الأخطار التي تهدد البيئة بالانجليزية
الأخطار
التي تهدد البيئة بالانجليزية
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THE EFFECTS
OF ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
DEFINITIONS
MAIN
POLLUTANTS
SOURCES AIR
POLLUTION
THE EFFECTS
OF ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
MONITORING
AIR QUALITY
REGULATIONS
EPISODES OF
POLLUTION
ATMOSPHERIC
POLLUTION AND AIRPORT ACTIVITIES
SCALE
CONCEPT
The
phenomena of atmospheric pollution concern different scales. At each scale, the
pollutants that have an impact are not identical, they differ in particular by
their lifetime in the atmosphere and their physicochemical dynamics.
Local scale
The
so-called proximity pollution is mainly due to fixed sources (industrial or
residential plume) or mobile sources (exhausts due to road traffic). It is
often associated with perceptible phenomena by sight or smell, and the
pollutants involved have a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere. In the
case of dense activities, high levels of pollution may cover entire
agglomerations.
Regional
scale
Urban or
industrial pollution can travel long distances and impact the suburbs of
agglomerations or even rural areas. This particularly concerns so-called
"secondary" pollutants such as ozone (phenomenon of photochemical
pollution) or the fallout in the form of acid rain. These fallout can be
observed several tens or even hundreds of kilometers from their place of
emission.
Planetary
scale
Two main
pollution phenomena have been highlighted on this scale:
•
destruction of stratospheric ozone, or "hole" in the ozone layer.
• global
warming or disturbance, due to the increase in greenhouse gases caused by
humans.
At this
scale, the place of emission does not matter: all the emitted compounds will
accumulate in the atmosphere and persist for several tens or even hundreds of
years by participating in the global impacts.
EFFECTS ON
THE ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH
Main effects
on the local environment
Some
compounds contribute to the alteration of materials such as sulfur dioxide,
which corrodes and blackens buildings. Dust resulting mainly from the
combustion of petroleum products or mining activities also dirty and
deteriorate buildings, in relation to moisture and micro-organisms. Plants can
also be damaged by certain pollutants: necrosis, slow growth, acidification of
ecosystems, decreased resistance, etc. Some plants can also be used as
indicators of pollution (lichens sensitive to sulfur dioxide, ozone tobacco
...): it is biomonitoring.
Acid rain is
linked to certain so-called "acidic" pollutants, such as sulfur
dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
Effects on
health
Pollutants
can have multiple effects on human health. They can cause various disorders by
inhalation (SO2, O3, PM10, etc.), by contact with the skin (aldehydes), or they
can also lead to cardiac, digestive, renal and nervous disorders. Some VOCs,
such as benzene, may be carcinogenic, teratogenic or mutagenic.
