Green Dream

As soon as the word "environment" is mentioned I see so many people switch off. And it is no wonder. So many who are enthused about and concerned for the environment might end up sounding just a tiny touch preachy. I am probably guilty too.

Keeping that in mind I've written a post that I hope is informative and not preachy. It discusses our way of life today, in the 21st century, and weighs up why that is under threat from the very activities that have made life comfortable so far. Do we have to give up our activities to try and clean up our environment and improve our health? Isn't there any other option?

I was pleased when Green Dream Foundation, India, published my post. Please head on over to their  website to read it. They (and I) will appreciate your thoughts, comments and opinions on this and other articles on the environment.



Links
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/greendreamfoundation 
website: http://www.greendreamfoundation.org
For my articles on their website go to:  http://www.greendreamfoundation.org/life-giving-activities-or-the-environment-do-we-have-to-make-a-choice/

In their own words Green Dream Foundation, in collaboration with its partners will develop a sustainability education and advocacy platform for young people to raise their awareness of the why and how of climate change. Our objective is to inspire, educate, and promote personal behavior alternatives to carbon-intense consumption and lifestyle habits, and empower young people to play a significant role in developing climate change solutions. All our endeavors have the sole objective of bringing about change for a cleaner and a greener world.

Details: You can contact Abhishek Agarwal (Co-founder at Green Dream Foundation) at 9958866676 or abhishek@greendreamfoundation.org to discuss more about this.

Support: Green revolution, aforestation, anti-pollution, environmental awareness, reducing carbon footprint, recycling
 

The HOME project

One of the most comprehensive, hauntingly beautiful, yet frightening videos I've seen on the environment. You still come away with an upsurge of hope for our beautiful Earth, for life, for the only place we call HOME.

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  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1 
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The Earth is a Miracle - image from the Home Project

Gombodorj Byambajargal (Mongolian) starts off the singing which is somehow so fitting to the stunning images. The music is composed by Armand Amar.

The video entreats us to get involved and join them at
http://www.goodplanet.org 

The commentary tells the story of Earth as it was, interspersed with compelling images of what we've done to it, how we've depleted our natural resources and changed the climate of our planet. According to the blurb under the video, We've got ten years to change all that.

"The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being.

For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film.

HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet." Yann Arthus-Bertrand



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The Environment or Life Giving Activities?

Do we have to make a choice?

Some of our life-giving activities involve burning fossil fuels like coal and oil so we can cook, keep warm, travel and transport goods made in factories to our shops and ultimately, our homes. This is our way of life. Unfortunately, this wonderful way of life is under threat from the very activities that have made life easy so far.

Also published on GD's website

Why are these activities adversely impacting our health and the environment? Very often, it isn't the activities per se. It is the by-products of our activities that are the culprits. To date what we've been doing is taking a resource, using it to make whatever is useful and ending the process there. We haven't had to think about what by-product we've created. All too often this has been a pollutant - poisonous for our health and for the environment.

Previously, it hasn't made such a huge difference to the quality of our environment. In recent years the volume of human activity has increased so much it is releasing too many of these by-products (pollutants) into our soil, waters and air.

The World Health Organisation has set safety standards for these pollutants. According to WHO, these pollutants cannot exceed a certain level in our air, soil or water. Besides WHO, our government has set safety standards and maximum allowable limits too. But where enforcement and implementation are concerned, our government is extremely lax.

We obviously cannot stop our activities but what we can do is complete the cycle of taking a resource from the earth, the atmosphere and waters we live off by giving back a reusable resource instead of poisonous ones as the end product of our activities.


To answer the question in the title to this post, "The Environment or Life Giving Activities?" it makes sense to say, BOTH.

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Let's take resources from our soil, air and water as long as we give back re-usable resources. Giving back pollutants is not an option any more as eventually pollutants will choke the life out of everything living. 

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Why, and to what extent are these pollutants dangerous for our health and well being? The following series of articles is to help us understand why they are deadly dangerous for our health and how they are created by us humans. Once we understand this, we begin to think about the simple solutions that are in our hands with innovative ideas and knowledge.

What exactly can we do? We could make informed choices. If we understand why some gases are deadly dangerous for humans and other living beings, we'd ensure they are not the end product of our activities. To find out more: https://nevermindyaar.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-some-gases-are-deadly-dangerous-co.html

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I support "Green Dream Foundation". They are focused on generating awareness, drive action and influence formulation for a better environment globally. 

My environment posts are reproduced at these links

Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/greendreamfoundation 
website: http://www.greendreamfoundation.org
Website link:  http://www.greendreamfoundation.org/life-giving-activities-or-the-environment-do-we-have-to-make-a-choice/


In their own words Green Dream Foundation, in collaboration with its partners will develop a sustainability education and advocacy platform for young people to raise their awareness of the why and how of climate change. Our objective is to inspire, educate, and promote personal behavior alternatives to carbon-intense consumption and lifestyle habits, and empower young people to play a significant role in developing climate change solutions. All our endeavors have the sole objective of bringing about change for a cleaner and a greener world.

Details: You can contact Abhishek Agarwal (Co-founder at Green Dream Foundation) at 9958866676 or abhishek@greendreamfoundation.org to discuss more about this.

Support: Green revolution, aforestation, anti-pollution, environmental awareness, reducing carbon footprint, recycling







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Making Informed Choices

It is possible to greatly reduce air-pollution. 

Often, it isn't our activities but the by-products of our activities that lead to pollution. Take our cars or our factories. They spew out gases which react with some of the gases already present in the air (mostly oxygen) to form noxious, un-breatheable, life threatening compounds.

Is there anything we can do about it? An unequivocal Yes.


Will the changes we make affect our way of life? To a degree. But it is easier than you think and the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences.

To start with, let me address the Indian perspective. When it comes to making hard choices, here's what some of us in India feel on an individual, business and government level. 

On an individual level we think  it takes too much effort to make a change in our lifestyles. Besides, we ask, how can one person’s actions make such a difference to the air we breathe? And we do get cowed by the wise-guys who level cynical comments at our puny efforts. [Click this link to find out what wiki says about cynics.]

As for our business sector, they don’t dare take that one extra step of recycling the toxic waste their products spew into our atmosphere. That might add to the expense, increase the price of their product or service, which, in turn, would spell disaster - losing out to less ethical competitors.

And our government? Their actions and words are geared to see what will make short term and visible gains for their party.

In the larger context, we feel India hasn't really had the chance to use technology and resources to our benefit like the Western countries have; that they should reduce their consumption of fossil fuel of coal and oil. Not us.

Why doesn't the government enforce some of the laws they've enacted to protect our environment? Laws that might, for example, force all businesses, without exception, to spew out less dangerous by-products into our environment (air, waters and soil); laws that ensure the health of citizens doesn’t suffer and individuals don’t fork out huge medical bills for asthma, deformities, cancer etc.

Unfortunately, some individuals in our government might see that as yet another opportunity to make money – a nice fat bribe from some businesses so they continue to spew CO2 and other life threatening chemicals into our air, earth or water.

How do we, the citizens, fight that? We could say, never mind, yaar. It is impossible to fight corruption in high places, crony capitalism and the like. 

But we could make INFORMED choices. Here are a few.

Buy from

• businesses that are known to convert their waste to re-usable, non-hazardous resources
• businesses that don't wait for government legislation to ensure clean by-products
• businesses whose products are wrapped in recyclable and LESS packaging.

Our instinct has been to buy the cheapest. Making informed choices means fighting that instinct as, in the long term, it is far too expensive. 

We could do other simple, but effective things like, buying recycled paper, using less plastic and changing light bulbs to the energy efficient LED ones.


Most important, we could reduce food, water and electricity wastage.This is what Dr. Johnathan Foley says about our need to reduce our use of all three. Take food - 45% of land on Earth and copious amounts of fresh water are used to grow food. Well, we can't stop eating, nor does he suggest we do. 

The action he suggests is simple and do-able - Cut down on wastage.

He suggests fifteen such easy actions we could take - a must read.

Dare I mention Diwali firecrackers? I've never enjoyed them because my mum used to be asthmatic and if there was too much smoke, she would suffer a severe attack. Watching her gasp for every single breath over three days, sometimes five, was hard. More recently, our little dog (who is no more) was unable to stop trembling at the loud noise. In those days I loved good quality taras (sparklers) and phulecheries (fountains). Unfortunately today, there are simply too many of us. I am not sure what that will do to our air quality. 

Converting our own organic garbage to a resource would help. Our raddiwalas (rag pickers and bottle collectors), do a wonderful job of recycling our non-organic waste in India. We could ensure our municipality doesn't try to benefit from political rivalries by holding our streets to ransom as happened to the streets of Delhi. One of its jobs is to reduce that huge mountain of smelly, rat-roach-fly-mozzie-germ and disease breeding eyesore from our streets, not add to it. We should not let our municipalities ever forget that.

Often, it isn't our activities but the by-products of our activities that lead to pollution.

Perhaps, we could help our poor start using alternatives to coal/kerosene for their cooking.

New innovations and technology are throwing up alternatives all the time. Electric cars are far less toxic for our environment says Shai Agassi on TED - not only are they better than petroleun for the air we breathe, they are cheaper to run. Hopefully, in the long run, they will be cheaper to buy. http://sustainabilityindia.blogspot.com/2011/04/car-20.html

To give you an idea of how a few deadly dangerous gases end up in our atmosphere and what their effects are on us humans, read this post.

A final word: Many of our schools and other organisations, NGOs and businesses already make informed choices everyday. 

We can, too.

If you liked this article, click on Tweety to Share.

Ideas for this article from an inspiring author who spoke on Ted.com. He wrote "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things". His name: William McDonough; The Ted link:
http://townsendlab.berkeley.edu/townsend-center-course-threads/videos/cradle-cradle-ted-talk-author-william-mcdonough









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Why some gases are Deadly Dangerous-CO

Google Free Image Courtesy http://depletedcranium.com

Also published on GD's website

The last post asked what we'd do if we had to make a choice between the environment and some of our life giving activities. It is a tough choice to make. At a certain point in time will we have to make that choice? Not if we modify our activities to benefit both - us and the environment.

To be able to do that we first need to understand what exactly human activities have been responsible for. To date what we've done is, taken a resource from the earth, used it to make whatever's useful and ended the process there. We haven’t had to think about what by-product we’ve created.

All too often this has been a pollutant that poisons our air, waters and soil and damages our health.

1. This article tells us why certain gases like carbon monoxide are deadly dangerous for our health. It helps us understand why these gases shouldn’t be the end product of our activities.

CARBON MONOXIDE (CO)

How do human activities like burning coal emit carbon monoxide?
Ideally, burning coal should give carbon dioxide and water.
If you have a camp fire in the open air, there will always be enough oxygen to make the fuel burn completely, so you don’t have to worry about carbon monoxide. But, if you share the oxygen you breathe with too many appliances and people – for example, in an enclosed, crowded place, there isn’t enough to go around.
That is when coal or wood burns inefficiently; there is partial oxidation and instead of carbon dioxide or CO2, Carbon monoxide or CO is one of the end products.
CO is also naturally produced in volcanoes and forest fires.

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Who is at risk? 
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Anyone who works or lives in a very small or enclosed space, sharing it with many others, is exposed to harmful levels of carbon monoxide. People who work in factories, blast furnaces, who are in their vehicles in traffic - like drivers and traffic police, fire fighters and people who use coal and wood burners are at risk. In short, everyone in India is exposed to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

• When it enters the bloodstream, CO reacts with the haemoglobin in our blood and forms carboxyhaemoglobin. This reduces the ability of haemoglobin to transfer oxygen to various parts of our body.

CO causes

• headaches, fatigue, dizziness, drowsiness, or nausea.

• Exposure to elevated carbon monoxide levels can cause impairment of visual perception, manual dexterity and learning ability

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning may occur sooner in those most susceptible - young children, elderly people, unborn babies, people with lung or heart disease, people at high altitudes, or those who already have elevated CO blood levels, such as smokers.

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Some other gases that are harmful to humans. Click on each

Carbon Monoxide  

Carbon Dioxide  

Sulphur Dioxide  

Nitrogen Dioxide  

Acid Rain

Particulate Matter  

Ground Level Ozone and Odours


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Why some gases are Deadly Dangerous-SO2

The last post asked what we'd do if we had to make a choice between the environment and some of our life giving activities. It is a tough choice to make. At a certain point in time will we have to make that choice? Not if we modify our activities to benefit both - us and the environment.

To be able to do that we first need to understand what exactly human activities have been responsible for.
To date what we've done is, taken a resource from the earth, used it to make whatever's useful and ended the process there. We haven’t had to think about what by-product we’ve created.

All too often this has been a pollutant that poisons our air, waters and soil and damages our health.

2. This article tells us why certain gases like sulphur dioxide are deadly dangerous for our health. It helps us understand why these gases shouldn’t be the end product of our activities.

SULPHUR DIOXIDE (SO2)

Google Free Image Courtesy http://depletedcranium.com

Sulphur dioxide, a chemical compound with the formula SO2, is a heavy, colourless, non-flammable gas with a pungent, irritating odour. Even though SO2 is very toxic to humans, it is extremely useful. It is used extensively in the preparation of sulphur compounds and solvents, as a disinfectant, a bleach, a refrigerant in the ice industry, for fumigation and as a preservative for beer, wine, dried fruits and meats.

How is it formed through human activity?

Industry: Coal- and oil-fired power plants, steel mills, refineries, pulp and paper mills, and nonferrous smelters are the largest releasers of SO2.
Transportation, Keeping Warm and Cooking: No burning process is ideal. All fossil fuels have contaminants. Since coal, oil and diesel often contain sulphur and nitrogen compounds, their combustion generate sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
Mining: Coal mining itself produces SO2. Coal contains pyrite, a sulphur compound; as water washes through mines, this compound forms a dilute acid, which is then washed into nearby rivers and streams.

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Why Sulphur dioxide is toxic to life 
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If we are exposed to 10ppm (parts per million) SO2 for about an hour, it
• irritates the nose and throat
• sometimes causes a choking sensation
• It also causes nasal discharge, sneezing, cough and increased mucus secretion
• In addition, sulphur compounds in the air contribute to decreased visibility.
• SO2 is also a primary contributor to acid rain, which causes acidification of lakes and streams and can damage trees, crops, historic buildings and statues.
• High concentrations of sulphur dioxide (SO2) affects breathing and may aggravate existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Sensitive populations include asthmatics, individuals with bronchitis or emphysema, children and the elderly.

In India, the levels in 5 years to 2014, were up by over 70%. Dangerous levels are 4 to 500 ppm and during Diwali, they go up to over 700 ppm in India

All images from here

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Some other gases that are harmful to humans. Click on each

Carbon Monoxide  

Carbon Dioxide  

Sulphur Dioxide  

Nitrogen Dioxide  

Acid Rain

Particulate Matter  

Ground Level Ozone and Odours

Why Some Gases Are Deadly Dangerous-CO2

The last post asked what we'd do if we had to make a choice between the environment and some of our life giving activities. It is a tough choice to make. At a certain point in time will we have to make that choice? Not if we modify our activities to benefit both - us and the environment.

To be able to do that we first need to understand what exactly human activities have been responsible for.

To date what we've done is, taken a resource from the earth, used it to make whatever's useful and ended the process there. We haven’t had to think about what by-product we’ve created.

All too often this has been a pollutant that poisons our air, waters and soil and damages our health.

3. This article tells us why certain gases like carbon dioxide are deadly dangerous for our health. It helps us understand why these gases shouldn’t be the end product of our activities.

CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2)


Carbon Dioxide is beneficial to everything living.

It is necessary for plant life and photosynthesis. It is necessary for humans too as without CO2, the Earth would be too cold for life. This is how it heats up our planet. Carbon dioxide is completely transparent to sunlight and lets it pass through and strike the earth's surface. The sun’s light and warmth are partly absorbed by Earth but partly reflected back as infrared energy that radiates back into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is not transparent to infrared energy and it traps the heat on the surface of the planet like a blanket. The other gases that trap this infrared energy and warm our planet are nitrous oxide, water vapour and methane. Together with Carbon dioxide these gases are known as the greenhouse gases.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_green/390180606/

So if carbon dioxide does so much for us, why is it considered bad?

It isn’t carbon dioxide that is bad. It is just the excess carbon dioxide that has been released into our air due to human activity.

For millions of years living vegetation has provided the balance by mopping up the excess CO2 during photosynthesis. But in recent years the cutting down of our forests has drastically reduced vegetation and as a result, there aren’t enough plants to mop up the excess CO2 from our air.

Also, we use a lot of fossil fuels like coal and oil which have been buried deep into the Earth for millions of years. In the last few hundred years our level of dependence on these fossil fuels has increased exponentially. We bring up these fossil fuels from deep inside the Earth and burn them for our factories, as petroleum for our automobiles, as oil or coal to heat up our homes and to cook. The carbon that is trapped inside these fossil fuels reacts with oxygen from the air to produce the heat we need. One of the by-products is carbon dioxide which is released into our air.

The number of people breathing our air has increased a million fold too due to increases in population.

Now the problem is obvious – for the above reasons, too much carbon dioxide is thrown into our atmosphere but not enough carbon dioxide is being removed.

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How excess Carbon Dioxide affects the Earth
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• With more and more infrared energy radiated back from our Earth trapped under the increased level of carbon dioxide, Earth is becoming warmer. This in turn causes changes in climate, currents, melting glaciers and ice caps. If enough ice melts, it could raise the sea level around the planet and low-lying coastal areas would become completely submerged.

• It disrupts our ocean currents which are caused by warm and cold waters meeting and mixing. With glaciers heating up and melting due to excess CO2 in the air, the difference between the cold and warm waters is greatly reduced.

• It increases the acidity of the oceans, which may interfere with the amount of oxygen that ocean life produces (the oceans are a far more important source of oxygen than all the plants on land).

By affecting the Earth, excess carbon dioxide harms everything living.

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How excess CO2 directly affects humans
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• Increased levels of CO2 in the air causes nausea, dizziness, headaches, blurred vision, stiffness and a terrible odour. These reasons alone are worth human beings monitoring their activities to keep the level of CO2 in the atmosphere at the normal of 350 to 450 ppm. Right now it is too much more.

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Some other gases that are harmful to humans. Click on each:

Carbon Monoxide  

Carbon Dioxide  

Sulphur Dioxide  

Nitrogen Dioxide  

Acid Rain

Particulate Matter  

Ground Level Ozone and Odours

Why some gases are Deadly Dangerous-PM

The last post asked what we'd do if we had to make a choice between the environment and some of our life giving activities. It is a tough choice to make. At a certain point in time will we have to make that choice? Not if we modify our activities to benefit both - us and the environment.

To be able to do that we first need to understand what exactly human activities have been responsible for.

To date what we've done is, taken a resource from the earth, used it to make whatever's useful and ended the process there. We haven’t had to think about what by-product we’ve created.

All too often this has been a pollutant that poisons our air, waters and soil and damages our health.

4. This article tells us why particulate matter or PM is deadly dangerous for our health. It helps us understand why it shouldn’t be the end product of our activities.

PARTICULATE MATTER (PM)

Google Free Image Courtesy http://depletedcranium.com

Particulates, alternatively referred to as particulate matter (PM) or fine particles, are tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended in a gas. The variety is huge.

• Sulfates, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, carbon, mineral-dust and water.

• Dust, dirt, soot, smoke and liquid droplets directly emitted by factories, power plants, cars, construction activity, fires and natural windblown dust.

Sources of particulate matter can be man-made or natural. Some particulates occur naturally, originating from volcanoes, dust storms, forest and grassland fires, living vegetation, and sea spray.

Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles, power plants and various industrial processes (déjà vu?) also generate significant amounts of PM. Sulphur compounds react with other compounds in the atmosphere to form particulate matter or PM.

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Why does Particulate Matter affect more people than other pollutants?  
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Particulate Matter penetrates deeply into sensitive parts of the lungs because they are easily inhaled and can cause or worsen respiratory disease, such as emphysema and bronchitis, and can aggravate existing heart disease by penetrating deep inside our arteries, leading to increased hospital admissions and even premature death. The smaller the PM, the greater its ability to penetrate deep inside our bodies.

Besides affecting our health PM can also
• damage materials
• clog stomata openings of plants and interfere with photosynthesis. This can stunt the growth of plants or even kill them.
• contribute to acid rain formation.
• form atmospheric haze that degrades visibility.

Facts and figures about PM that are a cause for concern:

The most concentrated PM pollution tends to be in densely populated metropolitan areas in developing countries. 

The primary cause is the burning of fossil fuels by transportation and industrial sources. 

Photo by Thunderror http://www.flickr.com/photos/thunderror/2463862190/in/photostream

Traffic exhaust is the single most serious preventable cause of heart attack in the general public. 

Children, seniors, and individuals with pre-existing respiratory diseases are most susceptible to these health risks.
 

In developing countries, exposure to pollutants from indoor combustion of solid fuels on open fires or traditional stoves increases the risk of acute lower respiratory infections and associated mortality among young children. 

Indoor air pollution from solid fuel use is also a major risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer among adults.

All images from here

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If you found this information useful, please share on Twitter by clicking Tweety.

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Some other gases that are dangerous to humans. Click on each

Carbon Monoxide  

Carbon Dioxide  

Sulphur Dioxide  

Nitrogen Dioxide  

Acid Rain

Particulate Matter  

Ground Level Ozone and Odours

Why some gases are Deadly Dangerous-O3 and Odours

The last post asked what we'd do if we had to make a choice between the environment and some of our life giving activities. It is a tough choice to make. At a certain point in time will we have to make that choice? Not if we modify our activities to benefit both - us and the environment.

To be able to do that we first need to understand what exactly human activities have been responsible for.
To date what we've done is, taken a resource from the earth, used it to make whatever's useful and ended the process there. We haven’t had to think about what by-product we’ve created.

All too often this has been a pollutant that poisons our air, waters and soil and damages our health.

5.
a. This article tells us why certain gases like ground level ozone are deadly dangerous for our health. It helps us understand why these gases shouldn’t be the end product of our activities.
b. Ground level ozone shouldn't be confused with stratospheric ozone which is a protective layer of ozone.
c. This article also explains how dangerous odours from garbage, sewage, and industrial processes are for human health.

STRATOSPHERIC (or Protective) OZONE

Ozone or O3 is naturally present in the stratosphere – high above the earth. This ozone layer acts like a shield and prevents dangerous parts of UV light from the sun to reach the Earth. This ozone layer is highly desirable. It is the beneficial layer of ozone. Unfortunately, due to human activities, the ozone in our stratosphere is getting depleted.

In New Zealand, they inform us there is a hole in the ozone layer and we are advised daily that “burn time” is so many minutes (this number varies). This means that we should remain in the sun only for that many minutes, say seventeen minutes, and then move into the shade. We are constantly advised to slap on “sun block”, wear hats, thin long sleeves in summer and take precautions so that we aren’t exposed to the dangerous parts of UV light from the sun.

There is a high risk of skin cancer in places whose ozone layer has been depleted by human activity. The harmful UV rays could also give us cataract, impaired immune systems, destroy plants and plankton which is food for marine life and the most effective carbon absorber on planet Earth.

Which Human Activities cause ozone depletion in the Stratosphere?

Ozone-depleting agents are used in coolants, foaming agents, fire extinguishers, solvents, and aerosols. It sometimes takes these ozone-depleting chemicals years to reach the stratosphere. Substances released into the air today will contribute to ozone destruction well into the future. The main culprits are chlorine and bromine compounds.

One chlorine or bromine molecule can destroy 100,000 ozone molecules, so ozone is currently being destroyed much more quickly than nature can replace it.

Ground Level (or Dangerous) Ozone and Smog

Smog Over Delhi from Google Free Images Courtesy: www.johnelkington.com

The ozone that is dangerous to human health is ground level ozone. It is exactly the same chemical formula as stratospheric (or protective) ozone – O3. Yet, it is a major health hazard and a major constituent of photochemical smog.
Previously smog was a combination of just smoke and fog. Today smog is a chemical mixture of various gases and particulate matter (PM) that forms a brownish-yellow haze primarily over urban areas.
Nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons (except methane) react in the presence of heat and sunlight to form ozone. It is a white haze that can be seen over many modern cities, especially the ones with sunny, warm, dry climates and a large number of motor vehicles. Because it travels with the wind, it can affect sparsely populated areas as well. It is close to the Earth in the troposphere and is called tropospheric ozone. This ozone is one component of smog.

It reacts with other components like sulphur dioxide, VOCs etc in various ways to form the brownish yellow haze, the modern day smog, that we see over so many cities with a poorly controlled environment. As the smog levels build, polluted air can be trapped and re-circulated for days so that car exhaust fumes are found in our atmosphere even when we aren’t driving.

Ground level ozone becomes a threat to the functioning of all living things after it reaches 82 ppb (parts per billion).
 
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What are the effects of ground level ozone on our environment and health? 
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Human exposure to ozone can produce shortness of breath and, over time, permanent lung damage. Research shows that ozone may be harmful at levels even lower than the current federal air standard Excessive ground level ozone can cause breathing problems, irritation, congestion, coughing, chest pain and swelling in the lungs. It triggers asthma. Even healthy adults and children get affected.
It affects the immune system. Many of the chemicals that cause ground-level ozone also contribute to other health effects, including cancer, and tissue and organ damage.
High ozone concentrations also cause damage to the leaves of plants, resulting in the loss of agricultural crop yields and forest ecosystems.

Odours such as from garbage, sewage, and industrial processes

Everyone knows the dangers to health and the environment of spitting, rubbish throwing, urinating and defecating on our streets. We all know the dangers of garbage piled high on our streets. What we don’t know is that apart from hygiene issues, it badly affects our olfactory (smell) and other systems.

As a result we have varied reactions like eye irritations and sore throats, coughs, drowsiness, asthma and even depression.

Odours disturb concentration and diminish productivity as our disgust with our environment remains uppermost in our minds.

At the same time, we tend to ignore and not complain about our symptoms of discomfort but productivity in such an environment goes down considerably. Our ability to perform tasks may decrease as our dislike for particular odours increases. Work force populations vary in levels of discomfort from odours because of exposure history and habituation. But whether we may, or may not realize the possible risks of consistent bad odours, they affect human health and well being.

All images from here

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Some other gases that are harmful to humans. Click on each:

Carbon Monoxide  

Carbon Dioxide  

Sulphur Dioxide  

Nitrogen Dioxide  

Acid Rain

Particulate Matter  

Ground Level Ozone and Odours


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