WEATHER
Introduction
One of the biggest scientists preoccupation nowadays in the weather studies and of environmentalist all around the world is the maintenance of thermal balance of the terrestrial atmosphere, gradually compromised by the industrial activities and by the burning in big scale of the Earth's biomass.
The damage effects to environment, caused by residues dejects form industrial process generated by development, reach a lot of environmental goods, as air, more specifically the atmosphere.
Just for quoting one of these problems, we can talk about the problem with ozone, that is one of the gases that exist in the atmosphere. Ozone avoids the free penetration and in big scale of the ultraviolet rays that are bad for animal life. Otherwise the ozone layer is suffering its diminution by the increasing of gases as CFC and dioxide of carbon (CO2), produced by men, that one in lab and this one as result of the burning of fossil fuels, mainly, which consume ozone, creating a kind of "hole in the atmosphere" known as "ozone hole", from where the ultraviolet rays pass with high grade of dangerous to human beings.
By the decreasing order of cleaning, we can list the use of gas, oil and coal as producers of atmospherical pollution.
All of them, otherwise, collaborate to three big problems: the global heating, the urban-industrial pollution of the air and the environment acidification.Pollution classification, sources and factors
The air pollution is classified in: pollution by industrial remains; pollution by pesticides, and radioactive pollution.
Atmospherical Sources are: fixed (industries, hotels, laundries etc); movable (automotive vehicles, planes, ships, trains etc.)
Factors that cause air pollution:
- natural factors: are those which have as cause nature forces, as sand storms, heating provoked by rays and volcanically activities;
- artificial factors: are those that are cause by man activity, as the emission of automotive fuel, burning of fossil fuels, radioactive material, burnings etc.Phenomenon related to atmospherical pollution
- Acid Rain :
Rain will be considered acid when it has pH lower than 5,0, occurring not only in rain form, but also as snow, frost or fog.
It is generated by the burning of fossil fuel burning, producing carbonic gas, oxidized ways of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur. Another component of acid rain is the sulphur acid, generated of the nitrogen oxides in the emission of fossil fuel. Acid rain can be conduced by winds to a long distance, reaching forests, cities and countries far away from the place where its components were produced. These gases, when liberated to atmosphere, may be toxic to organisms.
The sulphur dioxide causes acid rain when it is combined to the water in the atmosphere, in steam way. The sulphur acid drops resultant of this combination generates serious problems to the reached areas.
Besides the serious problems to the natural environment, acid rain also is serious threat to human cultural heritage, corrupting cultural heritage.- Heater Effect:
It is the increasing of the medium temperature on the Earth, that occurs by the considerable increasing in the concentration of carbonic gas in the atmosphere, provoked mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, forming a kind of "cover" on the Earth, avoiding heat expansion.
The increasing of carbonic gas grade in the atmosphere makes the Earth temperature in constant increasing, what may cause big climatic problems.
Another gases also contribute to the global heating.- Diminution on the ozone layer:
There is ozone in the troposphere, that is the atmosphere layer where we live, and also in higher layers of stratosphere, between 12 and 50 Km of altitude, where there is the biggest concentration, which is known as "ozone layer" having as function, protecting the planet of the direct incidence of big part of the ultraviolet rays, which is one of the components of solar radiation.
Mainly consequences: with the diminution of the ozone layer, the ultraviolet rays reach the Earth in a brusquer way, provoking serious diseases in human, as skin cancer, heart and lungs problems, hurting, vision problems etc., generated mainly ultraviolet radiation UV-B, the most damage to man.
Environment is also directly reached by the modification in the food chain, as some animal species and plant are extremely sensible to this radiation, as anure amphibian (frogs). Besides, the destruction of the ozone layer can contribute with the unfrozen of part of the ice of the polar layer, causing the big heating of the planet.
Causes: one of the biggest causes of the ozone layer diminution has been the liberation of industrial chemical composes in the atmosphere, called CFC, which is a non-toxic gas, inodore, and chemically inert. It is used in big scale as refrigerator agent of refrigerators and air conditioners, in the manufacture of plastic foam and mainly as can spray propelente, and its chemical inert makes its capable of reaching big altitudes, without modifying itself, until reaching the stratosphere, where the radiation coming form the Sun provokes its broken. The chlore is liberated, reacting to ozone, breaking it in one molecule and one atom of oxygen.
Curiosity: the word ozone comes from the Greek ozein that means bad smell.- Dense Fog
The dense fog is a climatic phenomena originated by the concentration of a variety of chemical products, specially ozone and NPA, and it is formed when the Sun light font act on the mix of nitrogen oxide and volatile organic composition.
This phenomenon is produced mainly by cars and trunks, and has been happening in São Paulo City and Mexico City. (Manual Global de Ecologia, Walter H. Corson, Ed. Augustus, 1996).- Natural Phenomena:
El niņo.
This atmospherical phenomenon has no relation to pollution.
El niņo happens when there is an anormal increase of temperature of the sea temperature in the East Pacific. One of its consequences is the diminution of the fishy potential in the reached region, increasing of temperatures, climatic unbalance with influence in the hydrical process as quantity of rain, formation of clouds etc, influencing in a lot of human activities as agriculture for example.Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, by 157 countries, being originated from the Climatic Changing Convention, in 1992, in the Environment and Development Conference, Rio 92, where it was decided to stability the emission of gases of heater effect, for permitting the sustainable development of Agenda 21.
The main aim of this protocol is reducing in 5,2% the emission of heat gases until 2012, from the levels of 1990.
In this same month the Conference of Climatic Changing took place in Bonn, Germany, in which the USA hasn't take place.
The problem is that the USA is considered the most polluter country in the world, with around 25% of the heater gases pollution, making the intended aim being endangered, mainly because another countries, because of economical interests, do the same as the USA.
It was established in this Conference the "emission commerce", where the countries in development with emissions lower than the permitted can sell its "quotas of emission" to the industrialized countries, that can also exchange for forest plantation in these countries in development.
The 10 bigger carbon dioxide emitents in the atmosphere are:
USA; China; Russia; Japan; Germany; India; UK; Canada, Italy, Korea.Agenda 21
Chapter 9. Atmosphere protection
The Agenda 21, in its chapter 9, talks about the atmosphere protection and of the energetic transition, bringing up a lot of recommendations:
researches in these areas, identifying pollution levels;
scientific capacitating and information interchange;
development of technologies of pollution reduction, conservation and recuperation of natural resources;
empowerment of regional agreements for pollution control and;
creation of systems for rebuking industrial pollution.
Carbon Arrest
The system of atmospheric pollution diminution, known as "biological arrest" is on evidence of the planetary discussions about climatic pollution, mainly in meetings of Kyoto Protocol.
This system follows this way:
1. When the plant realize photosynthesis- that is the result of the transformation of solar energy in chemical energy- it absorbs CO2;
2. The carbon fixes in the plants' roots, stalk and leaves- in its biomass- and in this process liberates oxygen to the air;
3. The forests, in growing process, as tropical forests, absorb big quantity of CO2, forming carbon "nozzles", contributing for absorbing from atmosphere this polluter gas that comes from the fuel fossil burning (enterprises, cars etc.)Conclusion
The climatic question has become one of the most important and discussed themes nowadays, bringing to the planetary discussion the most imminent scientists, authorities and environmentalists.
Far away from solving all the climatic pollution problematic, we are on the way of finding ways to increasing the risks that are produced by us ourselves. There are many studies, projects and programs that look for avoiding the announced chaos.
Just as the scientific knowledge about pollution process, political desire of solving the problem, environmental education, strong legislation and a lot of projects and programs put in practice is that we can have the hope of a planet with a healthy environment and passable of maintaining an equilibrated global life.Sites
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