Air Pollution Essay

The detriment of air pollution is that it has far reaching consequences and most often is misplaced long distances by the wind. Polluted air shows up in places where you wouldn’t expect or desire it, like in the most remote parts of beloved national parks or barren wilderness. This can be attributed to higher power plant pipes that transport pollutants above a local community contribute to carrying pollutants sometimes thousands of miles away by wind. This can be particularly true in downwind states, where emissions from industrial boilers and power plants contribute to smog, haze, and air pollution hundreds of miles away (EPA, 2014) . The Clean Air Act has a number of programs designed to reduce downwind transport of pollution from one area

As traffic and other sources add more ozone-forming pollutants to the air, the ground-level ozone gets worse. Motor vehicles are accountable for almost 50 percent of smog-forming volatile organic compounds, more than 50 percent of nitrogen oxide emissions, and about 50 percent of the toxic air pollutant emissions in the United States (EPA, 2014) . In the United States, there are more than 210 million cars and light-duty trucks on the road resulting in carbon monoxide emissions at a whopping 75 percent (EPA, 2014) . Between 1970 and 2005, the increase in the use of travel by Americans rose to 178 percent and continues to increase at a rate of two to three percent each year (EPA, 2014) . Beginning in the late 1980s, America’s love affair for large vehicles began as there was a significant increase in vans, SUVs, and pickup trucks on the road. By the year 2000, these "light-duty trucks" accounted for about half of the new passenger car sales, which on average consume more gasoline per mile and contribute three to five times more pollution than cars (EPA, 2014)