Air
The importance of air to humans
Other planets have sunlight, but Earth is the only planet that we know that has air and water. We would not be able to live on this planet without air, water and the complex ecosystem that has been developed on Earth in millions of years.
Air is needed for us to live. Air is what we breathe in and out of our lungs everyday. Air movement helps dry our clothes when we hang them on the line and it keeps our houses from being stuffy and smelly.
What is air?
Air is the gas that surrounds the Earth. It is made up of nitrogen and oxygen with tiny amounts of other gases (carbon dioxide, hydrogen and helium). Most of the gas in our air is nitrogen.
Air pollution
On this planet it is important to watch what things are going into the air. There are unwanted pollutants that get into our air. We use the word monitor to watch what and how much of these pollutants are going into the air. It is important for our health and the health of all other plant and animal life for our air to be clean.
Air pollution occurs when the air contains gases, dust, fumes or odour (smells) in harmful amounts. A harmful amount means an amount that can affect the health or comfort of humans or which can cause damage to plants and animals.
Pollutants can get into our air from car exhausts, the burning of coal which is used to make electricity, by industry and from windblown dust and smoke from fires.
Air monitoring stations
EPA has 16 air monitoring stations around Melbourne. Each of these stations measures the amounts of pollutants in our air. The stations are based in urban areas because that is where we find most air pollution problems and where air quality needs to be monitored.
Additional air monitoring stations have been set up in country Victoria, including two in Geelong and two in the Latrobe Valley, depending on need.
There are also two mobile monitoring stations which can be moved to different locations, depending on need.