Air Pollution

                                                               

There is an alarming rate in the increase of pollution in the air. In other words, air pollution is on the high rise in major cities around the world. For instance, in Warri, Nigeria, the air is so laden with pollutants especially from car or automobile exhaust emissions, and it’s becoming increasingly unbearable to breathe properly even as early as seven in the morning!

I particularly, have just come through a bout of cold or flu, whichever way you want to call it, as a result of this menace. And I’ m not just talking about the normal ‘flu’. A case where you sneeze or cough out mucus which actually smells like the car exhaust fumes you inhaled. The air is becoming ubreathable because of lead fumes being expelled out of the exhaust pipes of old lorries, cars, and trailers,. This is a very serious issue, one in which the Ministry of Environment at all government levels in Nigeria should look into with utmost alacrity before there is a wide spread epidemic of deaths as a result of this demise. And the sad thing however about all of this, is that people just walk on the streets or go about their normal activities plagued with, and suffering from acute health issues as a result of terrible air pollution. They are slowly dying and are completely unaware of it.  Pollution from these vehicles should be stopped by notifying the Ministry of Road , Works and Transport for the need to enforce the laws governing vehicle registeration and maintenance, and if possible sanction  these vehicles from further pollution of the environment.

The pollutants of air are numerous and this is as a result of byproducts of an expanding technological society. As long as man has lived in cities, he has polluted the air. What is currently been looked into, is the scope and the severity of air pollution. Major cities around the globe must now strive to deal with dangerously rising levels of air pollution. With the advent of population migration and growth, coupled with acute urbanization, the rate of acquisition of cars for instance, has tripled over the past decades from the 1950s up till now (21^st century). And as such, the rate of air pollution has also tripled. Noted also, smog from these cities is drifting into many sub-urban and rural areas where it is fed by cars, incinerators, and heating plants. Urban air pollution was once considered to be solely a problem of smoke in the air and the main source of the smoke obviously was industry, which burned great quantities of coal, oil and other fossil fuels. The word “smog” was coined and was generally assumed to simply denote a mixture of smoke and fog. There is however, a chemical explanation for the smog problem because cities which do not have heavy industrial complexes like burning coal or oil have had to deal with severe smog problem. Certain compounds that are present in car exhausts emissions – gaseous hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen – are invisible as they enter the atmosphere. Once in the air, however, they react under the influence of sunlight to form the ingredients of photochemical smog, a noxious form of pollution that brings tears to our eyes and makes us cough and choke as we breathe it. The combination of large numbers of cars and local weather conditions make Los Angeles, California particularly subject to photochemical smog. But cars are a major source of urban air pollution all around the world. For example, photochemical smog put Mexico City on the list of the world’s most polluted cities. Cars, buses and trunks account for sixty percent of the air pollution, with carbon monoxide levels in Mexico City exceeding those of Los Angeles in the United States. In Sidney, Australia once believed to be the cleanest environment at the time, was plagued with a high percentage of automobile emissions in the air higher than that of any city in the United States.

In recent times, China with the largest economy in the world has been thoroughly saturated with smog problem. Major cities in China, like Hong Kong and Beijing are heavily plagued with smog so that most times the indigenes are always seen to be wearing masks to prevent inhalation of these harmful substances in the air.  In Nigeria, Warri, a major oil producing city is also plagued with smog as most mornings, the air is thick and dense making buildings hardly visible against a backdrop of thick smog especially during the wet season. However, like water bodies, the atmosphere can cleanse itself as long as it is not overloaded with pollutants produced in large quantities and concentrations. Cities often accumulate pollutants both because they produce them in such large amounts and because cities are often located in river valleys, along base or on level areas beside mountains. Such areas are often subject to temperature inversions. This is an atmospheric condition in which a layer of one air lies above a layer of cold air. The cold air is heavier hence it remains near the ground and pollutants accumulate in it. In a normal situation, air near the ground is warmed by heat radiated from the ground. The air rises, causing the pollutant upward to be dissipated by winds in the upper air. When an inversion is present, the warm air that lies above the cold air is like a ceiling. It traps the pollutant, which can accumulate to dangerous levels of concentration if the inversion remains for a long time. Denver, Colorado, in the United States, has almost several times declared a state of emergency as increasing levels of air pollution have occurred due to temperature inversions. At such times, however, only strong mountain winds have been able to break up the inversions and allow the polluted air to move away, saving the city from acute air pollution.

The effects of air pollution are wide and not farfetched – people, animals, plant life and even inert materials. History tells that in October 1948, a stagnant fog heavy with pollution blanketed a small industrial town of Donora, Pennsylvania. The fog lasted for four days and by the time it had cleared, six thousand of the town’s fourteen thousand people were sick and twenty had died.  Four years later, killer smog in London caused an estimated four thousand deaths. In 1970, however, more than eight thousand people in Tokyo, Japan needed medical treatment for eye, nose and throat irritations, when heavy white smog containing sulphur acid covered the city for five days.

The most serious and immediate menace of air pollution lies in its physical effects on human beings, although it is quite difficult to access the long term health effects of air pollution. Yet there is no doubt that ailments such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma and other respiratory diseases are caused or aggravated by regular exposure to present high levels of city air pollution. Air pollutants abrade, corrode, tarnish, soil, erode, crack, weaken, and discolour materials of many varieties. For example, steel corrodes from two to four times faster in sulphur laden air. Air pollutants also kill and injure plants. Again, in Tokyo, Japan, trees and shrubs are dying in the gardens of the imperial palace. In northern Bohemia in Central Europe, polluted air from the brown-coal belt has caused blight in agricultural areas and has heavily damaged forests. In fact, the effects on vegetation are often a clue to the existence of air pollutants that are not noticeable in other forms. Carbon monoxide, hydro-carbons, sulphur compounds, metals, acids, and ozone are serious threats to most vegetation. Plants absorb these pollutants through their leaves. The leaves may develop holes, become discoloured or wilt, and eventually they may die. This may lead to the death of the entire plant. Smoke and fumes from factories especially smelters have caused the death of entire forests. In the Los Angeles area, the death of many trees has been attributed to emissions from motor vehicles. Some other undesirable effects of pollution include the damage done to buildings and materials. Sulphur pollution causes steel zinc and building stone to corrode. Ozone damages rubber and textiles, and discolours dyed materials.

Particulate matter causes the frequent painting of houses, cleaning of clothes and washing of cars. Particulate matter, nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide are all contributing factors to decreased visibility. This however, presents a hazard to operators of aircraft, automobiles and boats. The effects of air pollution on weathers and climate are not farfetched. Scientists have definitely established a relationship between air pollution and weather. Each can affect the other in numerous ways. Wind and temperatures for instance affect the quantities and extents of pollutants in the air. Strong winds are air currents which may scatter pollutants in both vertical and horizontal directions. Two pollutants nonetheless have major effects on climate and these are  Carbon-dioxide and particulate matter. Carbon-dioxide tends to trap heat in the lower atmosphere. Particulate matter however, has the opposite effect, in that it tends to reflect solar heat back into space. A marked increase in one of the other could cause a global warming or cooling trend. A perfect example of the local effects on weather is the increase in precipitation that is the amount of rainfall in cities and regions where large paper mills are adjacent to or downward from large paper mills. Particles from the mills act as nuclei around which rain drops form. Climate change in the Niger Delta areas and regions of Nigeria, where gas flaring as a result of oil exploration activities have taken its toll, the weather changes are all too glaring and are evidently displayed all year round. The region has been in recent times plagued with early heavy rains beginning sometimes as early as February, instead of the usual time in April and during the dry season which is Summer, there is an acute rise in temperatures making atmospheric conditions unbearably hot.

Air pollution can be detected, measured and analyzed using a number of methods. First of all, in order to detect gases, a sample of air can be analyzed chemically. Electronic devices make possible rapid and continuous monitoring. The degree of visibility is another indication of pollution. The Ringelmann chart can be easily used to determine the quantity of smoke in the air. This chart bears a series of numbered shadings ranging from zero which is white- to five which is black.  An observer simply matches the smokiness of the sky with the shading on the chart that corresponds most closely to what he sees. Major areas around the world have established monitoring systems that provide readings of pollution levels at various places within the cities. A global network of monitoring stations has thus been established in recent times to this effect. This has made extensive use of ground weather stations, earth satellites, computers, internet and social media devices to help identify potentially dangerous pollution situations on local levels.

But global air pollution is not very well understood. Data fragmentary and knowledge of large scale effects of air pollution is sketchy. In Africa for instance, there are no records of efforts to combat air pollution, and the governments of these African nations do not really consider this to be a menace to public and societal health. It is not even considered dangerous or a constituted problem, hence, there is an acute complacency towards an ever growing problem which is causing steadily the slow deaths of members of such countries. In Nigeria, for instance, the acute rise in urbanization has given rate to high levels of importation of second hand or fairly used cars. And many of these cars have been discarded by the actual owners from developed countries in the European Union (EU) and United States. When they are put to the Nigerian roads, the release of exhaust fumes from “old engines” in these used cars befouls the atmosphere. Also fumes from motor bikes, buses, all constitute immensely to the pollution of air. Furthermore, the indiscriminate burning of forests and bushes, burning of refuse in open dumps, and the inadequate disposal methods of solid and liquid wastes coupled with heavy land pollution has led to increased levels of polluted air. Tuberculosis, for instance, is on the high rise in cities like Warri in the Niger Delta region of the country. There is also pollution from electric power generating plants. As a result of the energy problem in the country, instability of electricity has led to the masses acquiring small generators to help power their businesses and also provide light and electricity to ensure comfort in their homes. Most times, extreme care is disregarded and people often go to bed with their mini electricity generating plants on throughout the night, without ensuring that there is good and adequate ventilation. However, several cases have been revealed about entire families being wiped out at night as they slept after inhaling exhaust fumes from these generators.

Southeast Asia, especially countries like China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and other giant Asian economies have contributed their own share to global air pollution, and this as a result of industrialization, and technological expansion and innovation. At least, China has tried to manage its air pollution situation. Still, we do not know the degree to which man is polluting the atmosphere globally. Nor do we actually know what processes the pollutants become involved in once they are in the air. Hence, we cannot determine the ultimate effects of this pollution. Data that have existed, however, are not encouraging. In times past, scientists of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report that the atmosphere over the North Atlantic is getting progressively dirtier. What is going to happen if this trend continues? Particles in the air decrease the amount of radiation that reaches the earth from the sun. It is theoretical possible that large amounts of particulate pollution could lower the average surface temperature of the earth to the point where much plants and animal life could no longer exist. Such a drastic drop in temperature could also mark the advent of another Ice Age. However, other pollutants have very different effects on climate. Between 1880 and the mid 20^th century, the earth became slightly warmer. The explanation for this increase is based on the greenhouse effect, like the glass roof of a greenhouse; carbon monoxide in the atmosphere is transparent to short wave radiant energy from the sun, one tenth to block the long wave heat energy radiated outward from the earth. Thus, an increase in the atmospheric carbon dioxide should hold more heat in the atmosphere thereby raising the earth’s average temperature. Carbon-dioxide is produced when coal, oil and other fossil fuels are burned. It is essential to note that the earth’s warming trend occurred during a time when industrial growth greatly increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and this has been the case ever since as industrial activities have skyrocketed over the past decades. But about 1940, the trend reversed. Temperatures were seen to be gradually decreasing. This reverse in trend gave room to the theory that man-made particulate pollution was screening off more of the sun’s energy. Nevertheless, atmospheric scientists are still looking and are inconclusive when it comes to predictions on the effects of pollution on the climate.