AIR POLLUTION
BLOWIN'IN THE WIND
"Almost twenty years after Clean Air
Act passed, tens of millions of Americans still breathe dirty air. According to
the Environmental Protection Agency, over 76 million people live in areas where
the [clean air] standard is exceeded."
‑Breathing Easier,The World Resources Institute
WHAT IS IT?
"Ozone, the
primary component of smog, is a gas formed when nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons
combine in sunlight. In the atmosphere, ozone
occurs naturally as a thin layer that protects us from the sun's ultraviolet rays.
But when it's formed at ground level, it's deadly." ‑The Clean Air Project
WHERE DOES IT COME
FROM?
"Cars, trucks,
and buses one of the chief sources of hydrocarbons and 8.5 million tons of
nitrogen oxides were [spewed] into the air by motor vehicles Utilities, oil, and chemical plants, are also a
large part of the problem, accounting for
approximately half the hydrocarbon emissions
and half the nitrogen oxide emissions in the U.S." ‑Breathing
Easier, The World Resources Institute
SMOGALERT
"Lung damage from ozone polluted air is a
risk faced by roughly 3 out of 5 Americans.
‑Exhausting Our Future,
The Public Interest Research Groups.
"Most people
don't realize that smog harms other forms of
life as well as people. Ozone smog is
responsible for extensive damage to pines in
Americans buy (and
throw away) 500 million disposable cigarette lighters every year.