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Topic : Association b/w air pollution and Global Warming

Course Title : Aerosols and Environmental Health

INSTITUTE OF ZOOLOGY, PUNJAB UNIVERSITY,
LAHORE
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Air Pollution……………………………………………… 04
Types of Air Pollutants…………………………………… 05
Causes……………………………………………………… 07
Air Quality Index Table…………………………………… 10
Air pollution status of Pakistan…………………………… 11
Global Warming…………………………………………… 11
Causes of global warming…………………………………
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How to control it…………………………………………… 18

Summary

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Two of the planet's main environmental problems, climate change and air
pollution, are closely linked
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While
the sources of air pollution and climate change are indeed generally similar, i
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current methods of transport, the production and consumption of goods and energy
etc
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Firstly, climate change is the global variation of the Earth's climate due to
natural causes and human activity
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The main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide
(CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O)
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Climate
change has many consequences with global impact, mainly due to changes in
climate patterns, the rising sea level and more extreme meteorological phenomena
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For its part, air pollution is the presence, in the air, of substances or particles that
imply danger, damage or disturbance for humans, flora or fauna
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These gases result mainly from emissions caused by the burning of
fossil fuels (including emissions generated by transport), industrial processes,
burning of forests, aerosol use, and radiation
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Air pollution and
climate change tend to get worse over time
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5 per cubic meter of air should not exceed 25 micrograms,
yet this figure is surpassed in many cities around the world
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Energy efficiency, more renewable energy, the use of
electric vehicles, less resource consumption, application of measures from
the Paris Agreement: will ultimately serve to reduce the polluting emissions that
raise the temperature of the planet and make the atmosphere such a polluted
environment
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Although some pollutants are released by natural sources like volcanoes,
coniferous forests, and hot springs, the effect of this pollution is very small when
compared to that caused by emissions from industrial sources, power and heat
generation, waste disposal, and the operation of internal combustion engines
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The air pollution problem
is encountered outdoor as well as indoor
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The indoor air pollution
came to our attention during 80's while outdoor air pollution has been around for
some time
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The major pollutants which contribute to outdoor air pollution are sulfur dioxide,
carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, total suspended particulate matter, lead,
carbon dioxide, and toxic pollutants
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Some are:
Air pollution affects every one of us
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Air pollution reduces crop yields and affects animal life
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The problems of air pollution in Los Angles, New York city and Chicago, U
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during the fifties drew attention of regulators in the United States
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Invisible emissions of toxic pollutants
were recognized in the late seventies
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These emissions increased manifolds since then, making air
pollution monitoring, prevention and control inevitable
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Primary Pollutants
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The source can be either a natural process such as sandstorms and
volcanic eruptions or anthropogenic (influenced by humans) such as industrial and
vehicle emissions
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Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
Sulfur dioxide is an invisible gas with a strong odor
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Humans and animals exposed to sulfur dioxide
display severe respiratory problems
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Carbon monoxide (CO)
Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas emitted by the incomplete combustion of fuel
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Carbon monoxide is
very toxic and is linked to an increased risk of heart disease
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Nitrogen oxides (NOX)
Fossil fuel combustion (gasoline and diesel engines) is the main source for
nitrogen oxides in urban areas, while microbial activity in the soil and agricultural
practices such as the use of synthetic fertilizers are its main sources in rural areas
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Particulate matter (PM)
Particulate matter is a term referring to solid particles and liquid droplets found in
the atmospheric air
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They can be industrial and transportation-related as well when their
sources are metallurgical processes or exhausts and tire breaks
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Examples of secondary pollutants include photochemical oxidants (ozone, nitrogen
dioxide, sulfur trioxide) and secondary particulate matter
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Some of them leave evident traces in the air; others can go unnoticed
unless specific tests are conducted - or until you become ill from their effects
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Anthropogenic Causes
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Mining and smelting – emit into the air a variety of metals adsorbed on
particulate matter that is suspended in the air due to crushing & processing
of mineralogical deposits;
Mine tailing disposal – due to their fine particulate nature (resulting after
crushing and processing mineral ores) constitute a source of metals to
ambient air which could be spread by the wind over large areas;

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Foundry activities – emit into the air a variety of metals absorbed on
particulate matter that is suspended in the air due to processing of metallic
raw materials (including the use of furnaces);
Various industrial processes may emit both organic and inorganic
contaminants through accidental spills and leaks of stored chemicals or the
handling and storage of chemicals – especially of volatile inorganic
chemicals
Transportation – emits a series of air pollutants (gases – including carbon
monoxide, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen oxides - and particulate matter)
through the tailpipe gases due to internal combustion of various fuels
(usually gasses such as oxides of carbons, of sulfur, of nitrogen, as well as
organic chemicals as PAHs)
Construction and Demolition activities – pollute the air with
various construction materials
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Coal Power Plants – when burning coal this may emit a series of gases as
well as particulate matter with metals (such as As, Pb, Hg) and organic
compounds (especially PAHs);
Heating of buildings – emits a series of gases and particulate matters due to
burning fossil fuels;
Waste Incineration – depending on waste composition, various toxic gases,
and particulate matter is emitted into the atmosphere;
Landfill disposal practices – usually generate methane due to the
intensification of natural microbial decaying activity in the disposal area;
Agriculture – pollute the air usually through emissions of ammonia gas and
the application of pesticides/herbicides/insecticides which contain toxic
volatile organic compounds;
Control burning in forest and agriculture management – includes
controlled burning that will emit gases and particulate matter (similar to
wildfires described above)

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Military activities – may introduce toxic gases through practices and
training;
Smoking – emits a series of toxic chemicals including a series of organic
and inorganic chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic;
Storage and use of household products such as paint, sprays, varnish, etc
that contains organic solvents which volatilize in the air (hence the smell we
all feel while using them);
Dry cleaned clothes - may retain and emit in the atmosphere small amounts
of chlorinated solvents (such as PCE) or petroleum solvents that have been
used by the dry cleaners; this could eventually create a health risk if the
clothes returned from the dry cleaners are stored in enclosed indoor spaces
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At the time of writing this article, Karachi and Lahore were
among the 10 cities in the world to have the most polluted air, with Lahore's AQI
(Air Quality Index) at 188 and Karachi's at 182
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Beyond that, an AQI 0f 100-150 becomes unhealthy for children, and people with
heart and lung disease
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Data
from Lahore and Peshawar showed an AQI of above 300 on multiple days in the
month of November
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Pakistan’s air pollution
levels have transformed into a more dire health emergency than smoking,
tuberculosis, and unsafe water and sanitation, reducing our life expectancy more
than any of the three listed causes
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Air pollution worsens respiratory problems for children as well as adults,
causes childhood cancer, and impacts healthy brain development
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ccording to the
most recent World Health Organization data, there are some good reasons to be
worried about the air quality in Lahore, with an yearly average of 68 µg/m3 of
PM2
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Obviously, 165
- Unhealthy is just a yearly average, and the air pollution can reach much
higher 300+ hazardous levels- just like the recent smog events in early November
2016
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5 data available in Lahore, nor in Pakistan (source)
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Certain gases in the atmosphere act like glass in a
greenhouse, allowing sunlight through to heat the earth's surface but trapping the

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heat as it radiates back into space
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This process is leading to a rapid change in
climate, also known as climate change
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But the current climatic warming is occurring
much more rapidly than past warming events
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These natural causes are still in play today, but their influence is
too small or they occur too slowly to explain the rapid warming seen in recent
decades
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Based on plausible emission scenarios, average
surface temperatures could rise between 2°C and 6°C by the end of the 21st
century
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The impact of global warming is far greater than
just increasing temperatures
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Some of these changes are
already occurring
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By the
beginning of the 21st century, Earth’s temperature was roughly 0
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(NASA figure adapted from Goddard Institute for Space
Studies Surface Temperature Analysis
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They include
carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides and in some cases chlorine and
bromine containing compounds
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Their
overall effect is to warm the Earth’s surface and the lower atmosphere
because greenhouse gases absorb some of the outgoing Radiation of Earth
and re-radiate it back towards the surface
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5 W/m with
carbon dioxide contribution about 60 % to this figure, methane about 25
percent, with nitrous oxides and halocarbons providing the remainder
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The response was striking: large scale international scientific
programmes were mounted to prove that CFCs (used as aerosol
propellants in industrial cleaning fluids and in refrigeration tools) were
the cause of the problem
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The second major cause of global
warming is the depletion of ozone layer
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When ultraviolet light is
present, these gases dissociate releasing chlorine atoms which then catalyses
ozone destruction
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Firstly, they
scatter and absorb solar and infrared radiation and secondly, they may
alter the microphysical and chemical properties of clouds and perhaps
affect their lifetime and extent
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The human contribution to the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere
is of various forms
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Biomass burning generates a mixture of organic droplets and soot particles
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Moreover,
exhaust emissions from various sorts of transport produce a rich mixture
of pollutants that are either aerosols from the outset or are transformed
by chemical reactions in the atmosphere to form aerosols
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The average global temperature has increased by
about 1
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8 degrees Celsius) over the past 100 years,
according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
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That year Earth's surface temperature
was 1
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99 degrees C) warmer than the average across the entire
20th century
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And
before 2015? Yep, 2014
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For the contiguous United States and
Alaska, 2016 was the second-warmest year on record and the 20th consecutive
year that the annual average surface temperature exceeded the 122-year average
since record keeping began, according to NOAA
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While experiencing some of
the hottest summers on record, much of the United States has also been
experiencing colder-than-normal winters
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For example, hurricane
formations will change
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"And even if they become less frequent globally, hurricanes could still become
more frequent in some particular areas," said atmospheric scientist Adam Sobel,
author of "Storm Surge: Hurricane Sandy, Our Changing Climate, and Extreme
Weather of the Past and Future" (HarperWave, 2014)
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" This is
because hurricanes get their energy from the temperature difference between the
warm tropical ocean and the cold upper atmosphere
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 Ice melt:
One of the primary manifestations of climate change so far is melt
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According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, there is now 10
percent less permafrost, or permanently frozen ground, in the Northern
Hemisphere than there was in the early 1900s
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It can also release long-buried
microbes, as in a 2016 case when a cache of buried reindeer carcasses thawed
and caused an outbreak of anthrax
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Sea ice hit record-low extents in both the fall and winter of 2015 and 2016,
meaning that at the time when the ice is supposed to be at its peak, it was lagging
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That
means less heat is reflected back into the atmosphere by the shiny surface of the ice
and more is absorbed by the comparatively darker ocean, creating a feedback loop
that causes even more melt, according to NASA's Operation Ice Bridge
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In 2014, the World Meteorological
Organization reported that sea-level rise accelerated 0
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This is around double the average annual rise of 0
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(1
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Melting polar ice in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, coupled with melting ice
sheets and glaciers across Greenland, North America, South America, Europe and
Asia, are expected to raise sea levels significantly
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27, 2013, climate scientists said they
are at least 95 percent certain that humans are to blame for warming oceans,
rapidly melting ice and rising sea levels, changes that have been observed since the
1950s
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If current trends
continue, many coastal areas, where roughly half of the Earth's human population
lives, will be inundated
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S
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In 2016 and 2017, portions of the Great Barrier Reef in
Australia were hit with bleaching, a phenomenon in which coral eject their
symbiotic algae
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 How to control it:

Act locally, nationally, and internationally
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 Turn the thermostats up more in the summer and down more in the winter to
save more energy
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Socks really help
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Do less dish loads, wash loads,
lawn and plant watering
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 Try to save, store and eat all the food you buy
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Consume more easy on the environment foods like rice, beans and wheat
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EAT LESS
MEAT! Meat, especially beef is creating a climate crisis all over the world
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 Purchase more efficient lighting bulbs like LED’s
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 Drive more fuel-efficient vehicles with greater mileages, Diesels, Electrics
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 Invest in as much weatherization as you can afford
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 If you can afford it, upgrade to the most ENERGY STAR energy-efficient
appliances

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