How has industrialisation led to an increase in air pollution? What steps should be taken to check air pollution?
Answer:
- Industrialisation has led to increased pollution of air in following ways:
- Due to industrialisation, the consumption of fossil fuels has increased. Combustion of fossil fuels has increased production of gases like CO, S02, S03, N02 and C02 which are toxic.
- There has been depletion in the ozone layer because of increase in the production of chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons which are used as insulators, refrigerants, solvents and aerosol propellants. This has resulted in the entry of UV rays into Earth’s atmosphere, which has affected various organisms.
- Combustion of fossil fuels also increases the amount of suspended particles in air causing pollution.
Steps taken to check air pollution are:
- Planting more trees, as they purify air by intake of COa gas and release of 02. This will reduce the greenhouse effect.
- Reducing the consumption of fossil fuels.
- Paying emphasis on the use of non-conventional sources of energy like wind energy, solar energy, tidal energy, etc., which reduce pollution to great extent.