h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The only way we will ever control air pollution, is for the world as a unit to act together as one body.
To impose restrictions is futile, human beings and the way we live , it is inevitable air pollution will always be there.
Both humans and animals release gas as flatulence [ fart, trouser cough ] tobacco smoke, fire, volcanic eruption, any diesel or petrol
engines ie cars, van, HGV, motor cycle, aircraft, military vehicles,
farm vehicles, trains boats , Power stations, industrial , Crop sprayers, aerosol cans ........etc etc etc.
Many forms of pollution are caused by mans inventions over the period of time, others are caused by mother nature , but flatulence is there
for all time released by all humans and animals.
Pollution in the atmosphere knows no boundaries and is carried by the wind in all directions. Rain brings some of this to fall as acid rain
poisoning plant life, and rivers and reservoirs.
Trees will act as a form of large filter system and none better than the South American rain forest. But unfortunately it is being chopped down, new roads channelled through, farming, mining its not going to last to long.
We have to devise methods to filter our atmosphere at ground level,
high up in the sky, over those crucial hotspots where pollution is so heavy the sun is just hazy. Whenever large fires have ravaged forests.
Notably calafornia , also South West Australia. These two areas are
frequently in the news with large fires raging out of control during
the drought season.
Therefore it just makes common sense for man to quickly get the act together and get some filtering system invented and into production
and get it on.
I personally visualise filter pipes as common as lamp posts along
motorways/highways towns and cities connected to filter stations that suck in pollution and release filtered air. The filters at the stations will need to be maintained of course. Also we could attach
filters to Airships and fly them in formation over cities or after forest fires, volcanic activity.
If this were taken seriously it becomes a whole new form of employment
We already have the technology , its just a case of bringing this all together. Once the idea has taken off it will surely snowball.
The long term effect will combat global warming. The first to get in
with this idea stands become an icon in Earth history. The large company`s or corporations can get in on the act and have their company logo`s on the airships as sponsors in saving the world.

Using air filters is a good idea, but it might be quite difficult and expensive to put one on each lamp-post (by the way, that reminds me of an idea I once had to put solar panels on lamp-posts, so that during the day they gather power, then at night they light the streets with it).
But there is a sort of filter system on cars already - catalytic converters. I think what you're also saying is that people won't give up the convenience of a car (not in our life-time anyway). Surely then the solution is simply to make cars as environmentally friendly as possible.
What ever happened to those cars I heard about years ago, that only emit water vapour from the exhaust? I think that kind of idea is the way to go. Or those electric cars. If we start producing more and more energy from natural source (wind, solar, waves etc) then even "charging up" our cars won't harm the environment. Of course, these ideas will reduce pollution, but not congestion. But simply applying them to buses all well as cars will help with that!
And that's my tuppence worth

Its very true what you say, where have these vehicles got to that will
be electric, or run off a petrol/diesel substitute. The process of extracting hydrogen from water as a fuel, with the emmissions being 100% free from pollutants. Where are they ???
Sadly there are to many other forms of pollution that cannot be substituted quickly enough because Planet Earth does not have the time with global warming facing us for our future.
A recent satelite program provided very strong evidence that Earth has a "very warm" future as global warming spirals out of control .
Life as we know it will be extinct in less than 120---130 years.
The ozone layer has been depleted in large areas.
Something has to be done to clean the atmosphere until these replacements can be found. Can anyone really expect that if a fuel substitute was found tomorrow, likewise all petrol/diesel engines for
planes, boats, trains, HGV vehicles, motor bikes etc etc will have a
replacement available as from tomorrow, that this great miracle will happen..........yeah, and my fairy godmother will grant me 3 wishes for St Valentines Day.
The planet is dying, but people have this misconception that we can just keep going on as we are. Mark my words Riccardo , I am 55 this year, providing no world wars, no alien invasion, no big lumps of rock fall from space on my house, I may just see out my life in about 30 years . Sadly I think my grandchildren will not be so fortunate.

I SAY ONCE AGAIN WE HAVE TO CLEAN UP OUR ATMOSPHERE UNTIL GLOBAL WARMING HAS BEEN HALTED.
If just one airship was converted to carry air filters and fly on a test program over any major city and monitor the results of the crap it sucked in, perhaps opinions may change.

basically having study the subject to a small extent ive come to the conclusions thta unless those vulcans step in and help us soon were well and truly screwed