Industrial smog typically exists in urban areas where factories burn fossil fuels such as coal, which creates smoke and sulfur dioxide that mix with fog droplets to create a thick blanket of haze close to the ground.
As the planet grows warmer thanks to climate change, more smog will be created because temperature regulates smog; and smog is more severe on a hot, sunny day than on a cool windy day. As the smog increases, all living beings are being forced to adapt to new and worse surroundings. Even humans.
Nitrous oxide has a long residence time in the atmosphere, an average of about 120 years.
Smog is air pollution that reduces visibility. The term "smog" was first used in the early 1900s to describe a mix of smoke and fog. The smoke usually came from burning coal. Smog was common in industrial areas, and remains a familiar sight in cities today. Today, most of the smog we see is photochemical smog.
Effects on Human Health Smog is composed of a mixture of air pollutants that can endanger human health. Various human health problems such as emphysema, asthma, chronic bronchitis, lung infections, and cancers are caused or exacerbated by the effects of smog.
Unlike greenhouse gases, black carbon is a climate forcer you can see and feel. Not only does it warm the atmosphere by absorbing sunlight—it's also dark soot that's deposited onto ice and snow, speeding up the melting. Black carbon stays in the atmosphere for just days to weeks, but it can do a lot of lasting damage.
Though the F-gases are all climate forcers, hydrofluorocarbons are the only short-lived species.
At the national level, major sources of lead in the air are ore and metals processing and piston-engine aircraft operating on leaded aviation fuel. Other sources are waste incinerators, utilities, and lead-acid battery manufacturers. The highest air concentrations of lead are usually found near lead smelters.