Modify the natural characteristics?

I think that the phrase
modify the natural characteristics
is not what air pollution means. There is a connotation of making the air noxious, smelly, discolored; causing known bad side effects like death from humans inhaling poisons; or unpleasant side effects like smog; or theoretical disastrous side effects, e.g., ozone depletion or global warming.
The word modify just doesn't work here. Ed Poor, Friday, July 12, 2002
Good point. "Damage the atmosphere" seems a little strong, though. Maybe a link to pollution? Vicki Rosenzweig, Saturday, July 13, 2002
I disagree. We can't know if the changes we are making to the atmosphere are for good. For instance, if we talk about water pollution, and i throw sugar on a river, i'm not damaging the water, i'm making it sweeter!. Maybe the sugar is harmless, maybe it's not, but i have polluted the river. Polution comes from the latin "pollere" meaning "soil" and "defile". On the other side, From The Longman Dictionary of Environmental Science, as "any harmful or undesirable change in the physical, chemical or biological quality of air, water or soil . . . ". I think there is a strong controversy here, some definitions include harm made by humans and by nature (ie: the explosion of a volcano), and some definitions accept changes to the environment that are not harmful (for instance, aesthetic changes, or ) as being non-pollution. Maybe we should put both views here. user:ChaTo Thursday, July 18, 2002.
its not the point whether we are making changes for the good or not. any change from prehistoric times is simply a change and de facto pollution of the atmosphere. we are not smart enough to judge what effect these changes will have on people and ecosystems. our job is to factually record in wikipedia what these changes or pollutants are. maybe the phrase is "materially alter the content of air". its a mouthful though and someone can come up with a better wording Anlace February 17, 2006
Hey. I disagree with ChaTo on the sugar part, when you add sugar on a river or water, there's no way you will have water again. You anticipated a product from the mixture, which is "sweet water" but not water. And yes it does damage the water because it natural flavor isn't there anymore, and sugar isn't a safe substance for human due to the fact that we do have diabetic agents within our enviroment. And to continue with the main subject, I think that air pollution is an enormous issues, and i indeed appreciate the effort done by the engineers, scientists, enviromentalists, and all those that volunteer to put an end to this matter. The French, Russians, Japonese, and many more are contributed on that behalf by operating their vehicle with water, hybrid and diesel instead of gasoline. which are steps that prove that they are working to reduce the chances for "Global warming", and many incidents to come. User:nikel81ex Tuesday, March 20, 2007
But still, what is a "natural state" of the atmosphere? When the first leaf plants began to produce oxygen (a poison from some perspective) a mass extinction followed. IMHO, pollution definitions are very atropocentric - if it harms the human body, it is a pollution. Also, pollution is not only man-made: think about a volcano, even if its natural, we call it a polluter. --Oderbolz 06:07, 29 March 2007 (UTB)
<> Insertformulahere <> <> <> Superscripttext < / sup > <> Strike − throughtext < / s > < / sup > ==Carbon dioxide== Carbondioxide is not air pollutant. CO2 is essential gas for photosynthesis. Whole life on Earth depends on that. Siim 21:18, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)
True. A better example in this context would be carbon monoxide.Will McW 23:06, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)
I am afraid it all depends what you mean by 'air pollutant'. There are natural sources of carbon monoxide as well as of carbon dioxide (especially natural wildfires). Ozone is also essential for life as we know it - without the ozone layer levels of ultraviolet light would be huge. However there is no doubt in most people's minds that low level ozone is a pollutant. The point about CO2 is that its levels are substantially elevated above the levels observed in recent geological time and is now believed by most scientists to be changing the climate. A good definition of air pollution is that from the state of Maine:
"Air pollution" means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more air contaminants in sufficient quantities and of such characteristics and duration as to be injurious to human, plant or animal life or to property, or which unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life and property throughout the State or throughout such areas of the State as shall be affected thereby.[