Air pollution – assignment

Since air pollution room automobiles is rapidly increasing people need to learn what we have done in the past to try and change it, what is coming out of our automobiles, have we done all we can to prevent it, or can we do more to help preserve our planet. Now people have been talking about cars and air pollution for years and years, and it may seem as if we are still in the same place we were decades ago, but what most do not know is that we have actually tried and accomplished to decrease it.

In 1988 The Clean Air Act was passed. It was to decrease emission levels of Carbon Monoxide and other gases, imposes exultation onto businesses to meet certain limits of pollution output for the products they develop. Within the next several years, the Act’s primary goals were to: 1. Decrease automobile pollution by 60% 2. Decrease industrial plant toxic air emissions by 90%; 3. Supply cleaner gasoline In already -polluted cities; 4. Decrease sulfur dioxide (acid rain) emissions from coal;-burning electrical plants by 50%.

In order to meet these limits, automobile manufactures had to try to make significant developments to decrease emissions and increase fuel-efficiency. They are still striving to produce vehicles with emission levels ranging from half the current average car level to zero emissions (Andrew Waterman). Cars do not just sit there on the road and cause air pollution; the emissions from the car while it is running cause it. The problem is, is that we resort to using gasoline for our source of power.

When we ordinary gasoline , which is what we all use when we will up our gas tanks, we are burning cheap, ordinary gasoline that gives off three primary pollutants : Hydrocarbons (HCI), Carbon Monoxide(CO), and Nitrogen oxides NO). These products contribute mostly to smog and the ozone in cities such as Los Angels, California (Andrew Waterman). Now ozone is not in fuels and/ or is it a by-product of combustion, it is formed in the atmosphere through a complex set of chemical reactions involving hydrocarbons (HCI), oxides of nitrogen, and sunlight.

In typical urban areas (like Los Angels) at least half of those pollutants come from cars, buses, and trucks. This is because it is so populated so the use of automobiles much higher than most other cities, and he cause Of that is the city being covered in smog more than 70% Of the time (Michael Bright). Now when most people hear the word hydrocarbon, or carbon monoxide, many would say that they do not know what they are or consist of. This is a problem because this is the stuff that is coming out of our Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and trucks since we all drive those these days.

Now hydrocarbon is any of numerous organic compounds, such as benzene and methane that contains only carbon and hydrogen. Now it doesn’t seem like it would be bad, but carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, highly poisonous as, CO, formed by the incomplete combustion of carbon or a carbonaceous material, such as gasoline. And Nitrogen Oxides are Knox Chemical compounds of nitrogen and oxygen; produced primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels, they contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone.

Now these three chemicals are the main chemicals that are causing air pollution and the word “ poisonous gas” doesn’t sound like its helping our problem (Answers. Com Those three harsh chemicals are not all that effect air pollution, smog is also another huge one. Smog unpleasant properties result from the radiation by sunlight of hydrocarbons caused primarily by unburned gasoline emitted by automobiles and other combustion sources. Smog is created by burning coal and heavy oil that contain sulfur impurities in automobiles, and forms Of transportation.

The smog consists mostly Of a mixture of sulfur dioxide and fog. Suspended droplets of sulfuric acid are formed from some of the sulfur dioxide, and a variety of suspended solid particles. This smog is common during the winter in cities that are highly populated because the use of automobiles is a lot higher than other cities (answers. Mom) when major cites burned large amounts of heavy oil without control of the output, large-Scale problems were witnessed such as in 1952, even thought it was over 50 years ago, we still have problems due to it, in London, England 4, 000 people died.

They died as a result of that form of fog A. K. A Smog. Now the problem is better today, heavy oil is burned only in large boilers and with reasonably good control and/or tall smokestacks so that industrial smog is less of a problem, but some major countries still burn large quantities of oil without using adequate controls (Tom Cocoa). Since we know what is coming out of our automobiles, we should also know that it is affecting our schools, elementary, middle and even high schools, especially those near highways even more.

One in three U. S. Public schools is in the “ air pollution danger zone”. 30% of American public schools are within 400 meters, or a quarter mile, of major highways that consistently serve as main truck and traffic routes. The worst part about this study is that it is believed to be the first study of highly populated highways next to schools ever. This classically means that our children have been going to school where air pollution is at its highest, and no one has noticed or done anything about this problem. Major roads play an important role in the economy, but we need to strike a balance between economic and health considerations as we break ground on new areas. ” It is almost as if no matter how we try to improve emissions coming out of automobiles, it doesn’t matter because populations keep growing, and major highways keep getting built (Amanda Harper). With the population increase daily and the growth of major highways taking place lily it is hard to imagine that air pollution from automobiles could be decreased.

What most do not realize is that it has and is still decreasing. Today’s vehicles are 80 to 99 percent cleaner per mile that vehicles produced in the late sass’s, even though since 1970, the number of vehicle miles traveled nationwide has increased by 159 percent, from 1. 1 trillion in 1 970 to 2. 87 trillion in 2002 ( clean air program reports). Industries have been making significant improvements compared to the 1 ass’s, when no attempt was made to limit automotive air pollution before that.

Even though the number of automobiles on the road is increasing by the year, still the emissions from cars have decreased the production of air pollution. Hydrocarbon emissions are down almost 98% from the sass’s levels, while Carbon monoxide levels are down 96%, and nitrogen oxides are down 90%. Smog and air qualities levels are changing for the better in most major cities, but not 100%. The pollution from automobiles is actually coming from only a small group of “ grossly polluting’, newer cars, however, as about 10% of cars on the roes are counting for 50% of all harmful emissions put out by automobiles.

Studies now show that, in fact, automobiles are becoming less of the major contributor to air pollution, but yet are still causing a lot of it (Andrew waterman). Though air pollution from cars has decreased by a lot over the last couple of decades, there are still things we can do to decrease it even more. Further exhaust emission controls for vehicles are approaching the limit of technology, and the only way to ensure healthy air is to markedly reduce our use of cars or to switch to cleaner fuels.

Some fuels inherently cleaner than gasoline because they emit less nitrogen oxides or hydrocarbons that are less likely to react in the atmosphere to a form of ozone. These fuels include alcohols, electricity, natural gas, and liquid petroleum (propane). Basic changes in the composition of gasoline itself also can reduce emissions of most air toxic. Unless we dramatically reduce the amount of pollution that newer vehicles emit in actual use or drastically cut back on the amount we drive them, smog free is will continue to be non-existent in major cities (Michael bright).

At the same time, with government legislation, increasing knowledge of the bigger picture, and the ability to profit from shifts toward less pollution, the harmful effects of emissions could/ will eventually be abandoned due to people wanting cleaner, safer, and more efficient means of gaining energy from nature (Andrew waterman). By every day that passes, automobiles pollute the air, may be not as much as they did decades ago, but they still do. The three major pollutants are hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, which are major reasons as to why air pollution is accruing.

Now unless we completely change our form of gasoline or just stop using automobiles than we will keep having air pollution affects us. We now know what we have done in the past to try and change it, what is coming out of our automobiles, have we done all we can to prevent it, and the answer is that we have not done all we can to prevent it, because it we did than there would be no reason to talk about air pollution from automobiles because it would be known existent. Works Cited Page Bright, Michael.