Nitrogen is contained in the air. What is air and what does it consist of?

In urban areas, soot emissions are mainly attributable to road transport, especially diesel engines. In addition to its health effects, particulate soot contributes to climate change, absorbing heat from the sun and warming the atmosphere.

Ozone: when three atoms of oxygen bind to each other

Ozone is a special, highly reactive oxygen form and consists of three oxygen atoms. In the stratosphere - one of the highest layers of the atmosphere - ozone protects us from the dangerous ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun. low level in the atmosphere - the troposphere - ozone is actually an important pollutant that affects public health and the environment.

The ozone layer of the soil is the result of complex chemical reactions between precursor gases, such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds other than methane. In addition, methane and carbon monoxide play a role in its formation.

Ozone is reactive and highly oxidative, as well as a high content of materials, buildings and living tissues that destroy ozone. Ozone reduces the ability of plants to carry out photosynthesis and prevents their absorption by carbon dioxide. It also weakens the growth and reproduction of plants, which leads to lower yields and little development of forests and forests.

Once the effects on ozone, our body tries to prevent its penetration into the lungs. This reaction reduces the amount of oxygen we breathe. Inhalation of less oxygen makes it harder for the heart to work, so for people who already suffer from cardiovascular or respiratory disorders, such as asthma, ozone peaks can be debilitating and even deadly.

What else in the atmospheric mixture?

Ozone and particulate matter are not the only atmospheric pollutants that affect Europe. Our cars, trucks, power plants and others industrial facilities  need energy. Almost all vehicles and installations use fuel. various typesfrom which energy is burned.

Burning fuel usually changes the structure of many substances, including nitrogen — the most common gas in our atmosphere. If, on the other hand, nitrogen reacts with hydrogen atoms, ammonia is formed, another atmospheric pollutant that has a very detrimental effect on human health and nature. Combustion processes emit a range of other atmospheric pollutants: from sulfur dioxide and benzene to carbon monoxide and heavy metals, and some of these pollutants cause short-term effects on human health.

Others, including heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, accumulate in the environment. Thus, they enter our food chain, and then end up in our dishes. Although air pollution affects the entire population, it does not affect everyone equally and equally. In urban areas, more people are exposed to air pollution due to population density. Some groups of people are more vulnerable, including people with cardiovascular or respiratory diseases, people with respiratory problems and allergies to inhalants, the elderly and children.

Atmospheric pollution affects both developed and developing countries, says Marie-Eva Eru from the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe. “Even in Europe” still remains “a high proportion of the population exposed to levels above our recommendations for air quality recommendations.”

However, there are many studies based on different sectors or sources of pollution. Some economic models can be used to estimate the cost of air pollution. These models typically include health care costs caused by air pollution, as well as costs associated with lower crop yields and damage to certain materials. However, these models do not include all costs associated with air pollution for society.

Even with their limits, these cost estimates give us "an indication of the appropriateness of the damage." In particular, 191 plants are considered solely responsible for half the total cost of damage. It is expected that only achieving this goal will benefit, which will vary from an average of 22 months per person to Bucharest, 19 to Budapest, up to 2 in Malaga and less than 15 days in Dublin.

Effect of nitrogen on nature

Atmospheric pollution affects not only human health. Several atmospheric pollutants cause different impacts on a wide range of ecosystems. However, excess nitrogen creates certain risks. Nitrogen is one of the main nutrients found in the environment, and plants need to grow healthy and survive. It is soluble in water and then absorbed by the roots of the plants. Because plants use large amounts of nitrogen and leave the soil, farmers and gardeners typically use fertilizers to add nutrients, including nitrogen, to soil production.

Airborne nitrogen produces a similar effect. When applied to the soil or water mirrors, additional nitrogen can benefit some species in ecosystems where there is a limited amount of nutrients, such as so-called “sensitive ecosystems”, with their unique flora and fauna. Excessive nutrients in these ecosystems can completely change the balance between species and lead to loss of biodiversity in the affected area. In coastal and freshwater ecosystems, they can also contribute to algal blooms.

The response of ecosystems to excessive nitrogen deposits is known as eutrophication. Today, it is estimated that almost half of the total area defined as sensitive ecosystems is at risk of eutrophication. Nitrogen compounds also contribute to the acidification of freshwater and forest soils that affect species that depend on such ecosystems. Like the effects of eutrophication, new living conditions may make some species unfavorable to others.

The area of ​​protected landscapes of the Iser Islands, located in the northern part of the Czech Republic, belongs to the region, in the past, unfortunately, the so-called “black triangle” due to heavy air pollution. Leon Matoushkova, Czech Republic.

Although some areas and countries may have an adverse effect on public health or the worst environment of other people, air pollution is a global problem. The wind moving around the planet makes air pollution a global problem. Some of the atmospheric pollutants and their precursors found in Europe are released in Asia and North America. Similarly, some of the pollutants emitted in Europe are transported to other regions and continents.

The same mechanism is repeated on a smaller scale. Air quality in urban areas usually depends on air in the surrounding rural areas and vice versa. Unfortunately, there is no place on earth where we can only breathe clean air. Oxygen makes up 21 percent of the earth's atmosphere, saves life and makes burning possible. The most abundant of all the elements of the earth, oxygen represents 85 percent of the oceans of the earth and, as a component in most rocks and minerals, is about 46 percent of the solid earth.

Along with this, it forms 60 percent of the human body. Oxygen reacts with all elements, with the exception of noble gases, through the formation of chemical compounds called oxides. The reaction rate, known as oxidation, is different. For example, magnesium is oxidized very quickly, spontaneously hot in air. Noble metals, such as gold and platinum, are oxidized only at very high temperatures. Although oxygen itself is non-combustible, it improves combustion and allows highly flammable materials to burn in the air much more intensely.

These burnout processes contribute to their use in industrial applications. Oxygen is used in several areas listed below. Food and Beverages in the Food & Beverage Sector Oxygen is used. For packaging in a modified atmosphere. for the production and transportation of fish for the production of ozone; Ozone is used for disinsection and sterilization in industrial production processes.

Steel production Oxygen is used in steel production. To enrich the air and increase the temperature of combustion in the jet and open furnaces. increase the temperature of the steel and improve the utilization of scrap metal in electric arc furnaces. to replace coke as a fuel.