Causes of Atmospheric Pollution

IMPORTANT FACT: Causes of Air Pollution can either be through Human Activities or Natural Sources

Human causes;

Emission of smoke from automobiles: A major cause of air pollution is the smoke that comes from the exhaust of airplanes, ships, trains, motor vehicles, motorcycles. The smoke contains carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and others which contaminate the atmosphere and make it impure.

Emission of gases and dust from industries: Industries are a major cause of pollution of the atmosphere due to their release of gases, smoke and dust. Aluminum companies for instance produce gases such as fluorides, sulphur dioxide and sometimes aluminum dust. Oil refineries produce sulphur dioxide. . Usually these plants are found in clusters making the emission heavy and clouding nearby areas. Tema Industrial area where a lot of factories are located emit a lot of these gasses and chemicals affecting the quality of air located in this area. Examples are VALCO (Volta Aluminum Company)

Emission of smoke from burning: The burning of solid materials such a refuse, leaves, rags, plastics and other solid materials may contribute to the pollution of the atmosphere. The smoke that comes out from the burning of these materials contains such gases as carbon monoxide.

Destruction of vegetation: This is another major cause of air pollution resulting from the clearing of the forest for agricultural activities and timber exports. The clearing of trees increases the carbon dioxide and decreases the oxygen and this makes the atmosphere impure.

Defecating and urinating in open spaces outside homes without it being cleaned up leads to Air pollution. These areas usually have very bad smells and affect the whole area attracting insects like flies and maggots etc.

Fumes that come out when Paint, hair and aerosol (which are highly inflammable) sprays are used.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were used as refrigerants in older models of freezers and refrigerators. It was discovered that CFCs were gradually depleting the ozone layer allowing a great amount of dangerous ultra violet rays to reach Earth. These days however there are hardly any CFC refrigerants in freezers and refrigerators.

Several types of mining can cause air pollution. Oil and gas drilling or leaks leads to emissions of organic chemicals and nitrogen oxides into the surrounding air which in turn causes ozone pollution. In Ghana in 2012, blasting of rocks by a mining company (Golden Star Resources) at Awonakrom in the Western Region caused clouds of dust in the air which was harmful to people in the area. The blasting also led to cracks and a few buildings collapsed. Source: Daily Graphic