Outdoor Air Pollution
The main sources of outdoor air pollution are transport and industry. Cars use petrol and diesel, and when this is burnt, air pollutants like nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulates and lead are given off. A single car does not pollute the air that much, but millions of them on the road every day do cause a pollution problem. With the growing number of cars, it is important that something is done to reduce the pollution they make. Since 1993 all new cars sold in Britain have been fitted with a catalytic converter. A catalytic converter takes harmful pollutants and turns them into less harmful ones. New fuels are also being made that are cleaner than petrol and diesel.
Although outdoor air pollution from industry has fallen quite a lot since laws were introduced in the 1950s and 1960s to control the amount of harmful gases given off, factories and power stations are still major pollutant sources. The two main pollutants produced by industry are sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Both these contribute to acid rain.
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