Name: Water is Precious
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 2 min 12 s
Description: Water is a basic requirement for all living beings. Water should be available to all castes and creeds of people and this video lays emphasis on this concept.

Question

How do fossil fuels cause air pollution?

Accepted Answer

Burning of fossil fuels like coal, petroleum and natural gases in automobiles, industries and thermal power plants is the major cause of air pollution. Fossil fuels cause air pollution by the following ways:

(i) The harmful gases like oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, emitted by the burning of fossil fuels, react with water in the atmosphere to form H₂SO₄ and HNO3, respectively. These acids combine with rainwater and fall in the form of acid rain. Acid rain increases the acidity of the soil, thereby the soil fertility decreases. It also increases the acidity of water, affecting aquatic life.
(ii) Incomplete burning of fossil fuels produces carbon monoxide. It affects the central nervous system. When present in large quantities in air, it can also lead to carbon monoxide poisoning which reduces the availability of oxygen to body tissues that lead to suffocation and finally death.

(iii) Burning of fossil fuels adds large amounts of greenhouse gases particularly carbon dioxide, methane and oxides of nitrogen to the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases trap the infra-red radiations reflected by the earth. This lead to an increase in earth's temperature which is known as global warming. This global warming further causes the melting of polar ice caps which will eventually raise the sea level and flooding of coastal regions.

(iv) Smog: The burning of fossil fuels also increases the number of suspended particles in the air. These suspended particles could be unburnt carbon particles like hydrocarbons. Their presence in the air lowers the visibility of air, especially during cold weather. This is known as smog and causes allergies, heart diseases and cancer.

How do fossil fuels cause air pollution?

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