• Question: Do you have an ideas on how to clean the air of pollution or on how to rebuild the o-zone layer?

    Asked by Sean Dixon to John, Colin, Kevin, Shikha, Triona on 10 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by 582bera34.
    • Photo: John Wenger

      John Wenger answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Hi Sean,

      This question is right up my street!
      To be honest there are plenty of ideas on how to clean the air of pollution…the difficult thing is to put them into practice without costing too much money!
      The main source of air pollution is burning fossil fuels for transport (in cars, buses, trucks) or in the home for heating. I’m sure you have heard of electric cars and renewable energy (solar, wind)…well these are some of the best ways to reduce emissions and are gradually being used more and more. But If I was do one thing in Ireland, I would place a ban on open fireplace burning so that if people want to burn coal/peat/wood for home heating then they should have a stove in the home. This would greatly reduce emissions of particles and gases to the air. The added bonus is that, because stoves are much more efficient than fireplace burning, less fuel is burnt and carbon dioxide emissions are also reduced! Its a win-win situation!
      As for the ozone layer….we know how to re-build that – ban the use of Chlorofluorocarbons. In fact this was done over 20 years ago and the hole in the ozone layer is now starting to close. We just need to wait for a few more decades for it to return to normal. Visit this link if you want to find out a bit more about ozone.
      http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/missoz/index.html

      all the best

      John

    • Photo: Shikha Sharma

      Shikha Sharma answered on 16 Nov 2014:

      Hi Sean and 582bera34,

      Burning of fuel for industrial use and daily lifestyle use releases of carbon-di-oxide and other hazardous gases causing air pollution. It is difficult to clean entire air at one go. However, we can make no of good attempts to reduce air pollution significantly.
      Save energy around the house. saving energy can reduce carbon emissions.
      Manage your heating and cooling. Do not over cool or over heat the room
      Cut back on the amount of packaging you purchase and the amount of household waste you produce.
      Cut back on the amount of packaging you purchase and the amount of household waste you produce. The process of manufacturing packaging releases harmful emissions into the atmosphere, so patronize brands that use as little packaging as possible. Recycle everything you can: aluminum, paper, glass, plastic and cardboard are usually easy to recycle. When you are disposing of chemical-based substances like paint, batteries, pesticides or solvents, check with your local waste management office for a safe, eco-friendly method.
      Reduce the amount of time you spend in the car. Use cars which give higher mileage. Car emission is one of the biggest cause of air pollution.
      Improve your fuel economy. According to the EPA, a 1 percent increase in fuel economy equals a 1 percent decrease in carbon dioxide emissions.
      Ozone molecules are constantly being produced and destroyed by different types of ultraviolet light from the sun. Normally, the production and destruction balances, so the amount of ozone at any given time is pretty stable. However, Ozone depletions happens we faster the destruction of Ozone by releasing substances contain chlorine and bromine in stratosphere; the home of Ozone layer. The only way we can repair it by removing the excess chlorine and bromine from the stratosphere. And the only way to do that is to stop making CFCs and several other chemicals.

Comments

  • Photo: Kevin

    Kevin commented on :

    Great question and John has tackled the main bits. every pollutant is differant and the best way to clean the air of pollution is to prevent it. Ozone is a great example. At high altitudes in the atmosphere if filters out harmful UV radiation. But at ground level Ozone is a pollutant and causes breathing difficulties for people with asthma. Up to a few years ago Ozone would go to high level in cities in Summer as loads of people used solvent (you know that sickly sweet smell you get from nail polish?) based paints. The solvents evaporate off leaving the colour particles of the paint behind but then when sunlight hits those solvents in the air they convert to Ozone and ground level, giving anyone with asthma a hard time. Nowadays it is far harder to get Solvent based paints in the DIY shop and any car repairs workshop has a cabinet that you must spray the point in to capture the solvents (if you’ve ever watched American Chopper or car programme on Discovery you know what I’m talking about). So just by controlling how solvent based paints are sold or used an air pollution problem has been largely solved! Same with the ban on smokey or Sulphur-rich coal. You should have seen the smog in Cork City when I was a kid!