The Curse of Pollution and Deforestation
Pollution has been a nasty irritant since the day it was first introduced, thanks mainly to the industrial revolution. Due to the increase in the human population over the centuries, new technologies have improved the way of life, but at a cost. Pollution (whether air, water, soil or food) alongside deforestation has had adverse effects on human life. Pollution and deforestation has become one of the most ignored aspects of human nature. It’s become similar to the Loch Ness monster where have the world cares for it while the other, simply doesn’t. Thousands of trees are chopped everyday to pave way for human life. Fossil fuels, and ammonia are used everyday by factories and farmers respectively, contributing
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India is one of the countries that use the most amounts of fossil fuels in a given day (Sequeira 2008). There are more cars on the road than ever. For instance, the number of private vehicles rose from 1.5 million in 1997 to 4.5 million in 2006 (Sequeira 2008). An increase of about 963 private cars per day certainly causes air pollution to increase and thus increasing the chances of chronic respiratory diseases. The areas with high pollutants put the most burdens on children, mainly those younger than 5 years. Lung cancer has become one of the leading causes of deaths in India (Smith 2000). In fact, more than 150,000 people (per 500,000) die each year due to poor care from pollution. Lung cancer can be passed on through genetics or through environmental components. Most of the people who have lung cancer receive it either from indoor or outdoor air pollution. Indoor air pollution that causes lung cancer is associated with cooking with open coal stoves, and smoke inhalation (Smith 2000). Meanwhile, outdoor air pollution is caused by burning of fossil fuels, and nitrogen oxides (Smith 2000). Although low exposures to coal burning are not a major aspect in lung cancer, prolonged exposure can cause serious lung cancer. Outdoor air pollution is really common in urban areas. As mentioned above, New Delhi has almost 5 million private cars, which lead to huge increase in pollutants causing lung …show more content…
Although India’s air pollution is worse than United States’, United States still shares a fair amount of air pollution. Through countless studies, air pollution directly affects the respiratory system (Bronchitis, lung cancer etc.). India, wanting to become a more developed nation, prioritizes industrialization more. Rather, they should prioritize the environment more and work around it with better technology. India’s pollution has decreased over the years bringing down the deaths by lung cancer to a mere 0.4% (Smith 2000). The United States also has decreased air pollution but respiratory problems still remain (COPD etc.). Looking through the ethnic standpoint, people of Asian descent and Hispanics are more likely to be effected by air pollution than Caucasians and African Americans. Although, one thing to keep in mind is that, the location plays a major role. Thus, regulating air pollution is a major issue. It should be done. With all the data mentioned above and countless studies worldwide, air pollution is a clear threat to the human population. Pollution needs to
Many people are unknowingly exposed to air pollution and have no idea. Some common causes of air pollution are automobiles, factories, landfills and toxic materials. Air pollution destroys the environment; it causes climate change because it greatly affects the greenhouse effect and it causes acid rain. Acid rain contaminates water and destroys animal’s homes. Air pollution has many effects on people it causes coughing, elevates your risk of asthma, wheezing, it can cause diseases and birth defects. It’s estimated “that seven million people died prematurely in 2012 from exposure to air pollution and that air pollution can cause cardiovascular diseases. The use of incinerators has caused protest movements from the Chinese citizens because they are becoming aware of the air pollution that is being given off from the burning of their trash and the effects it has on their health. There have been many reports of premature births and stillbirths of pregnant women that live near garbage incinerators”( Professional Safety, 2014, p.
When we think of air pollution we think of the refineries in our cities and the exhaust coming from our cars mostly. In reality there are many more pollutants that we don't think about every day. The six most common air pollutants are; “Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen oxides, Sulphur oxides, Particulate matter, Volatile organic compounds, and Ground-level ozone (nitrogen oxide and Volatile organic compounds reaction)”(David Suzuki Foundation). The fact is people are dying from air pollution and we are doing nothing to make it better, in fact air pollution is getting worse.
In the next decades, pollution is said to become one of the major causes for death in many urban cities. Pollution is
It reduces human life expectancy by more than eight months on average and by more than two years in the most polluted cities and regions” (Doc C). Air pollution is one of the virtual problems nowadays. Air pollution is mainly caused by cars. One of the most common pollutants is smog. Smog is a dark or opaque fog which is formed by the dust and smoke particles causing condensation of water vapors.
The cancer risks also caused by long-established activities such as working in an oil refinery or living near a high voltage power line are not large. Apart from skin cancers due to sunlight, the only substantial and widespread cancer risk known to be caused by an avoidable environmental factor in developed countries is the further increase in lung cancer among smokers caused by indoor radon escaping from the ground or from building materials, although both indoor and outdoor air pollution from fossil fuels may also contribute to the risk in smokers. The risk to non-smokers is relatively trivial in developed countries, but burning fossil fuels indoors without adequate ventilation certainly contributes to the high lung cancer rates even in non-smokers seen in parts of China.
Every day when looking out a window, people see a beautiful earth. The earth is intriguing, but hinges on a delicate balance. Many natural resources keep the grass green and the sky blue. Man has made quite an impression on our world, and has transformed the earth's resources into tools to make life easy. However, mans' manipulation on earth has become detrimental to the health of our planet and the safety of mankind. Through the use and production of resources such as oil and energy, man is gradually poisoning the earth. Pollution has become such a dilemma in society; there is no real control or a feasible solution to society's recklessness. Without complete change, our system will collapse. The earth will eventually retaliate with disaster, or corporate control of our economy will cause hysteria and depression. Evaluation of the consequences and repercussion of worldwide pollution, may give people a better idea of what the future holds.
Evo Morales stated, “Sooner or later, we will have to recognize that the Earth has rights too, to live without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans” (Pollution Quotes, 2013). Hence, attention must be provided to this devastating issue. Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that causes adverse changes (Wieman, 2013). There are numerous types of pollution, such as light, air, land, water, noise, thermal and radioactive pollution. In an article, the author highlighted that according to Richard Buckminster Fuller, “Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting, we allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value” (Farrell, 1971, p. 52). Pollution is created mostly by human actions, but can also be a result of natural disasters. Pollution can harm the environment of the world and its inhabitants in many ways. Pollution has a detrimental effect on any living organism in an environment, making it virtually impossible to sustain life (Enclyopedia - Pollution, 2008).
Air pollution according to the Wikipedia << is the introduction of particulates, biological materials, or other harmful materials into the Earth’s atmosphere, possibly causing disease, death to humans, damage to other living organisms such as food crops, or the natural or built environment>>. Therefore, human being should be aware of the facts that the environment and all living creatures are dying. They need to understand the importance of natural items, the nature, etc…
Our planet is suffering from severe pollution, which ranges from contaminated air, water and soil as well. Humans are doing nothing to reduce the amount of pollution that is harming our earth. To understand how pollution works first you must understand that there are different types of pollution. The most common types of pollution and the ones that I will be focusing on which are the ones doing the most harm to our planet are air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination and littering. In order to help out and reduce pollution in our planet people need to be more aware of what these problems are and about the severe damages that they are causing our planet. Before industrialization really jumped into place and had an effect on large cities, nature had its own way of cleaning up its own air and itself. Wind scattered gases, rain washed many substances and the rest dissolved into the ground; while plants absorbed carbon dioxide and made it into oxygen. With big cities growing more every time and with more towns that were becoming more industrialized a lot of more waste began to be released into the environment and the atmosphere and soon this was more than enough for nature to handle. In order to stop and reduce pollution people need to understand the damage that it is causing our environment and our planet as well. People need to be more aware of how they can help out and do their part in reducing these problems that are causing our planet to die slowly with people not even noticing it.
since the beginning of time. Man has been destroying trees for the use of wood for
Air pollution is a very large problem in bigger cities around the United States of America. In Los Angeles people are at the highest risk of death due to air pollution. Among the most populated areas of the country, Los Angeles had the highest estimated rate of deaths attributable to air pollution. (The Huffington Post 2014) New York City is another huge city that is highly polluted. The death rate due to air pollution is a little smaller in New York than Los Angeles but it is still a huge health risk in New York. Air pollution in New York City is a significant environmental threat which contributes to an estimated 6% of...
Every other day a new industries are being set up, new vehicles on roads and trees are being cut to make way for new homes. All of them, indirect way lead to increase in CO2 leads to melting of polar ice caps which increase the sea level and pose danger for the people living near coastal areas. Pollution can have an impact in our health not only affects people with impaired respiratory system such as asthmatics, but very healthy adults and children too. Exposure to pollution for 6 to 7 hours, even at relatively low concentrations, reduces lung function and induces respiratory inflammation and, healthy people during periods of moderate
Efforts to improve the standard of living for humans--through the control of nature and the development of new products--have also resulted in the pollution, or contamination, of the environment. Much of the world's air, water, and land is now partially poisoned by chemical wastes. Some places have become uninhabitable. This pollution exposes people all around the globe to new risks from disease. Many species of plants and animals have become endangered or are now extinct. As a result of these developments, governments have passed laws to limit or reverse the threat of environmental pollution.
Pollution is a massive problem that the earth faces. Pollution is the action or process of making land, water, air, etc…, dirty and not safe or suitable to use. Pollution of air, water, and soil are the most complex issues. Various types of gases and toxins that are released by industries
There is a lot more awareness of air pollution in the world today than any other as a lot of it is visible. Air pollution can be thought of any substance that people introduce into the atmosphere that has damaging effects on living things and the environment (National Geographic). Carbon dioxide released into the air breaking down the ozone layer slowly warming the earth, I’m sure you’ve heard this before but it’s the process known as global warming. These green house gases come from the fumes of cars, factories and peoples homes every second that passes. The activities of the people on earth have raised the temperature of the planet to higher than it has ever been in the last 150 years. (National