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Article Series: Global Warming
Global Warming & Climate Change -
What Do I Need To Know?
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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