Atmospheric Pollution

What Does Atmospheric Pollution Mean?

Atmospheric pollution is the presence of undesirable material in the air in quantities large enough to produce harmful effects.

The undesirable materials may damage human health, vegetation, human property, or the global environment, as well as create aesthetic insults in the form of brown or hazy air or unpleasant smells. Many of these harmful materials enter the atmosphere from sources currently beyond human control.

Safeopedia Explains Atmospheric Pollution

In the most densely inhabited parts of the planet, particularly in industrialized countries, the principal sources of atmospheric pollution are human activities.

Atmospheric pollutants are either naturally occurring or manufactured. Naturally occurring atmospheric pollutants make up the background pollution in any given geographic location and may include the following natural sources: wind-blown dust, ash or gas emissions from volcanic activity, smoke or gases from forest fires, pollen from plants, etc.

Pollutants from human activities are major contributors to urban atmospheric pollution and generally come from motor vehicles, municipal trash, electric power generation, and the production of commodities and consumer products.

Effects of atmospheric pollution to humans include respiratory and heart problems. Studies have also shown that children living in areas that have been exposed to atmospheric pollutants commonly suffer from pneumonia and asthma.