Sec Sch Chapter 20 Air and Environment
Our atmosphere has been taken for granted in the past. In the last few decades, scientists and the general public began to realise the adverse effects of pollutants on the air we breathe. It is recognised that pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and particulates released into the atmosphere as a result of energy generation and increased use of motor vehicles, have serious health and environmental consequences. Increase in levels of carbon dioxide gas leading to global warming has been a worldwide concern. Many nations have taken steps to discuss the reasons behind environmental changes and rise in Earth’s temperature which has given grounds to global warming. At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Paris Agreement drafted aims to hold the increase in the global average temperature to below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. With the control of carbon emissions, the world is likely to face less severe consequences of extreme weather conditions such as floods and tsunamis. In this chapter, the sources of air pollutants and their effects are examined. Students are taught to value the knowledge of the hazardous nature of pollutants and the environmental issues related to air pollution. This is where the course is efficacious in providing short succinct yet relevant insights to lecture materials, data handling and industrial applications through tutorials of exam questions. With funny and easy to understand lectures as well as diverse and challenging quizzes, any student will soon be saying “no” to NOs and “so bad” to sulfur dioxide pollution.
