What is the composition of the air we breathe

Air is a set of gases that live around us. Air is vital for life on our planet, not only for human life, but for the life of other living beings. The importance of air is indisputable, since without it human beings could not live. Because of the importance of air in this lesson from a TEACHER, we are going to talk about what is the composition of the air we breathe so that you better know our atmosphere and our source of life.

The air we breathe is made up of numerous gases that inhabit our environment, these gases are what make us survive on the planet. The composition of the air has not been the same throughout history, but has undergone a transformation over millions of years, For example, oxygen did not exist before the existence of humans, to be the most important part of the composition of the air. This transformation has helped humans to survive.

The gases that form air are as follows:

• Nitrogen: It constitutes around 78% of the atmospheric air. It is an essential component of amino acids and nucleic acids, key elements for living beings. In addition to being part of the air, it also occupies a part of the elemental composition of the human body, 3% to be exact. It is the element with the greatest presence in the air we breathe.
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• Oxygen: About 20% of the air we breathe. It is the most important element for living beings. It is necessary for respiration, the most important action that we relate to air. We can also find this element in the human body, especially in the respiratory system.
• Carbon dioxide: It occupies only 0.03% of the air. It is the result of the use of oxygen in different vital functions, and is expelled as a result of the processes carried out by the respiratory system.
• Water: The other vital element for human life occupies 0.97% of the air. It is in the form of water vapor, but it is difficult to be sure what percentage of the air it occupies, since that its appearance depends on where it is located, the percentage being higher at sea level than at atmosphere.

Noble gases

1% of various gases, not all have the same presence within the composition. These gases are as follows:

• Argon: The noble gas with the greatest presence.
• Neon: It has a small role in the formation of air, but it is a very abundant gas in the universe.
• Helium: The lightness of this element has caused it to evaporate over the centuries, and therefore it has little presence in the atmosphere.
• Methane: It is one of the elements that contributes to the greenhouse effect.
• Krypton: A noble gas with very little presence.

Continuing with the lesson on what is the composition of the air we breathe, we must explain air pollution. As we have already explained, air is vital to our survival in the world, and therefore the pollution that we are causing harms our health and worsens the world where we live.

The air pollutionthat we breathe can happen in different ways, but the most dangerous is that caused by human beings. Due to technological advances, more harmful gases are sent into the atmosphere every day, which are harmful to the air we breathe. Previously nature was able to neutralize these gases, but the increase in pollution in recent decades has made nature unable to fix human failures.

As a result of pollution, harmful gases accumulate in the atmosphere, polluting the air we breathe, which results in damaging the air and therefore affecting the health of all living beings.

Therefore, it is important to understand that pollution can alter the original composition of the air since every day they appear more toxic gases in composition.

Pollution can affect health In different ways, it must be taken into account that respiration is a key factor in life, and that the air is more polluted every day, so we are affected more every day. Some of the effects that polluted air can have are:

• Appearance of respiratory diseases
• Allergies
• Cancer
• Irritation in different parts of the body, such as the throat or eyes.

In this video of a PROFESSOR we discover you what is pollution on Earth so that you understand what is happening on our planet.