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Environmental Paper Duffy Lewis Env Sci 101 9-04-90 In this age of environmental awareness, one of the most prevalent environmental problems is pollution, particularly air pollution. Without clean air, human survival is not possible. Also, air pollution effects the water, food, and our overall health. Factories and mines are leading contributors to air pollution. The smog in large cities and the cases of health problems, such as brown lung, are evidence of the poisons that are produced and released into the air. These factories and the big corporations are not the only contributors. Private citizens do their share also in polluting the air. Private consumption from gas grills to oil burning automobiles are the contributions made by private citizens. Very few Americans do not own an automobile. Our society and culture almost demand that a person have a car in order to function. Cycling and walking are rare in comparison to earlier decades when automobiles were not as common. Identifying a problem and its causes lead to solving a problem. Cars which do not cleanly burn the gasoline are major air polluters. Catalytic converters were designed and required to be added to the production of a car in order to improve the gasoline emissions. However, cars which were made before this regulation are still being driven and therefore continue to pollute. Also, cars and buses which use diesel gasoline, which is less expensive, emit odorous gases which not only interferes with breathing but also are offensive to the sense of smell. Smog in the cities have been a concern for many years, but legislation requiring the owners to be responsible for the pollution has been difficult to pass in Congress. The government goes through phases in which pollution becomes a issue, and then its importance fades away. However, the pollution does not fade away; it remains. Solutions arise when the public is aware of the effects of the pollution and ways that it can prevent and solve it. Currently pollution awareness is on the rise; mainly because it is so pervasive. Air pollution is not limited to just large cities anymore, but all cities and towns. Purchasing automobiles that burn gasoline cleaner and more efficiently would be a major reduction in air pollution. Also, if the factories were pressured by the public, through their representatives, to be more responsible for the air pollution and spend more money in preventing and cleaning the pollution, then those areas in which the factories exists would highly benefit. Cities in which smog is so thick that cloudy days are as dark as night would eventually, with years of intense effort, be air pollution free. But air pollution has existed for many years, and so many more years will have to pass before air pollution is reduced significantly enough that another environmental problem would take precedence.