Air – essential for life

Air has several meanings A) Greek aeros translated thick vapour, mist B) Greek aenia translated to blow, to breathe C) Greek air is one of the four elements

Air is a mixture of:

78.08% nitrogen

20.95% oxygen

0.94% argon

0.039% carbon dioxide

0.00123% neon

0.0005% helium

0.000185% methane

0.000114% krypton

0.000055% hydrogen

0.000006% xenon

Humans breathe in about 35 pounds of air everyday!

Some of air’s gases remain fairly constant. Nitrogen, oxygen and argon make up the chief of these gases at approximately 78, 21, and 1 percent by volume.

Small amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide are also part of our air.

Nitrogen (N2) is one of the most common elements that makes up our air and earth. Almost ten pounds of molecular nitrogen occurs over every square inch of the earth’s surface, and yet this is still only 2 % of all nitrogen on, in or above the earth. The remaining 98 percent occurs in the rocks of the earth’s crust and mantle, or in tissue.

Oxygen (O2) is important to most living organisms, for it allows food to be “burned” for energy on a cellular level (respiration). When this burning occurs, the oxygen combines with carbon to form carbon dioxide(CO2) which rejoins the atmosphere. An additional use of oxygen is for any extra cellular burning, whether it is during a forest fire, in the combustion engine or at the local power plant.

Green plants, in addition to respiring, photosynthesize when exposed to sunlight. Photosynthesis involves taking CO2 out of the air and converting it to a carbon-based sugar, releasing O2 in the process.

The air picture is not quite complete without argon and sulfur oxides. Argon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas. Sulfur oxides enter the atmosphere from sea spray, from volcanic action, and as a result of biological decay.

So you can see: Air is more than just air – most of all living being need it. When we produce air pollution we lower the quality of our air. If air pollution gets too high humans get sick or die.