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Period: 1 BCE to
Natural Sources of Air Pollution
Things like wildfires and volcanic eruptions were all types of air pollution that effected the environment before human civilization. -
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution is responsible for the exponential increase in air pollution since its beginning. Factories produced smog and other air pollutants at unprecedented level. This was the real catalyst of irreversible air pollution at the hands of mankind. -
Invention and Popularization of the Car
Another event that will forever impact the extent of human caused air pollution. The invention of the car made personal pollution skyrocket. Never before had each individual had the potential to produce so much smog. -
The Great Smog
Incident occurred because of heavy industrial pollution. A thick smog rolled over the city of London, not lifting for months. No air was able to circulate, so the people were essentially breathing in pure pollutants for a considerable amount of time. More than 4,000 deaths were attributed to the smog, and it brought serious attention to how prevalent and harmful air pollution was. -
Air Pollution Control Act
Closely following the Great Smog, fear of air pollution was at an all-time high. The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 was the first federal law to address the ever-growing problem of air pollution. The act hoped to help prevent and limit the effects of air pollution. There were several additions to this act in subsequent years. -
Popularization of Electric Cars
Though electric cars were invented prior to their gas counterparts, they were harder to fuel, and therefore less desirable. In the 1990s, with environmental concerns at an all-time high, they became a popular alternative. electric cars have the potential to help limit household emissions. This could help to slow and eventually nullify the effects of humans on the enviroment. -
Activist Sophia Kianni
Sophia Kianni is an activist born and raised in D.C. She is active in air pollution activism and how it affects people of color around the country. Kianni discusses how neighborhoods with higher proportions of people of color and lower income face the brunt of climate change. She joined the American Lung Association as their first climate activist advisor and has lobbied for the US to take their methene production down to a lower level.
