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Causes of Air Pollution
   

There are many reasons for the increased amount of air pollution in the atmosphere today. Sadly, industrialization is quite possibly the biggest threat to mother earth, and it shows not signs of slowing. Power plants and our reliance on fossil fuels for transportation make up the biggest percentage of air pollution. And although the issues have been addressed over the years, countries are slow to develop alternatives. At the current rate of pollution and global warming, the children of this country will live in a different world than we know it today.

Causes of Air Pollution

Power plants represent a very grim sector of business when it comes to the contribution to air pollution. Did you know that hundreds of power plants have no cap on the amount of smog and global warming toxins it can spew into the air? It is true; power plants represent nearly 40 percent of the air pollution problems in the United States alone. Although any new power plant that comes into existence must follow stricter guidelines, most of the power plants in operation were simply “grandfathered” in when the new guidelines took affect, making them unaccountable for the severe problems they create for the environment.

Next to power plants, transportation accounts for a majority of the remaining air pollution problem. Our reliance on fossil fuels is just as much crippling this country, as it is the earth. The only way this problem can be addressed is to find an alternative source of energy. This has been in the works for years, but is extremely slow to happen. The Toyota Prius, the first hybrid electric and gas vehicle, was introduced in 1997. The problem is that not much has followed behind it and the Prius is very highly priced, making it currently difficult for the average American to get their hands on it. The current administration needs to see the urgency and step up production of these cars.

Light pollution is another source of concern. Light pollution is defined as the lightening of the night sky due to artificial light being scattered about, it is also known as sky glow. The average security light uses 800 pounds of coal per year. Unnecessary light not only wastes massive amounts of electricity, but it adversely affects wildlife as well. Unnecessary light produces massive tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the number one source for the global warming phenomenon. Plants depend on the cycle of light and dark for proper growth. For some plants, the onset of darkness is just as important, if not more important to the flowering and reproduction process as light. And what about the nocturnal animals that rely on darkness for hunting? The constant light in our urban and even in some rural areas is out of control and is throwing off the delicate life cycle balance.

Another source of air pollution is the burning of solid waste, or to put it plainer, city dumps. Hundreds of millions of tons of solid waste are collected and disposed of each year. Although recycling is more popular nowadays than ten to twenty years ago, the amount of solid waste continues to rise each year. So what happens to all of that glass, paper, textiles, plastic and sludge? It goes into dumpsites, which in turn pollutes the water supply, land and even the air. Websites like freecycle.org aim to stop items that are not biodegradable from ever going to the dump. It is a recycling site that not only successfully limits what people are tossing out, but also helps others by passing on items to people who can use them.

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SolveYourProblem.com : 2007

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