Environmental Pollution
Pollution environmental threat
There are a number of environmental issues faced by the world today. However, the most significant one is environmental pollution. Pollution is defined as the introduction of impurities into an ordinary environment, which results to discomfort, disorder, or instability to the ecosystem (Joseph, 2006). Pollution, is one of the environmental issues which once it takes place in one area, its effects may be felt in the entire globe, hence it is highly advisable for the entire world to rise and fight against it. Generally, there are three types of environmental pollution: air, land, and water pollutions. This implies that almost all the living organisms, both in water and land, are affected by environmental pollution. For instance, both water and air pollution negatively affects marine life as well as the life of the living organisms in the dry land. Hence, every effort should be put in the eradication of pollution.
The root cause of pollution
Arguably, there are various causes of environmental pollution; these causes are due to human activities or sometimes they are natural. However, human activities has been identified has the main cause of environmental pollution. Undeniably, environmental pollution started from the time when man learnt how to exploit the environment as a survival tactic. Nevertheless, in addition to industrial revolution, advancement in technology increased the rates of human environmental pollution (Nigel, 2009). For instance, the discovery of new sources of energy more especially oil marked the beginning of massive air and water pollution. Precisely, use of oil in industries as well as in other areas, has been rated as one of the leading source of air pollutants. Population growth is another significant cause of environmental pollution. For instance, although unequally distributed in different parts of the world, current population statistics indicates that the number of human population is increasing at a higher rate, straining the environment. High population growth has been the root cause of slums, where high environmental pollution is witnessed, in certain areas of the globe. The other human activity, which causes environmental pollution as result of high population growth rate, includes deforestation. As the human population continues to increase, people move into the forested area and cut down the trees to create space for settlement. Deforestation leads to soil erosion where soil is carried by rainwater or wind into the water sources hence making the water dirty for human consumption and unsightly.
Proposed solution to pollution
As mentioned earlier, environmental pollution is among the leading environmental threats lately. One of the proposed solutions to environmental pollution is to implement policies that are focused on reduction of pollution from certain areas. For instance, industries being one of the leading environmental pollution, policies that control the amount of pollutants released to the environment from the industries should be put into place. Besides reducing or rather lowering the rates of pollution from industries, these policies will instill some degree of accountability in the industries (Michael, 2008). Another solution to pollution is the use of clean sources of energy such as wind. For ages, fossil fuels, which are the leading causes of air pollution, have been put to use. Thus, there is the need to come up with more clean sources of energy that are environmental friendly. The other possible solution of pollution is recycling. Lastly, as mentioned above, high population growth is also threatening the environment. Thus, there is need to increase awareness globally on the importance of controlling population growth, in the attempt to reduce human activities that contributes to environmental pollution moreover, people should be sensitized on the importance of trees hence forests be conserved.
Possible consequences if pollution is unchecked
Unless the status of environmental pollution is checked, the entire would is likely to face serious consequences, some of them which have been felt already. The most significant consequence of environmental pollution is global warming (Joseph, 2006). Global warming is considered a serious issue, explaining why the entire world is trying to come together to find the best way to handle it. Global warming is generally described as the increasing of the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere. The chief cause of this problem is environmental pollution, which results from human activities such fossil burning as well as deforestation. The other consequence of environmental pollution is increase in diseases (Nigel, 2009). Air and water pollutions are the causes of various diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, as well as other diseases in humans. In some cases, environmental pollution can cause deaths if not controlled.
References
Michael G. F. (2008) "Some Thoughts on the Role of the Criminal Law in Deterring
Environmental Pollution,” Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 3 Iss: 3, pp.271 - 275
Joseph S.L. (2006) "New directions of environmental management in construction:
accepted levels of pollution,” Structural Survey, Vol. 18 Iss: 2, pp.89 – 98
Nigel, H. (2009) "Sources of Information on Environmental Pollution,” Environmental
Management and Health, Vol. 25 Iss: 8, pp.300 – 304
