Why pollution is bad for the environment

Pollution ends up in these forms including dust, smog, and toxic gas emissions. In addition to the natural sources of pollution, they can also come from human activity. These sources include industries such as mining, manufacturing plants, power plants, oil refineries, and transportation that release pollutants into the air or water. High levels of air pollution can cause an increased risk of heart attack, wheezing, coughing, and breathing problems, and irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat. Air pollution can also cause worsening of existing heart problems, asthma, and other lung complications.

Like humans, animals can suffer from a number of health problems due to air pollution, including birth defects, reproductive failure, and diseases. Air pollution causes a number of environmental effects in addition to the effects on humans and animals. Acid rain contains high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids that are created by oxides and sulfur oxides released into the air by the burning of fossil fuels.

Acid rain damages trees and acidifies soils and water bodies, making the water too acidic for fish and other aquatic life. Nitrogen oxides released into the air by the burning of fossil fuels also contribute to the nitrogen responsible for toxic algae blooms. The release of man-made compounds including hydrochlorofluorocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons, and halons formerly used as coolants, foaming agents, pesticides, solvents, aerosol propellants, and fire-extinguishers are depleting the ozone.

The ozone layer in the stratosphere forms a protective layer that reflects harmful ultraviolet rays back into space that would otherwise destroy animal and plant life. The effects of water pollution depend on which chemicals are being dumped where. Bodies of water that are near urbanized areas tend to be heavily polluted by dumbing of garbage and chemicals, both legally and illegally, by industrial plants, health centers, and individuals.

By far the biggest consequence of water pollution is the death of aquatic creatures, which can disrupt the entire food chain. Pollutants such as cadmium, mercury, and lead are eaten by tiny aquatic organisms that are then eaten by fish and shell fish, becoming more concentrated with each step up the food chain and causing serious problems in humans and wildlife.

Nutrient pollution can cause toxic algal blooms in drinking water sources that create toxins that kill fish and other aquatic animals. Direct exposure to this toxic alga causes serious health problems in humans including neurological effects, respiratory problems, stomach and liver illness, and rashes.

A consequential problem is created when disinfectants used to treat drinking water reach water polluted with toxic algae, they react creating dioxins. Companies that exceeded their cap would have to pay. Companies that polluted less than their cap could trade or sell their remaining pollution allowance to other companies. Cap and trade would essentially pay companies to limit pollution. The WHOs guidelines are tougher than most individual countries existing guidelines.

The WHO guidelines aim to reduce air pollution-related deaths by 15 percent a year. Reduction Anybody can take steps to reduce air pollution. Millions of people every day make simple changes in their lives to do this.

Taking public transportation instead of driving a car, or riding a bike instead of traveling in carbon dioxide-emitting vehicles are a couple of ways to reduce air pollution. Avoiding aerosol cans, recycling yard trimmings instead of burning them, and not smoking cigarettes are others. These tests sent invisible radioactive particles into the atmosphere. These air pollution particles traveled with wind currents, eventually falling to Earth, sometimes hundreds of miles away in states including Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Washington.

These areas were considered to be "downwind" from the Nevada Test Site. Decades later, people living in those downwind areascalled "downwinders"began developing cancer at above-normal rates. In , the U. London Smog What has come to be known as the London Smog of , or the Great Smog of , was a four-day incident that sickened , people and caused as many as 12, deaths. Very cold weather in December led residents of London, England, to burn more coal to keep warm.

Smoke and other pollutants became trapped by a thick fog that settled over the city. The polluted fog became so thick that people could only see a few meters in front of them. Greenhouse Gases There are five major greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere.

Acid rain can be manmade or occur naturally. When released through a small opening, the liquid becomes a spray or foam. Carbon dioxide is also the byproduct of burning fossil fuels. Some CFCs have destructive effects on the ozone layer. Gas molecules are in constant, random motion. December 5December 9, severe smog that killed between 4, and 12, people in London, England.

Also called the Great Smog. Nuclear weapons testing was discontinued there in Also known as laughing gas or happy gas. Also called a hot particle. Also called yard waste. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society.

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You cannot download interactives. Fire can be an incredibly useful tool. The extraordinary level of suffering humanity is currently experiencing from air pollution is not necessary for modernity; it could be reduced, at a cost well below the net social benefits, with clean energy technologies on hand.

If they are not necessary, then the millions of lives ended or degraded by fossil fuels every year are a choice. And when suffering on this scale, that is this brutally inequitable, becomes a choice, it enters the same ethical terrain as war, slavery, and genocide.

The effects are more distributed over time and geography, as are the decision-making and the moral culpability, but the cumulative impact on human well-being — on our longevity, health, learning, and happiness — is comparable, and every bit as much worth fighting. US policymakers have a chance to kick-start an energy transition that could save 1. As Shindell says, it would be unconscionable not to act on it.

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Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. A smokestack emits smoke over Interstate 95 in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 17, Air pollution is much worse than we thought Ditching fossil fuels would pay for itself through clean air alone.

City traffic produces highly concentrated carbon monoxide. Cars and factories produce other common pollutants, including nitrogen oxide , sulfur dioxide, and hydrocarbon s. These chemicals react with sunlight to produce smog , a thick fog or haze of air pollution. The smog is so thick in Linfen, China, that people can seldom see the sun. Smog can be brown or grayish blue, depending on which pollutants are in it. Smog makes breathing difficult, especially for children and older adults.

Some cities that suffer from extreme smog issue air pollution warnings. The government of Hong Kong, for example, will warn people not to go outside or engage in strenuous physical activity such as running or swimming when smog is very thick. When air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide mix with moisture, they change into acid s.

They then fall back to earth as acid rain. Wind often carries acid rain far from the pollution source. Pollutants produced by factories and power plants in Spain can fall as acid rain in Norway. Acid rain can kill all the trees in a forest.

It can also devastate lake s, stream s, and other waterways. Acid rain also wears away marble and other kinds of stone. It has erased the words on gravestone s and damaged many historic buildings and monument s. The Taj Mahal , in Agra, India, was once gleaming white.

Years of exposure to acid rain has left it pale. Governments have tried to prevent acid rain by limiting the amount of pollutants released into the air. In Europe and North America, they have had some success, but acid rain remains a major problem in the developing world , especially Asia.

Greenhouse gas es are another source of air pollution. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane occur naturally in the atmosphere. In fact, they are necessary for life on Earth. They absorb sunlight reflected from Earth, preventing it from escaping into space. By trapping heat in the atmosphere, they keep Earth warm enough for people to live. This is called the greenhouse effect. But human activities such as burning fossil fuels and destroying forests have increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

This has increased the greenhouse effect, and average temperature s across the globe are rising. The decade that began in the year was the warmest on record. This increase in worldwide average temperatures, caused in part by human activity, is called global warming.

Global warming is causing ice sheets and glacier s to melt. The melting ice is causing sea level s to rise at a rate of 2 millimeters 0. The rising seas will eventually flood low-lying coast al regions. Entire nation s, such as the island s of Maldives, are threatened by this climate change. Global warming also contributes to the phenomenon of ocean acidification.

Ocean acidification is the process of ocean waters absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Fewer organisms can survive in warmer, less salty waters. The ocean food web is threatened as plants and animals such as coral fail to adapt to more acidic oceans. Scientists have predicted that global warming will cause an increase in severe storm s.

It will also cause more drought s in some region s and more flooding in others. The change in average temperatures is already shrinking some habitats, the regions where plants and animals naturally live.

Polar bears hunt seals from sea ice in the Arctic. The melting ice is forcing polar bears to travel farther to find food, and their numbers are shrinking. People and governments can respond quickly and effectively to reduce air pollution. Chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons CFCs are a dangerous form of air pollution that governments worked to reduce in the s and s.

CFCs are found in gases that cool refrigerators, in foam products, and in aerosol can s. When people are exposed to more ultraviolet radiation, they are more likely to develop skin cancer, eye diseases, and other illnesses. In the s, scientists noticed that the ozone layer over Antarctica was thinning. But Australia, the home of more than 22 million people, lies at the edge of the hole. In the s, the Australian government began an effort to warn people of the dangers of too much sun.

Water Pollution Some polluted water looks muddy, smells bad, and has garbage floating in it. Polluted water is unsafe for drinking and swimming. Some people who drink polluted water are exposed to hazardous chemicals that may make them sick years later.

Others consume bacteria and other tiny aquatic organisms that cause disease. The United Nations estimates that 4, children die every day from drinking dirty water. Sometimes, polluted water harms people indirectly. They get sick because the fish that live in polluted water are unsafe to eat. They have too many pollutants in their flesh. There are some natural sources of water pollution. Oil and natural gas, for example, can leak into oceans and lakes from natural underground sources.

These sites are called petroleum seep s. The Coal Oil Point Seep releases so much oil that tar ball s wash up on nearby beaches. Tar balls are small, sticky pieces of pollution that eventually decompose in the ocean. Human activity also contributes to water pollution. Chemicals and oils from factories are sometimes dumped or seep into waterways. These chemicals are called runoff.

Chemicals in runoff can create a toxic environment for aquatic life. Runoff can also help create a fertile environment for cyanobacteria , also called blue-green algae.

Cyanobacteria reproduce rapidly, creating a harmful algal bloom HAB. Harmful algal blooms prevent organisms such as plants and fish from living in the ocean. Mining and drilling can also contribute to water pollution. Acid mine drainage AMD is a major contributor to pollution of rivers and streams near coal mines. Acid helps miners remove coal from the surrounding rocks. The acid is washed into streams and rivers, where it reacts with rock s and sand.

It releases chemical sulfur from the rocks and sand, creating a river rich in sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is toxic to plants, fish, and other aquatic organisms.

Sulfuric acid is also toxic to people, making rivers polluted by AMD dangerous sources of water for drinking and hygiene.

Oil spill s are another source of water pollution. In April , the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing oil to gush from the ocean floor. In the following months, hundreds of millions of gallons of oil spewed into the gulf waters.

The spill produced large plume s of oil under the sea and an oil slick on the surface as large as 24, square kilometers 9, square miles.

The oil slick coated wetland s in the U. Birds, such as pelicans, became coated in oil and were unable to fly or access food. More than 2 million animals died as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Buried chemical waste can also pollute water supplies. For many years, people dispose d of chemical wastes carelessly, not realizing its dangers.

In the s, people living in the Love Canal area in Niagara Falls, New York, suffered from extremely high rates of cancer and birth defect s. In , families living in Love Canal had to abandon their homes. If not disposed of properly, radioactive waste from nuclear power plants can escape into the environment.