Kansas City Pollution

Taking the time to appreciate nature can allow individuals to value naturally produced resources as well as the beauty of the environment. As societies continue to urbanize and strive to prosper, sometimes they neglect these naturally occurring resources. This kind of broad issue can be considered in any city, but one city one should regard is Kansas City and its current standings in terms of being eco-friendly. Thus, several specific issues can arise if the residents of Kansas City do not take the initiative to preserve is natural resources and environments, which include increased air pollution, tainted water sources, and landfills. By considering these problems that potentially harm Kansas City’s local environments, it allows one to decide

While one may visualize air pollution as huge fumes of smoke arising from a chimney and tainting the air of a city, this kind of image is not reflective of how Kansas City appears. However, air pollution is still an issue to consider as it can arise if residents do not act to prevent pollutants into our breathing environment. One of the most prevalent air pollution issues in Kansas City regards the ground level ozone levels. One should note that there are two types of ozone that make up the atmosphere: the ozone layer at a high altitude above the Earth and the ground-level ozone. The first type that is above Earth protects us from ultraviolet radiation from the sun, but the second type is commonly known as ozone pollution or smog (Mid-America Regional Council). Thus, ground-level ozone is a concern when present in at high levels in environments. Before diving in, one should be familiar with how high ground level ozone levels can be harmful. According to Dahl, an adjunct professor affiliated with the department of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, clarifies that “ozone is a common urban pollutant that has been linked to

However, more studies have shown that this standard may not be considered safe. On one account that challenges the safety of that level, a team of researchers conducted a study on ninety-eight urban communities in the United States over a fourteen-year time period to decipher whether there was a correlation between “ambient ozone levels and mortality rates” (Dahl). They have found that their “research [shows] strong and consistent evidence that daily increases in ambient ozone exposure were associated with daily increases in premature mortality [and] each daily 10-ppb [parts per billion] increase of 8-hour ozone was associated with a 0.30% increase in mortality” (Dahl). In addition, they pointed out that these high ozone levels were evident at pollution levels considered low. This means that current ozone regulations are not as safe as the EPA thought and that taking measures of cities with low pollution levels should also regard whether the ozone levels are within a harmless range too. While being familiar with how detrimental high ozone levels can be, considering its impact on Kansas City is important