RP299 What Are We Breathing, Anyway

 RP299 What Are We Breathing, Anyway?

Most people take breathable air for granted, but that's changing fast. The greenhouse effect, global warming, and the thinning of Earth's ozone layer are problems we all share. And they're all caused by polluted air.

Fuming smokestacks are usually the first thing "air pollution" brings to mind. Factories are indeed big polluters, but there are many others. Landfills give off methane, which not only replaces oxygen in the atmosphere but raises temperatures by absorbing heat. Cars emit poisonous carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Paint, varnish, and hair spray all contain harmful gases. Older household appliances release chlorofluorocarbons, which damage the ozone layer. And fires and incinerators of all sorts produce toxic smoke.

When pollution reaches the air it often forms smog, the thick dirty fog that fills many cities, especially those surrounded by mountains. Los Angeles in the United States and Santiago in Chile are both famous for their smog. Chemicals combine to form dangerous compounds. Sometimes particles of pollution mix with water in the air to form acid rain, which kills plants and animals, damages property, and harms people.

Long-term exposure to polluted air causes asthma, lung cancer, heart disease, and other serious health problems. But air pollution can also act very quickly. In 1984, an estimated 15,000 people were killed and up to 600,000 injured in a single night when gases leaked from a pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. The Great Smog of 1952 killed roughly 12,000 Londoners in just four days before suddenly disappearing.

Air pollution's consequences are obvious, and governments are beginning to respond with laws and regulations. Many major polluters, however, are wealthy and influential people and corporations. Our lives may soon depend on making sure they can no longer buy their way out of their environmental responsibilities.