Trends of air pollution in the USA and Europe, particularly the Czech Republic, from 1950 to the present

Bendlová, 2012 ABSTRACT - English Air pollution represents one of the main environmental issues. It affects human health and the environment through phenomena such as smog, acid rain, ozone layer depletion and climate change. Human health is not affected only outdoors but also indoors where other sources of pollution are in effect. People were already concerned about polluted air in the past. Nowadays, people have become more aware of the harmful impacts of polluted air, particularly after a few smog episodes which resulted in numerous deaths in 1950s. Since then, a lot of has been done to improve the situation, especially in the developed world. The United States (US) led the way by early environmental movements, establishing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and setting legislation to restrict polluting of the atmosphere. The European Union (EU) started later with their efforts. However, the air quality standards are much stricter now in the EU than in the US. The Czech Republic was behind on the way to cleaner air due to presence in the region of the Soviet Block where the environment was not seriously taken into consideration. Very rapid recovery has taken place establishing laws and legislation to adjust to the European standards and improve the air quality as fast as possible. Air pollution is..