The Problem Of Air Pollution - 1142 Words

1.0 Introduction It is believed that the problem of air pollution began with the industrial revolution (circa 1750 -1850) which brought with it the increased burning of coal that fueled the engines upon which the wheels of the industrial revolution were being propelled. Air pollution issues have dominated international discourse in the last couple of decades as a result of its adverse effects on the climate system. But most important is the damaging effects that some of these pollutants in the ambient air have in the human body as there have been overwhelming evidence linking poor air quality with respiratory diseases, heart diseases and cancer (WHO, 2013a 2013b). Because†¦show more content†¦This includes a variety of small, portable and low cost devices designed and developed by private people, university research laboratories and the environmental science industry. The EPA is also actively engaged in a program of collaboration between its scientists and the f ederal, state governments as well as other institutions to develop new sensor and application (App) technologies for the measurement of air quality. In any case, EPA has yet to approve or endorse any devices or the asso ciated technologies for regulatory purposes. The current methodology of measuring pollution in which equipment are installed in fixed locations or specialized mobile vehicles is expensive (Devarakonda, Sevusu, Liu, Liu, Iftode Nath (2013). This is because traditionally the measurement of air pollution requires the use of sophisticated stationary equipment installed all around the country. So only a relatively small number of federal, state, and local agencies can afford such high quality data. One obvious disadvantage of this method of data acquisition is that only a relatively small amount of data is available for the assessment of health and exposure risks. Since this is a rather coarse-grained system where pollution measurements and data availability are not only far apart but also expensive and sometimes counter-productive it becomes necessary for an expanded program