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Air pollution and the greenhouse effect
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Human activities release gases that harm living things and change the climate.
Sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide comes from incomplete combustion, such as in car engines. It combines with haemoglobin, so the blood carries less oxygen. It can be fatal.
Greenhouse gases
The enhanced greenhouse effect
More greenhouse gases cause an enhanced greenhouse effect, which may lead to global warming.
Possible consequences: melting ice, rising sea levels and flooding, more extreme weather, changes in where species can live, and possible extinctions.
Explain how burning coal can lead to the death of fish in a lake.
- Coal contains sulfur, which burns to form sulfur dioxide.
- Sulfur dioxide dissolves in rain to make acid rain.
- The lake becomes acidic, which kills fish.
Answer: Sulfur dioxide causes acid rain, which acidifies lakes and kills fish.
Sulfur dioxide causes acid rain, which damages trees and kills aquatic life. Carbon monoxide combines with haemoglobin and reduces oxygen transport. Water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and CFCs are greenhouse gases. More of them enhance the greenhouse effect and may cause global warming.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
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