Smog
By: Sarah Larson
What is smog?
Smog is a type of fog or haze that is a mixture of smoke and other atmospheric pollutants. So it's pretty much fog and smoke mixed together in the air. It started forming around 1943 when people started to see fog in the air, but yet it really wasn't fog. Scientists studied it for years before they came up with what it was and what was causing it.
What causes smog?
Motor Vehicles- 60%
Motorcycles, on-road motor vehicles- 50%
Commercial equipment, aircrafts, trains, diesel trucks- 10%
Since people are driving somewhere almost everyday scientists think that it will be hard to stop or reverse because people are in the habit of going somewhere pretty much everyday.
Airplanes
Airplanes are part of the cause of smog from their exhaust while they are on ground and flying.
Smokestacks
Smokestacks also play a major role in smog. The steam that comes out contains SO2 and NOx, which are types of chemicals. When they go into the air they cause part of the pollution problem.
Automobiles
Automobiles are usually what people think of that causes pollution. They are right, automobiles play a big part pollution because almost everyone uses them.
How does it happen?
Smog
What are effects of smog?
The effects that smog have brought to humans are asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and other respiratory problems. It can also bring eye irritation, and reduced resistance to colds and lung infections. The effects that it brings to the environment are that plants struggle to make and store their food, plant growth, reproduction, get diseases easier, habitat stressors and pests, start dying out, kill crops like wheat, cotton, and soybeans, also it kills animals like fish and other things in a lake. Overall the general health is ruined.
How fast is it happening?
This particular problem is increasing it's speed because of all the big industries that are out there. Automobiles are starting to increase more and more. A study showed that people are driving twice as much as they did in 1980.
How can you reduce it?
There are many different ways to reduce smog. Some of the more common ways are to not drive around automobiles as much, turning off lights, and not running water as much. Some more uncommon ones are updating household appliances, using low energy models of appliances, and use smaller vehicles.
How can we prevent it in the future?
People would need to be very careful about the smoke that comes from their furnaces, metalworking, utility, and other industrial places. It would also help if they drove a lot less because of the exhaust coming from their vehicle. There are certain ways that we can reduce smog with technology, but it's either not being used or not invented yet. Some people may think that all of the newer cars are better for the air, but they really aren't because they still pollute about twice as much as they used to. I don't know about you, but this isn't the world that I want to live in. Let's go try to help decrease the smog.
This picture is in Feburary of this year in China. If we don't start doing something about this sooner or later, this is what the US could possibly look like in the future.