Nitrogen Oxide

             With new technologies introduced into our society in the past hundred years such as motor vehicles and electric utilities, many pollutants are put into the air. One of these pollutants is Nitrogen oxide. Nitrogen oxide, or NOx, is a group of highly reactive gases, all of which contain nitrogen and oxygen. These gases form when fuel is burned at high temperatures. These gases react in the presence of sunlight and can be carried hundreds of miles from their origins, causing air pollution over wide regions. In 1997, over 23 million tons of nitrogen oxides were emitted into the air in the United States. This is an obvious problem in our society that causes acid rain, smog, global warming, and water quality deterioration. In this paper we are going to discuss the main reason for the high level of NOx and the ways society and government can do to help lower the level of NOx in the air.
             The main reason we have an inefficient level of nitrogen oxide is because of the increase use of cars and electric utilities. The Environmental Protection Agency says, "Emission reductions from electric utilities and other large boilers would be the most cost effective in terms of dollars spent per ton of NOx reduced." With the large amounts of NOx in our air today, there are concerns of global warming, smog, acid rain, and water quality deterioration. Global warming is formed from one member of the NOx family, nitrous oxide that is a greenhouse gas. It accumulates in the atmosphere with other greenhouse gases causing a gradual rise in the earth's temperature. This will lead to increased risks to human health, rise in the sea level, other changes to plant and animal habitat. Smog is formed by NOx and contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone. Ground-level ozone occurs at high levels during the summertime. This can cause serious respiratory problems to children, elderly, and people with chronic lung problems. Acid ...

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Nitrogen Oxide. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 08:15, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/34959.html