There are many environmental changes that are occurring in the different parts of the world. These environmental changes have adverse effects to the lives of the human beings living in the different parts of the world. One of the areas that have been affected by environmental changes is Morgantown. There has been a snowstorm in the region therefore causing a lot of problems in the region. Due to the current environmental changes, it is predicted that there is a possibility that there might be even bigger snowstorms in the region and this might adversely affect the normal lives of the residents in the town. If this happens, there will be an environmental disaster in the region and agents such as the government, the city council and other humanitarian agencies will be required to intervene in order to help solve the problems that will be caused by these snowstorms (Mass, 60). Other types of environmental pollution have also been witnessed in the region. The pollution has been facilitated by the companies that have started drilling gas in the region. This has resulted in both water and air pollution. This kind of pollution is very dangerous and it is likely to significantly affect the health of individuals in the region. Therefore the necessary authorities around the Morgantown city should take the necessary measures to protect the residents of the region from the negative effects of the environmental pollution caused by natural gas drilling companies.
Snow storm consist of snow and sleet that fall when the earth temperatures are too low causing freezing of water to form ice. Snowstorms involve the snow that falls from the atmosphere. This falling of the snow has adverse effects to the residents of the Morgantown. One of the effects is that the roads become impassable. This means that the children cannot go to school and the adults cannot go to work. The school buses in the region are not able to move along the roads of the region due to the fact that the snow covers the roads making the roads impassable. This shows that the two groups in the population that have been greatly affected is the school going children and the working class population.
The other solution for dealing with snowstorms is by ensuring that tyres that are able to navigate roads with snow are available (Mass, 86). With these tyres, the vehicles will be able to travel with ease whenever there are snowstorms. In addition to the tyres, qualified drivers who are able to travel in the impassable roads should be available. Therefore, it means that the city council can help its residents by setting up driving schools that are able to train highly qualified drivers who can travel in the hash conditions of the roads. This will ensure that the transport problem reduce even though there are snow storms.
In the regions where the roads are unploughed, the roads are impassable when there are snowstorms (Mass, 56). This means that the city council of Morgantown should ensure that all the roads in the town are ploughed to make it easier for the vehicles to travel even though there are snowstorms. By having ploughed roads, the vehicles can move easily as compared to when the roads are not ploughed. Ploughed roads will reduce the chances of vehicles getting stuck in the snow. The city council will improve the lives of the individuals living in Morgantown by having ploughed roads in this city.
The gas and oil extraction around Morgantown is likely to cause serious environmental effects around Morgantown. These activities are likely to cause water and air pollution making the air unfit for breathing. Some of the gases emitted in the fracturing process include Sulphur oxides, carbon diode, carbon monoxide and the nitrogen oxides (Yew, 99). In addition, some gases that are dangerous are contained in the natural gas. Such gases include methane and ethane. Other chemicals that are produced include toluene, xylene and ethyl- benzene. These chemicals leak to the underground water sources during fracturing hence polluting the underground water. These chemicals are dangerous to the human health.
It can be clearly seen that the process of extracting oil and natural gas is very dangerous to the environment. The extraction of the gas leads to the underground water pollution by chemicals such as methane and petroleum. This has adverse effects on the aquatic organisms. This is because this pollution is likely to poison all the living organisms in the water. This means that living organisms like fish are likely to die due to these chemicals. In addition, the chemicals are likely to accumulate in the bodies of the fish. When eaten by human beings, these chemicals are likely to kill even human beings who eat fish that are accumulated in the bodies of these fish.
The water contamination is likely to affect the health of individuals in the region. This is because the pollution of water by chemicals such as petroleum and methane makes water unfit for consumption (Yew, 113). The lack of clean water in the city is likely to result to outbreak of waterborne diseases. This is likely to kill many people. In addition, if the city residents consume the contaminated water, they are likely to die.
The snow storms can also be very dangerous to the lives of the residents of Morgantown (Mass, 123). This is because the snowstorms make the roads very slippery thereby increasing the chances of occurrence of accidents. In addition, snowstorms reduce the visibility of the roads. When the drivers are not able to see clearly, there are chances that individuals can be knocked down by moving vehicles. The other danger that the snowstorms pose is that the ice that is found on the surface of the earth after the snowstorms can melt when there is increase in the temperatures. This may result to the flooding of the region which is likely to kill many people and other living organisms in the region.
Freezing rain is the most dangerous type of snowstorm that can occur in the region. When this occurs, the electric and telephone lines are damaged. This means that communication will be impossible. In addition, all the activities that required electricity will not continue. The city council should intervene in this case by coming up with alternative sources of energy such as generators with underground cables to ensure the supply of electricity to all the parts of the town. in addition, the city council in the region should encourage the residents to use alternative sources of energy such as gas to cook at their homes.
The freezing rain is also dangerous because it destroys the crops in the region
(Mass, 60). As a result, there is a possibility that there will be a shortage of food whenever there are snowstorms in the region. The city council should be willing to supply food to the residents of the town to ensure that there are no deaths caused by hunger.
The fracturing process also leads to radioactive emissions (Yew, 131). This is very dangerous because it is likely to increase the incidences of cancer in the region of the city. This may result in massive death of the residents in the region. This is because of the fact that cancer is difficult to treat and it involves a lot of costs to treat.
The gases that are emitted in the regions where fracturing process occurs such as methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and Sulphur oxides cause greenhouse effect. This results in the overheating of the earth that is likely to lead to change in the climate of the region and other parts of the world (Norman, 1991). This is likely to change the economic activities that take place in the region. In addition, the green house effect will lead to destruction of the ozone layer hence increases risks to cancer.
The city council should also consider improving the healthcare services in the city. This may also involve acquisition of equipments that are to be used to treat the diseases that are likely to increase in the region due to environmental pollution. Since it is obvious that cancer cases will increase in the region, qualified personnel should be employed in the hospitals in the city to deal with increased cancer cases. In addition, equipments that are used in the diagnosis of cancer should be acquired ready to save the people from cancer ailments.
The health centers in the region should also be prepared to treat water born diseases such as diarrhea. The medicine needed to treat this disease should be availed in all the health centers. Since there is likely to be increase in the diseases relating to breathing system, the specialists who are able to treat these diseases should be hired in advance. In addition, the necessary medicine and equipments to treat these diseases should be acquired ready to deal with the diseases.
In the case of the snowstorms, the government should ensure that there is enough food for individuals. The vehicles required to transport food to people should be acquired. The city council should also supply water to the residents to ensure that they have safe water for drinking. The city council should also ensure that other methods of communication are available to the residents. The government could ensure that there is access to mobile phones to the entire household in the region.
If I were in charge of the health aspects in the city of Morgantown city, I would take several steps to deal with the effects of the pollution in the city. I would first pressurize the government to put in place laws that will prevent the fracturing process around the city. This will ensure that the environmental effects will not affect the large population that lives in the city. The other measure I would emphasize is to pressurize the city council to make sure that the companies that carry out the fracturing process treat the water that they pollute. In addition, these companies should be required to pay tax that can help to clean up the environment hence reduce the negative effects to the environment. In addition, I would encourage the city council to ensure that the roads in the region are smooth and passable to avoid accidents in times of snowstorms.
In addition to the above measures, I would undertake community awareness programs to inform the people of the risks that they face and how they can help fight these risks. I would also equip the health centers in the region with the necessary personnel and equipments to deal with the probable diseases. I would also encourage the local government and the city council to set aside funds that should be used to clean up the environment in order to reduce the exposure to the risks posed by environmental pollution.
Press report
The recent increase in the environmental pollution due to the extraction of oil and natural gas is posing several healthy problems to the residents of Morgantown town (Norman, 1991). Due to this, the residents should observe several measures to avoid suffering from diseases that are likely to attack people in the region. Everyone should ensure that the water used for domestic use is safe. This could be through methods such as boiling, treating the water or sourcing the water from a reliable source.
Works cited
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