Environmental Problems

Environmental Problems

Environmental problems affect the earth’s environment negatively, such as air pollution, water pollution, and more. Air pollution concerns me the most because of the dangerous effects on human health, animal health, plant health, and climate. Air pollution is basically the existence of a harmful or poisonous substance to living things, such as gases.

Air pollution has caused countless adverse effects around the world. Once the poisonous or harmful gases are inhaled, the pollutants cause diseases such as heart disease by travelling into the bloodstream through the lungs and damaging vessels and making them narrow. Inhaling small particles released into the air causes a buildup of the particles in the lungs, leading to cell damage, inflammation, and, eventually, lung cancer. Children’s health is most affected compared to adults since they breathe in more, absorb pollutants from their gastrointestinal tract, play in areas with pollutants, and put harmful substances in their mouths. Consequently, this results in asthma and respiratory illnesses (Payne, n.d.).

In addition, air pollution affects animals by killing them since their respiratory system gets affected the same as humans and can also get skin damage. Besides, research on animals in Mexico City showed that dogs exposed to air pollution showed chronic inflammation, neurodegeneration, and DNA damage in several brain regions (Costa et al., 2014). Moreover, plants grow less, burn at leaf tips, change colour, and collapse leaf tissue when exposed to air pollution.

Air pollution causes an effect on climate change, and an example is how carbon and ozone trap heat in the atmosphere, causing an increase in warmth. At the same time, some pollutants can have a cooling effect on the atmosphere. Areas with increased air pollution, such as urban areas, favour ozone formation, which affects daytime temperatures, wind speed, and clear skies (D’AMATO, LICCARDI, D’AMATO & CAZZOLA, 2001). In conclusion, air pollution is the most concerning environmental problem since it affects the planet in various dangerous ways; therefore, it is the obligation of humans to reduce the harm caused and improve their health and that of plants and animals.

References

Costa, L., Cole, T., Coburn, J., Chang, Y., Dao, K., & Roque, P. (2014). Neurotoxicants Are in the Air: Convergence of Human, Animal, and<i>In Vitro</i>Studies on the Effects of Air Pollution on the Brain. Biomed Research International, 2014, 1-8. doi: 10.1155/2014/736385

D’AMATO, G., LICCARDI, G., D’AMATO, M., & CAZZOLA, M. (2001). The role of outdoor air pollution and climatic changes on the rising trends in respiratory allergy. Respiratory Medicine, 95(7), 606-611. doi: 10.1053/rmed.2001.1112

Payne, W. Human Behavior and the Social Environment II.

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Which one of the environmental problems discussed in the text concerns you the most? Why?

Environmental Problems

Note: The reading is chapter 22 of the attached textbook. Thank you