Environmental Effects From Air Pollution

Over the last 150 years, contaminants caused by society's industrial progress have pumped carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the air causing smog and acid rain. Heavy metals from building materials contaminate the soil and lead to the poisoning of our animals and food supply. When polluted water runs over contaminated soil, it mixes together and ends up into our oceans and rivers. This has lead to a shortage of clean water.

Acid Rain

• Car emissions, cellular radiation from antennas and phones, and industrial waste billow into the air causing environmental degradation in the form of smog. Smog, a toxic canopy over the environment, has caused a breakdown in the circular process of healthy plant life. Rain coming down through smog contains not only carbon monoxide but sulfur dioxide, which makes acid rain. Over long periods of time, acid rain erodes soil and causes destruction of farmland. Eroded land cannot produce healthy crops.

Ozone Depletion

• Air pollution is the reason for greenhouse gases such as methane. These gasses come from sources such as swamps and livestock flatulence. Air pollution is at the source of polluted swamps and other water sources, which contaminate farm lands affecting animal's food sources, diet and constitution. The emission from animals and swamps damage the ozone layer. This continual deterioration of the ozone layer changes the climate, which affects the earth's cooling and heating systems. This can lead to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruption spews sulfur dioxide back into the air, causing acid rain to fall.

Contaminated Water Sources

• Acid rain caused by air pollution deposits heavy metal contaminants, such as lead, into the soil. Exposure to lead and other polluting metals and minerals, through water that has traveled over contaminated soil into our water supplies, causes chronic health problems. In the March 2008 issue of the "International Journal of Disability, Development and Education," Christa van Kraayenoord states that in 2007 the number of deaths in children under 5 years of age had a notable link to polluted drinking water. Cancer deaths due to polluted surface and drinking water were also reported to be on the rise.

Low Birth Rates

• Low birth rates caused by women living in polluted indoor air environments during pregnancy have risen. Fumes from indoor activities such as smoking and cooking; household products and solvents used for cleaning, maintenance, personal care; air fresheners; pesticides; and damp carpet and paints are additional factors in low birth rates.

Health Issues

• Outside of the home radon, a natural radioactive gas that is released from the earth, can negatively affect overall health. Chronic bronchitis, cancer, fatigue and other health issues associated with outdoor exposure is another environmental effect of air pollution. Gases emitted by building materials, including asbestos, have been shown to cause chronic health issues. All of these environmental issues can be traced back to the deterioration of air quality and the inability of the earth to heal itself.