Air Quality Affected By Pollution

Over the last fifty years, air quality has been affected by massive pollution in various places around the world, especially in the larger cities.

Air pollution affects not only plants and animals but humans as well. Recent research has shown that the industrial area of Chicago might severely damage the environment, especially Benzie County, Lake Michigan, and the people living around it.

This threat is known as ozone pollution. Ozone forms from the combination of solar radiation and nitrogen dioxide. Therefore, it is a photochemical pollutant that filtered through the clouds. According to Jim Haywood, Senior Meteorologists at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, this pollutant reaches its highest concentrations in summer because of the high temperatures.

Worse, when sunlight reflects itself in the water, it boosts the ozone level of consistency and gathers into a layer above the surface. This layer is easily blown to shore by the breeze, affecting the county’s population.

It is also worth mentioning that many residents were oblivious to the fact that there is massive air pollution in Benzie County. To avoid any misunderstanding, experts underline that ozone pollutant is not the same thing as the ozone layer.

 According to one of the residents, Melissa Bradley, this situation is very concerning because some children living with asthma are probably inhaling this pollutant which might have some consequences. However, no case of sick persons has been reported yet.

Fortunately, the DEQ has already taken active measures to tackle this problem, and it declared June 19th the action day against high levels of ozone in the air. Even if the pollutant was not produced in Benzie County, it was brought by the south and southwest winds that blew north.

Unfortunately, there is a long distance between Benzie County and Chicago, meaning that the pollutant has time to reach high concentrations as it is brought there by the winds. In addition to this, state officials declared that there is no way they can prevent these clouds of ozone from hitting Benzie County.

According to Tom Buss, environmental health director for the Grand Traverse County Health Department, prolonged exposure to ozone can cause coughing spouts and shortness of breath.

In other words, this poor air quality is most likely dangerous for people suffering from asthma. Hopefully, officials and scientists will double their efforts to deal with this problem and to raise awareness regarding the fact that industrial plants are destroying the world’s ecosystem day by day.

Image Source:Pixabay