We can then switch to using electric cars to limit the pollution produced as well. One of the most

realistic solutions to air pollution is using public transportation instead of using a personal

vehicle daily. We could even convert our public transport systems into electric or hybrid buses to

help reduce their emissions as well. To please business while promoting positive change, we can

implement subsidies and taxes on companies who pollute the earth in the burning of fossil fuels

and other harmful nonrenewable sources. To focus our solutions more pointedly to Arizona, we

could replace our roadways with smart highways, which are made of solar powered road panels.

These panels will work just like regular solar panels but the energy they produce would go

towards our electric companies to fuel our city and even further promote electric cars, which in

turn promotes cleaner air. Another simple, yet often overlooked solution is to actually take into

account air pollution when you are going about daily activities. To solve the complex puzzle of

air pollution we need to take more than just one action, we need to make a chain reaction.

In reflection of our goals, Air Pollution Solutions volunteered to speak at Summit School

of Ahwatukee. Using our research, we created a presentation that would meaningfully educate

young students, designed a flyer for advertisement, and planned educational activities for the
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students. On March 27th, we presented to the students about air pollution. During our

presentation we detailed the chemistry of our atmosphere and pollutants, the sources of pollution

such as cars and factories, as well as supplied the students with ideas of solutions such as

carpooling and switching to cleaner energy sources. As a break during our lecture time, we had

the students play ‘Pollution Tag’, a game which allowed the children to see more clearly how

pollution spreads and how teamwork is the best solution to air pollution. At the end of our

presentation, we provided the students with flower seeds to allow a deeper connection to the

issue as the students would be able to grow their own plant and care for it. We feel that our plan

helped our community by educating part of the future generation in a problem that will take

generations to solve. Though our presentation, they learned that when attacking the tricky

problem of air pollution, teamwork is the best method because there will be a larger impact when

many people pitch in, than if one person tries to fix it

alone and we were able to successfully instill the

importance of air pollution to the students while providing

them with solutions. The picture to the right is Gemini and

Nicolas holding the flyer that was made to spread the work

about the visit they were making to the Summit School of

Ahwatukee preschoolers on March 27th, 2018.

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Counter Arguments

Despite the overwhelming evidence of the negative effects of polluted air on the planet,

not everyone seeks solutions to this massive issue. Opposers to Air Pollution Solutions may say

that global warming is a hoax or a natural, harmless process of the earth. Those who see that

there is a problem may still oppose action as they feel this issue is too expensive or even

impossible to fix. Although there are natural heating and cooling phases of the earth, the current

heating of the earth is extreme and human-caused. According to NASA, “[t]he warming of the

past century… is roughly eight times faster than the ice-age-recovery warming on average”

(NASA). As global warming is strongly linked to air pollution, particularly that of greenhouse

gases which trap heat, human activity has resulted in a drastic increase in our planet’s

temperature increase. Additionally, though this issue is daunting, the steps to be taken are a

necessity. In Hebei, a city in China, when working on cleanup, GDP fell by 1.7% (The

Economist). This does indicate that air pollution cleanup will have economic costs, but, when

juxtaposed with the loss of “ $255 billion in… labor” (Barber) in 2015 as reported by the

Huffington Post who suggests continuing losses as pollution grows worse. However difficult the

clean-up of air pollution may be, people clearly face much higher costs the longer they wait to

act, with the additional harm of damaged health and loss of nature. Air pollution is an issue that

must be taken seriously, and time is of the essence when it comes to the health of the planet.
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References

Acid Rain. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2018 from

http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8418.html

AlgebraLAB. (n.d.). Biology Graphs: Primary Air Pollutants. Retrieved May 3, 2018, from

http://www.algebralab.org/practice/practice.aspx?file=reading_primaryairpollutants.xml

"Arizona Children's Environmental Health Program: ADEQ Air Quality Flag Program". (2017).

Retrieved December 5, 2017, from http://legacy.azdeq.gov/ceh/flag.html

"Asthma and Air Quality". (2017, May 2). Retrieved December 5, 2017, from

https://www3.epa.gov/airnow/airaware/asthma.html

Barber, B. (2017, September 09). Air Pollution Costs $255 Billion A Year. Retrieved May 4,

2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-barber/air-pollution-costs-255-

billion_b_11930688.html

“Carbon Monoxide Trends”. (2017, October 23). Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/air-

trends/carbon-monoxide-trends

“Causes, Effects and Solutions of Air Pollution”. (2017, January 03). Retrieved December 05,

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pollution.php

“China To Cap Coal Use By 2020 To Meet Game-Changing Climate, Air Pollution Targets”.

(2014, November 28). Retrieved from

http://www.theenergycollective.com/josephromm/2160226/china-cap-coal-use-2020-

meet-game-changing-climate-air-pollution-targets

History.com Staff. (2009). Water and Air Pollution. Retrieved December 05, 2017, from

http://www.history.com/topics/water-and-air-pollution
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History.com Staff. (2009). “Water and Air Pollution”. Retrieved December 4, 2017, from

http://www.history.com/topics/water-and-air-pollution

Kitley, G. (2014, November). "Robert Angus Smith". Retrieved December 5, 2017, from

http://www.rsc.org/diversity/175-faces/all-faces/robert-angus-smith

(n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2018 from http://www.air-quality.org.uk/08.php

NASA. (n.d.). If Earth has warmed and cooled throughout history, what makes scientists think

that humans are causing global warming now? : Climate Q&A : Blogs. Retrieved May 4,

2018, from https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/climateqa/if-earth-has-warmed-and-

cooled-throughout-history-what-makes-scientists-think-that-humans-are-causing-global-

warming-now

P. (2018, January 12). Ozone Layer Depletion - Causes, Effects and Solutions. Retrieved

February 5, 2018 from http://eco-globe.com/what-destroys-the-earths-ozone-layer/

Rowell, E., & Rossman, J. (2015, November 15). “A brief history of air pollution”. Retrieved

December 4, 2017, from http://theweek.com/articles/586863/brief-history-air-pollution

Schumacher, M. J. (2012, January). “Allergy and Asthma in the Southwestern United States”.

Retrieved December 4, 2017, from

http://allergy.peds.arizona.edu/southwest/airpollution.html

Scottish Environment Protection Agency. (n.d.). The chemistry of air pollution. Retrieved

February 2, 2018, from

https://www.sepa.org.uk/media/120465/mtc_chem_of_air_pollution.pdf

The Economist. (2015, February 05). The cost of clean air. Retrieved May 4, 2018, from

https://www.economist.com/news/china/21642214-measures-combat-air-pollution-are-

biting-hard-industrial-areas-already-hit-economic
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). “Industrial Revolution”. Retrieved

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