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How do the industries/factories cause environmental pollution?

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How do the industries/factories cause environmental pollution?

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  1. It causes pollution because of the smoke from the factories/industries it gets into the air.


  2. Well, it really depends on the factory's production. There's many types of pollution emitted from factories. These are air, waste, water, and even noise. Most commonly, we can see that factories emit massive amounts of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. This is the main form of pollution. However, waste is also another type. Nuclear waste is the most dangerous waste there is and it directly pollutes the surrounding environment. This comes from nuclear reactors. Water pollution is another thing. Many wastes are often mixed in water in order to be disposed of. However, this tainted water is mixed back and often leads into a lake or river. This kills the fish.

  3. Two methods - one is the industrial processes used in the factory/facility can emit pollutants - water borne, gaseous, or solid waste - good design can minimize this and make a facility almost zero release.  (I hate to say "ALL" can be stopped, but it can come pretty close.)  

    The second is through whatever is manufactured - the output of a factory can eventually wind up as pollution - examples are plastic bottles, cleaning solutions that are carelessly dumped by consumers, etc.

  4. Factories create all of the wonderful products that we all crave and desire and chat about on Y!A. Factories and industry are the wonders of the 21st century. The US has the strongest pollution controls in the world. We do a marvelous job of cleaning up after ourselves.

  5. factories require a lot of electricity, so they need there own generators which burn fossil fuels, creating carbon dioxide, and releasing it in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming

  6. the use lots of energy and it harms the environment, and also factory farms mass produce cows, and beleive it or not, mass producing them hurts the environment and contributes to global warming because their farts contain stuff thats bad for the environment. u can look it up on google, and peta.org will hav info on it too

  7. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the major pollutants in the atmosphere. Major sources of CO2 are fossil fuels burning and deforestation. "The concentrations of CO2 in the air around 1860 before the effects of industrialization were felt, is assumed to have been about 290 parts per million (ppm). In the hundred years and more since then, the concentration has increased by about 30 to 35 ppm that is by 10 percent". (Breuer 67) Industrial countries account for 65% of CO2 emissions with the United States and Soviet Union responsible for 50%. Less developed countries (LDCs), with 80% of the world's people, are responsible for 35% of CO2 emissions but may contribute 50% by 2020. "Carbon dioxide emissions are increasing by 4% a year". (Miller 450)

    In 1975, 18 thousand million tons of carbon dioxide (equivalent to 5 thousand million tons of carbon) were released into the atmosphere, but the atmosphere showed an increase of only 8 billion tons (equivalent to 2.2 billion tons of carbon". (Breuer 70) The ocean waters contain about sixty times more CO2 than the atmosphere. If the equilibrium is disturbed by externally increasing the concentration of CO2 in the air, then the oceans would absorb more and more CO2.  If the oceans can no longer keep pace, then more CO2 will remain into the atmosphere. As water warms, its ability to absorb CO2 is reduced.

    CO2 is a good transmitter of sunlight, but partially restricts infrared radiation going back from the earth into space. This produces the so-called greenhouse effect that prevents a drastic cooling of the Earth during the night. Increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reinforces this effect and is expected to result in a warming of the Earth's surface. Currently carbon dioxide is responsible for 57% of the global warming trend. Nitrogen oxides contribute most of the atmospheric contaminants.

    Sulfur dioxide is produced by combustion of sulfur-containing fuels, such as coal and fuel oils. Also, in the process of producing sulfuric acid and in metallurgical process involving ores that contain sulfur. Sulfur oxides can injure man, plants and materials. At sufficiently high concentrations, sulfur dioxide irritates the upper respiratory tract of human beings because potential effect of sulfur dioxide is to make breathing more difficult by causing the finer air tubes of the lung to constrict. "Power plants and factories emit 90% to 95% of the sulfur dioxide and 57% of the nitrogen oxides in the United States. Almost 60% of the SO2 emissions are released by tall smoke stakes, enabling the emissions to travel long distances". (Miller 494) As emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide from stationary sources are transported long distances by winds, they form secondary pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, nitric acid vapor, and droplets containing solutions of sulfuric acid, sulfate, and nitrate salts. These chemicals descend to the earth's surface in wet form as rain or snow and in dry form as a gases fog, dew, or solid particles. This is known as acid deposition or acid rain.

    Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

    CFCs are lowering the average concentration of ozone in the stratosphere. "Since 1978 the use of CFCs in aerosol cans has been banned in the United States, Canada, and most Scandinavian countries. Aerosols are still the largest use, accounting for 25% of global CFC use". (Miller 448) Spray cans, discarded or leaking refrigeration and air conditioning equipment, and the burning plastic foam products release the CFCs into the atmosphere. Depending on the type, CFCs stay in the atmosphere from 22 to 111 years. Chlorofluorocarbons move up to the stratosphere gradually over several decades. Under high energy ultra violet (UV) radiation, they break down and release chlorine atoms, which speed up the breakdown of ozone (O3) into oxygen gas (O2).

    Chlorofluorocarbons, also known as Freons, are greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Photochemical air pollution is commonly referred to as "smog". Smog, a contraction of the words smoke and fog, has been caused throughout recorded history by water condensing on smoke particles, usually from burning coal. With the introduction of petroleum to replace coal economies in countries, photochemical smog has become predominant in many cities, which are located in sunny, warm, and dry climates with many motor vehicles. The worst episodes of photochemical smog tend to occur in summer.

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