Tag: ways to reduce air pollution

The ozone hole is caused by the effect of pollutants in the atmosphere destroying stratospheric ozone. During the Antarctic winter something special happens to the Antarctic weather.

Firstly, strong circular winds form that blow around the whole continent, this is known as the "polar vortex" -  this isolates the air over Antarctica from the rest of the world.

Secondly, special clouds form called Polar Stratospheric Clouds. Clouds don't normally form in the stratosphere and these turn out to have the effect of concentrating the pollutants that break down the ozone, so speeding the process up.

Photochemical smog is produced when pollutants from the combustion of fossil fuels react with sunlight. The energy in the sunlight converts the pollutants into other toxic chemicals. For photochemical smog to form, there must be other pollutants in the air, specifically nitrous oxides and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Hence, the correct option is $A$

Plants play a very important part in reducing the amount of $CO _2$ in atmosphere, plants use $CO _2$ to make food and release oxygen, during rain, water get reacted with $CO _2$ in the atmosphere and form $H _2CO _3$ and hence reduce the amount of $CO _2$ in the atmosphere.

The incomplete combustion of petrol and diesel in automobile produces carbon monoxide.

In large cities, environmental health can be maintained by decreased use of insecticides as it affects air quality. All types of household and industrial waste should be handled and disposed of out of the city area and factories inside the residential areas cause great harm to health by polluting the air and water by its wastes, so they must be shifted outside the residential area.

We can save the environment from degradation by reducing the amount of fossil fuels to be burned:

As with many direct and indirect greenhouse gases, reductions in carbon monoxide emissions can most effectively be made through direct reductions in fossil fuel use. There is some evidence that the widespread use of catalytic convertors in cars has significantly reduced carbon monoxide emissions from this source. 

The Mathura Refinery, owned by Indian Oil Corporation, is located in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The Mathura oil refinery releases toxic gases and disposes waste into the rivers making the area dirty and unhealthy. Even the Taj Mahal is getting affected because of this. The India government hired a panel to examine the effects of the refinery on the Taj Mahal. The panel found that the air has high levels of suspended particulate matter, caused by factory emissions, dust, construction, and exhaust from automobiles. These are causing the Taj Mahal to change colour.

Aerosols are minute particles suspended in the atmosphere. When these particles are sufficiently large, we notice their presence as they scatter and absorb sunlight. Their scattering of sunlight can reduce visibility (haze) and redden sunrises and sunsets. Aerosols also can act as sites for chemical reactions to take place. The most significant of these reactions are those that lead to the destruction of stratospheric ozone. During winter in the Polar Regions, aerosols grow to form polar stratospheric clouds. The large surface areas of these cloud particles provide sites for chemical reactions to take place. These reactions lead to the formation of large amounts of reactive chlorine and, ultimately, to the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere

Aerosols are emitted into the air in the form of vapour or fine mist. Jet airplanes emit aerosols containing chlorofluorocarbons $(CCl _{2}F _2)$ and $(CCl _3F)$. The aerosols deplete ozone layer in the atmosphere.