THE LITHOSPHERE AND LAND POLLUTION
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THE EARTH
Often air pollution causes people difficulty breathing. Some groups of people such as infants, the elderly, and people with asthma or other respiratory diseases are more heavily affected by air pollution.
Pollutants in the air, caught in air currents, can cause problems hundreds and even thousands of miles away from where the polluting actually took place. So even people who do not live in a region that is being polluted are affected.
The ozone layer, is one layer in our atmosphere which protects us from sun rays which can harm people. CFCs emitted into the air by Styrofoam, aerosol spray cans, air conditioners, refrigerators, and fire extinguishers destroy the ozone layer.
Not only does air pollution make the air unclean for people and animals to breathe, but it is actually the perpetrator behind acid rain and the greenhouse effect.
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Sulfur dioxide, given off as power plants burn coal or oil, can mix with water vapor and other compounds to form sulfuric acid.
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Nitrogen oxide emitted by automobiles can change in our atmosphere into nitric acid.
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Rainfall is usually slightly acidic with a pH of 6. Acid rain with a pH of 3 is approximately 30 times more acidic than a normal rainfall.
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Acid rain is considerably more acidic than tomatoes. Its acidity fluctuates between the acidity of coffee and vinegar.
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Acid rain can destroy forests and kill animals which drink and live in the streams, ponds, and rivers it contaminates.
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As the earth heats up sea levels may rise. Areas such as southern Florida or Louisiana could flood. When a climate zone shifts, those organisms unable to move and keep up with the change in region could become extinct.
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Carbon dioxide traps the heat. It is created by burning gasoline, coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as when tropical forests are cut and burned.
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