Environmental effects of increased coal utilization: ecological effects of gaseous emissions from coal combustion
| Autor: | Norman R. Glass |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1979 |
| Předmět: |
Pollution
Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis media_common.quotation_subject Sulfur Oxides Air pollution Coal combustion products medicine.disease_cause Air Pollution Smoke medicine Animals Humans Coal media_common Waste Products Pollutant Ecology business.industry Chemistry Water Pollution Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Flue-gas emissions from fossil-fuel combustion Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Clean coal technology Nitrogen Oxides Acid rain business Research Article |
| Zdroj: | Environmental Health Perspectives |
| ISSN: | 1552-9924 0091-6765 |
| DOI: | 10.1289/ehp.7933249 |
| Popis: | This report is limited to an evaluation of the ecological and environmental effects of gaseous emissions and aerosols of various types which result from coal combustion. It deals with NOx, SOx, fine particulate, photochemical oxidant and acid precipitation as these pollutants affect natural and managed resources and ecosystems. Also, synergistic effects involving two or more pollutants are evaluated as well as ecosystem level effects of gaseous pollutants. There is a brief summary of the effects on materials and atmospheric visibility of increased coal combustion. The economic implications of ecological effects are identified to the extent they can be determined within acceptable limits. Aquatic and terrestrial effects are distinguished where the pollutants in question are clearly problems in both media. At present, acid precipitation is most abundant in the north central and northeastern states. Total SOx and NOx emissions are projected to remain high in these regions while increasing relatively more in the western than in the eastern regions of the country. A variety of ecological processes are affected and altered by air pollution. Such processes include community succession and retrogression, nutrient biogeochemical cycling, photosynthetic activity, primary and secondary productivity, species diversity and community stability. Estimates of the non health-related cost of air pollutants range from several hundred million dollars to $1.7 billion dollars per year. In general, these estimates include only those relatively easily measured considerations such as the known losses to cultivate crops from acute air pollution episodes or the cost of frequent repainting required as a result of air pollution. No substantial nationwide estimates of losses to forest productivity, natural ecosystem productivity which is tapped by domestic grazing animals and wildlife, and other significant dollar losses are available. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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