The Tragedy of the Commons

The Effects of air pollutions today

The term "Tragedy of the Commons" was coined by Garrett Hardin in a 1968 magazine article, however, the idea dates back to the days of Aristotle. Briefly, it holds that a shared resource is inevitably ruined by uncontrolled use.

Hardin uses a community field or common to explain the concept. The town’s people bring their cows to the common to feed on its grass. Everyone wants to get grass for their cows before it is gone. No one thinks through the consequences of so many cows eating the grass to depletion, and the Tragedy of the Commons occurs. The grass disappears and the common is ruined.

There are many non-fictional abuses that people feel are examples of the phenomenon. Some include human-created air pollution; the hunting of the American buffalo to near extinction in the 1800s; the widespread abuse and destruction of rainforests and our oceans’ coral reefs; and human-induced climate change due largely to the burning of fossil fuels for energy use.

Some people believe that the Tragedy of the Commons can only be averted by making most commodities private property instead of freely available to all. But how does someone own the air or the ocean? And can the air and ocean stay unpolluted with populations of 10 million or more in the world’s megacities? Another proposed solution are laws and taxing devices which would make it more costly to serve one’s self interest over the common good. For now, almost everyone can agree that such vital resources need some form of control so that they can be sustained and the Tragedy of the Commons avoided.

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/milagro/effects/tragedy_commons.html

Pollution's Effects on Us

An inversion layer hangs over residents of Boulder, Colorado.

The air is shared among all living things. When it is polluted by a factory in Asia, a fire in Australia, a dust storm in Africa, or car emissions in North America, the sharing continues despite the fact that these chemicals and particles have detrimental effects.

Scientists have determined many of the harmful local effects of air pollution. We know, for instance, that air pollution can negatively impact human health and cause coughs, burning eyes, breathing problems, and even death. We know that atmospheric haze or smog reduces visibility and that acid rain from chemical emissions damages property, pollutes water resources, and can harm forests, wildlife, and agriculture.

But what are the regional and global impacts of air pollution? Through large scientific field campaigns such as MILAGRO, scientists are beginning to track its movement from cities into regional and global environments. Their goal is to determine air pollution’s movement and impact on climate and atmospheric composition locally, regionally, and globally.

Is human-produced air pollution and its effects an example of the "Tragedy of the Commons" –– a concept that states that any resource open to everyone will eventually be destroyed? Despite the fact that people are creating much of today’s air pollution, the answer will ultimately depend on how humankind responds to the problem. A lot has been done to improve air quality in recent decades, but we still have a long way to go.

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/milagro/effects/pollution_effects_overview.html

Sources of air pollution

Sources of air pollution refer to the various locations, activities or factors which are responsible for the releasing of pollutants in the atmosphere. These sources can be classified into two major categories which are:

Anthropogenic sources (human activity) mostly related to burning different kinds of fuel

• "Stationary Sources" include smoke stacks of power plants, manufacturing facilities (factories) and waste incinerators, as well as furnaces and other types of fuel-burning heating devices

• "Mobile Sources" include motor vehicles, marine vessels, aircraft and the effect of sound etc.

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• Chemicals, dust and controlled burn practices in agriculture and forestry management. Controlled or prescribed burning is a technique sometimes used in forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. Fire is a natural part of both forest and grassland ecology and controlled fire can be a tool for foresters. Controlled burning stimulates the germination of some desirable forest trees, thus renewing the forest.

• Fumes from paint, hair spray, varnish, aerosol sprays and other solvents

• Waste deposition in landfills, which generate methane.Methane is not toxic; however, it is highly flammable and may form explosive mixtures with air. Methane is also an asphyxiant and may displace oxygen in an enclosed space. Asphyxia or suffocation may result if the oxygen concentration is reduced to below 19.5% by displacement

• Military, such as nuclear weapons, toxic gases, germ warfare and rocketry

Natural sources

• Dust from natural sources, usually large areas of land with little or no vegetation.
• Methane, emitted by the digestion of food by animals, for example cattle.
• Radon gas from radioactive decay within the Earth's crust.Radon is a colorless, odorless, naturally occurring, radioactive noble gas that is formed from the decay of radium. It is considered to be a health hazard.Radon gas from natural sources can accumulate in buildings, especially in confined areas such as the basement and it is the second most frequent cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking.

• Smoke and carbon monoxide from wildfires
• Volcanic activity, which produce sulfur, chlorine, and ash particulates.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia