Air Pollution
On our planet, air is one of the most important natural resources on which all life depends. However, our atmosphere is also in the front line for receiving environmental pollution. Ireland as a whole may be relatively free of air pollution, when compared with other more industrialised countries. However there is, nonetheless, a high degree of public awareness of the phenomenon, largely because of problems experienced in the 1980s in Dublin. In Ireland, air pollution is monitored by both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Local Authorities. The main laws dealing with air pollution in Ireland are the Air Pollution Act 1987 and the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992.
Common Effects of Air Pollution
The effects of air pollution are diverse and numerous. Air pollution can have serious consequences for the health of human beings, and also severely affects natural ecosystems. Often invisible, air pollutants in the air create a variety of dangers. They usually come from combustion from heating, power generation or from traffic fumes. Serious problems can result from these pollutants and they can also travel long distances and can chemically react in the atmosphere to produce secondary pollutants such as acid rain or ozone.
Solutions
In order to curb the problem of air pollution, governments, scientists and environmentalists have come up with two main types of pollution control.
1. Input Control means preventing a problem before it occurs, and limiting the effects of the process.
2. Output Control seeks to fix the problems caused by air pollution.
Links and Resources
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Air Monitoring
The EPA and local authorities operate air monitoring stations, and you can search for more detailed info for each station on the Access Maps pages. more » -
ENFO
Air pollution is a very real threat to the health of all life on this planet. Nobody knows exactly how many deaths are caused each year around the world by air pollution. more » -
Environmental Protection Agency
A suite of new EU Directives setting out a completely new approach to the monitoring, assessment and management of air quality has been adopted in recent years... more » -
Citizens Information
While they are often invisible, pollutants in the air create a variety of dangers for health and the environment. more » -
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
We aim to provide a platform for arts & creative activity in Dublin, to share info, to formulate & develop policy and to increase awareness... more »
