Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
No clean water to drink, no plants, no clean air-- that is the world every coming
generation will have to deal with if this generation continues to destroy planet Earth. For the past
century, humans have abused the Earth increasingly and in return have suffered greatly.
Pollution is a serious problem because it causes the destruction of the ozone layer, health issues
(e.g.: cancer, malfunctions in the respiratory system, etc.), and increases with the use of non-
renewable energy sources. Water pollution is caused by companies dumping chemical waste in
The main source of pollution in this world is also the main source of energy: non-
renewable resources. Generally speaking, just the extraction if these materials is a hazardous and,
more often than not, arduous process. Non-renewable energy as a whole causes many significant
problems involving pollution. Coal must be mined, the oil must be drilled for (whether on land or
in water), and natural gases must be guided to the surface of the Earth. Coal is a very dirty
energy source.; it releases carbon dioxide (CO2) in excess amounts, causing acid rain and smog
in other areas. The mining of coal, burned to make electricity, can also destroy entire habitats on
the surface or release deadly gases and cause explosions underground. Similarly, nuclear power,
although not a fossil fuel, is just as dangerous, if not more so. The radioactive waste it leaves
behind pollutes soil and groundwater and can be used as bombs by terrorists. Petroleum, possibly
the most popular fuel around the world, accounted for approximately 28% of the United States’
energy production in 2016. Oil is used to run cars, but aside from being a fuel source, oil is also
POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON EARTH’S INHABITANTS
used to make plastic, which is often discarded and left to decompose which takes months and in
most cases, years. The newest and non-renewable energy that has been discovered is natural gas.
Claiming to be the “cleanest” non-renewable energy source, natural gas accounts for 33% of the
energy in the United States. While natural gas is cleaner than coal and petroleum, the extraction
methods are unsafe and much more dangerous. Hydraulic fracturing (better known as “fracking”)
is the injection of liquids into the Earth’s crust to cause pressure and push the gas up. The
fracking fluid in question is made up mostly of ingredients unknown to the public, however,
some natural gas companies are releasing some of the ingredients used to make their fracking
fluids. Knowledge of these ingredients may bring light to the pollution of the land and aquifers
Discovered in the year of 1913 by French physicists Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson,
the ozone layer (which is found in the stratosphere) protects us from ultraviolet (UV) rays.
However, it is not invincible. Air pollution does not only cloud up the atmosphere; it also burns
through Earth’s ozone layer. Every day it suffers damage from gases such as Methyl chloroform
(CH3CCl3) and methyl bromide. Despite the unrest caused by ozone layer depletion, it is, in
fact, a natural phenomenon that occurs according to seasonal patterns. Its thinning in Australia,
however, was not natural. The gases that we interact with regularly (carbon dioxide from exhaust
fumes, furnaces, and even from breathing) have caused ozone layer depletion across the entire
globe. Australia, though, has a particularly difficult position. Due to its proximity to the
Antarctic Ozone Hole, Australia suffers from ozone depletion worse than any other continent
except, of course, Antarctica. If ozone depletion only meant an increase in the UV rays that reach
POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON EARTH’S INHABITANTS
Earth, it would be fine. That is not the case. The increase in UV rays damage the immune system
and create sunburn. In addition, it has resulted in disorders such as cataracts and skin cancer.
Eventually, the human race may burn holes in the atmosphere that it can fix.
The second-leading cause of death in the United States is cancer. Although there are
various kinds, they are all characterized by the rapid reproduction and invasion of cells.
Generally, cancer patients suffer symptoms such as: fatigue, weight gain, unintentional weight
loss, lumps, thickening under the skin, and unexplained bleeding or bruising. However, lung
cancer is the most common and kills the most people. The American Cancer Society has
estimated that about 154,050 people have died of lung cancer and that approximately 234,030
new cases have appeared, just this year. Lung cancer has been known to occur most often in big
cities. This is because big cities have excessive outdoor air pollution (fuel exhaust, metals, etc.)
and particulate matter (smoke, dust, and chemicals) which the International Agency for Research
does not take action to resolve the matter of air pollution, cancer will only continue to take lives
and possibly evolve into something that we can’t treat let alone cure.
Of all the negative effects of air pollution, damage to the respiratory system is the most
obvious. We breathe in air every moment of every day and polluting it has had some very serious
consequences. Air pollution causes many problems for the respiratory systems. Pollutants such
as tobacco smoke can cause lung cancer and asthma. Despite the recognition the ozone layer
POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON EARTH’S INHABITANTS
receives for burning meteors and asteroids, ozone is another pollutant. Also known as ground-
level ozone, this pollutant is created by chemical reactions between volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) which come from vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors,
industrial facilities, and other sources. Ground level ozone can also harm vegetation and
ecosystems, not just humans. It can cause irritated breathing and trigger symptoms of asthma as
well as lung and heart diseases. Other pollutants can cause human infertility or the release of
performance and metabolic efficiency of the heart and blood vessels. Such pollutants can also
cause inflammatory reactions and necrosis degenerative and can affect heart contractility leading
to fatal arrhythmias. Overall, air pollution leads to diseases that can hospitalize people and even
Most of the chemical pollution in waterways is caused by big corporations. This happens
by way of oil fracking which gets oil into the groundwater, oil spills which gets water into
oceans, or just plain dumping the chemicals in waterways to save money. According to
EconomicsHelp.org (2016), the government issues pollution permits that allow big corporations
a legal amount of pollution that they are allowed to produce. The more a company pollutes the
more permits they need. They can obtain these permits from other companies that pollute less
and can sell them or from the government. There are a set amount of permits available and that
amount is becoming fewer and fewer by the year. The government is doing this to gradually raise
the price or these permits to discourage business form needing them. The government's plan to
slowly raise prices until it is enough to inconvenience big business is so that the company has
POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON EARTH’S INHABITANTS
time to invest in cleaner methods of production. (Diagram for pollution permits, para. 2). This
isn’t enough though because this pushes companies to illegally dispose of the waste they
produce.
33 U.S. Code § 1344 - Permits for dredged or fill material (2011) states the following:
“If a person negligently or knowingly discharges a pollutant from a point source into a
water of the United States without an NPDES or 404 Permit or in violation of a permit
punishments Include:
Even though these laws exist many corporations are still getting away with dumping their
chemicals into the waterways. This is partly because a corporation is treated as one person under
the law and not everyone in a corporation is responsible or even remotely related to the illegal
Big Companies aren’t the only ones that pollute the waterways. While they may be one of
the leading causes of chemical contamination the biggest pollutant and threat to underwater
ecosystems is plastic. Globally we produce more plastic waste than any other waste product.
What makes plastic so harmful is that plastic is not fully biodegradable. All of the plastic in the
water will break down into smaller pieces of plastic but will not break down into anything else it
will be plastic for essentially forever. Plastic also releases a chemical called bisphenol A when it
POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON EARTH’S INHABITANTS
breaks down which fish can eat accidentally.This plastic doesn’t just disappear, it floats around
until it gets caught in one of the many circular currents of the ocean and collects into massive
garbage patches. There are a lot of garbage patches and the Great Pacific garbage patch,
According to Marlan (2018), with a size of over 600,000 square miles making it twice the size of
Texas (Marlan, 2018,) is by far the biggest and most infamous ocean garbage patch in the world.
A pile of garbage that is primarily plastic emits a lot of bisphenol A, which poisons a lot of fish.
Humanity eats fish and they may one day have to stop eating them because a large amount of
The laziness of humanity has affected many other animals as well. Humans are leaving
their trash on the ground and nearby animals might mistake it for food. Many animals are dying.
Humans poison the water with oil and chemicals, the land with plastic and other harmful garbage
and many animals die because of it. Birds are one example of an animal affected by this. They
gather materials for their nests and may pick up toxic garbage and put it where they raise their
babies. Birds also mistake garbage for food. Birds especially seagulls are fed by humans and
have gotten used to eating the things humans throw on the ground, even the garbage. Animals
can digest plastic no more than humans can and stomach acid can dissolve metal but not plastic.
The problem is that the human body is large enough for small plastic items accidentally eaten to
pass through without causing any major harm, but birds and many of the other animals that
consume human garbage are too small for these small items to pass through safely ultimately
Humans are polluting the earth in the land and the water but also the air. The greenhouse
gases that human inventions emit is causing global warming and this will not only harm a few
species this could end all life on earth. In fact, global warming has gotten so bad that the
permafrost left from the ice age releasing methane into the atmosphere. Humanity can reduce
their carbon footprint by investing in cleaner energy. The current main form of energy is fossil
fuels or nuclear energy the problem with both is fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide and nuclear
energy produces nuclear waste. There are forms of clean energy available like: wind energy,
hydro energy, solar power. The only problem is that this kind of energy is either too expensive or
inefficient for mainstream use. There are still ways to reduce our carbon footprint, so green
energy isn’t readily available yet people can always conserve energy by not using it in excess.
Trash isn’t a problem in the United States alone. Garbage is everywhere we can imagine,
even some uninhabited islands that have been discovered with bits of plastic. It won’t just
disappear or take care of itself; pollution harms the planet every hour of each day and, unless
people do something about it, pollution will continue to cause major health issues, ozone
depletion, and habitat destruction. Overall, it may be said that pollution is one of the greatest
threats to Earth.
References
Australia Government. The ozone layer. Department of the Environment and Energy. Retrieved
POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON EARTH’S INHABITANTS
from http://www.environment.gov.au/protection/ozone/ozone-science/ozone-layer.
Boyd, C. (June 2, 2014) Chemicals and fracking: What makes up fracking fluid? Industry News.
Retrieved from
https://www.chemservice.com/news/2014/06/chemicals-and-fracking-what-makes-up-
fracking-fluid/.
Journal
https://explore.proquest.com/document/252321571?accountid=3785.
accountid=3785
Kunzli, N., McConnell, R., Bates, D., & Bastain, T. (2003). Breathless in los angeles: The
exhausting search for clean air. American Journal of Public Health, 93(9), pp.
1494-9.
accountid=3785.
Kukreja, R. (2018) What is ozone layer? Conserve Energy Future. Retrieved from
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/ozone-layer-and-causes-of-ozone-
depletion.php.
POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON EARTH’S INHABITANTS
10
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/symptoms-causes/
syc-20370588.Marlan L.(2018). Great Pacific Garbage Patch now three times the size of
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/23/world/plastic-great-pacific-garbage-patch-
intl/index.html
Morse, E., et al. (2003) non-renewable energy. National Geographic Society. Retrieved from
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/non-renewable-energy/
Department of Energy. (May 19, 2017) U.S. energy facts explained. Your Guide To
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/?page=us_energy_home.
https://explore.proquest.com/document/1976109565?accountid=3785
(2016).
Pollution Permits.. Retrieved from https://www.economicshelp.org/micro-
economic-essays/marketfailure/pollution-permits/
Simon, S. (October 17, 2013). World health organization: Outdoor air pollution causes
cancer.
health-organization-outdoor-air-pollution-causes-cancer.html.
Steff, R. (June 1, 2009). Main document. Air Pollutants Affect the Respiratory and
world.com/health/respiratory/air-pollutants.php.
POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON EARTH’S INHABITANTS
11
document/216126441?accountid=3785
https://www.economicshelp.org/micro-economic-essays/marketfailure/pollution-permits/
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team. (January 4, 2018). Key
statistics for lung cancer. About Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Retrieved from
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/non-small-cell-lung-cancer/about/key-statistics.html.