Air PollutionDefinition: The phenomena of presence of one or more contaminants in air due to natural phenomena or by human activities in such amount and duration that may adversely affect human, animals or plants life , property or comfort is called Air Pollution.

Types Of Air Pollution: These are of 2 types:1- Indoor Air Pollution (inside home) :-

Smoking, Stove, Insecticide, Cosmetics, Cleaning

material, etc.

2- Outdoor Air Pollution: Atmospheric Air Pollution

Vehicles, Factories, Volcanic

eruption etc.

Air Pollutants/ Contaminants: The substances which contaminate air are called air pollutants.Air Pollutants are categorized in Two broad Categories:(a) Primary: Primary pollutants are those released directly into the air. (b) Secondary:Primary Pollutants are converted into other compounds in atmosphere due to

chemical reaction with each other

Sources of Air Pollutants: There are Two main sources:-1- Natural Sources: Forest fires, volcanic eruptions, wind erosion, pollen dispersal, evaporation of

organic compounds, and natural radioactivity.

2- Human-made sources: Burning fuels (mobile or stationary), power plants , fertilizers , fumes from paint,

hair spray, varnish and many cleaning products.

ACID RAIN

Acid rain is caused when the pollutants combine with water droplets in the air Acid rain increases acidity of Soil and Water ,thus affecting land , flora and fauna It corrodes buildings , monuments, bridges and railing etc.Buildings like Taj Mahal , British parliament , and many buildings and monuments in Italy and Greece are under Danger due to Acid Rain.

Global Warming and Green House effectThe increase in the temperature of atmosphere due to presence of CO2 is called “Green House Effect”If CO2 concentration is increased more Infra red radiations will the trapped leading to global rise in temperature called “global warming”Global warming has lead to melting of ice caps and glaciers leading to increase in sea level and changing weather patterns.

OZONE LAYER DEPLETIONChemicals released by our activities affect the stratosphere .The release of CFC’s from heating , aerosol cans , and refrigeration equipments leads to depletion of ozone layer Ozone layer protects us from the UV rays but due to depletion of ozone layer , exposure to U.V radiations has lead to many serious problems.

SMOG

Smog is a type of large scale outdoor pollution .Smog is a combination of smoke and fog.It is of 2 types:- photochemical and coal induced smogPhotochemical – is a mixture of pollutants which includes particulates , nitrogen oxides etc.Coal induced –formed by mixture of sulphur dioxide , smoke and water.