Don't Be Mean, Keep It Clean

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Recommended: Effects of pollution on human health essay

Pollution. Many people know what this term means in the aspect of how it negatively affects the lives of human beings. However, many people generally don’t care about this problem (Buchanan and Horwitz). Pollution is a serious problem that deserves to have immediate action done to prevent it. This issue has ruined the lives of many people, especially the elderly and young children (Bily 42, 43). Pollution is a deadly and lethal problem, but can be fixed by passing new laws, having people conserve resources, and have jobs that are made for pollution clean up.

As a whole, pollution affects people and the environment. Statistics from the EPA show that about 630,000 children in the US are born with a risk of brain damage due to elevated levels of mercury in the mothers (Bily 58). And, according to a study in Sweden, lymphoma occurs five-times more in people exposed to herbicides (Bily 73). This means that farmers are at the highest risk of lymphoma because of their constant exposure to herbicides. An unfortunate fact about the US is that 45 states have issued warnings of fish having mercury poisoning (Bily 124). Another issue that has negative impact on society is acid rain. When rain and nitric acid mix together to form acid rain, it can destroy trees, buildings, and statues (Tennesen).

One pollution problem our planet has is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This floating mass of 3 1/2 million tons of trash is about twice the size of the state of Texas. The main component of the Patch is plastic. Specifically, they are tiny pieces of plastic. A downside to having plastic garbage is that it will not biodegrade for hundreds of years. On average, the Patch kills about one million birds and 100,000 ocean animals every year. Furthermo...

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...Showers.” Scientific American 303.3 (2010): 23. MAS Ultra – School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 2 Mar. 2011.

The Economics of Pollution Control at the Local and Global Levels. 01 April 2006. University of Michigan. 18 February 2011. .

Tran, Tu-Uyen. “EERC’s technology turns waste into power and jobs: At UND, they can turn turkey poop and wood chips into hydrogen, garbage into gas and, now, old railroad ties coated with possibly carcinogenic coal tar into pollution-free electricity.” Grand Forks Herald (ND) 22 May 2009: Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 25 Feb. 2011.

Winters, Sevastian. The Pros and Cons of the United States "Going Green". 03 August 2009. March 15, 2011. .

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