Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Maria E. Silva
Is industrial pollution a real problem for the environment? Since the discovery of fire,
humans have gradually polluted the environment. With the development of industry, pollution
has also increased at higher rates. People just wanted to be pioneers in industrial
development, forgetting protect the environment, and prevent further pollution that could be
harmful to all forms of life including plants. Today, industrial pollution is a reality that is
causing several problems in the environment, and affecting humans' health. Lacking
environmental regulations from governments and worldwide organizations are reasons for
industrial pollution. For this reason, chemical emissions, another cause of industrial pollution,
factories are a prime source of the economy. Human unawareness about the effects of
industrial pollution was crucial when increasing industrial pollution because people who do
not know about an important and harmful problem tend to have a delayed reaction to the
proliferation; thus, pollution. Industrial polluting is like a snowball; it grows through time
industrialization which caused, for example, the great smog in London in 1952 (Effects of
Industrial Revolution, n.d.). Furthermore, coal started to be a prime source of fuel, causing
acid rain, which began to produce respiratory problems in surrounding communities. Water
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pollution also got intensified because factories disregard chemical wastes into rivers that were
the main cause of the 1850s epidemics of cholera and typhoid. (Effects of Industrial
Revolution, n.d.). People who lived in this period cared more about industrial development
than the impact of factories on the environment. They saw smog as a clear sign of success
and thought that exploiting newly discovered resources was their right. People started to build
new cities and develop new ways of transportation without considering what harmful
pollutants these inventions could contain. Human greed grew with industrialism. On the
other hand, the increasing demand for new lands due to urbanization and farming brought
deforestation. Deforestation prevented trees from absorbing greenhouse gasses that cause
climate change. The paradox of deforestation is that in many cases acres of trees were cut
because of the need of lands for farming. However, without trees that protected soil from sun
rays, farmlands rapidly became barren deserts. Based on the examples given, society is
suffering from the consequences of industrialization, human greed, and deforestation that
regulations from government and international organizations. Lack of policies that prevent
the unstoppable increase of pollution from factories has been a major problem for decades.
Even though governments try to regulate industrial pollution, enforcing these policies not
only in a country but also globally is necessary. Laws differ from country to country with
different consequences for the environment. Many companies find methods to bypass these
laws and therefore continue polluting without being sanctioned. For example, the efficiency
of the Clean Water Act is debatable. The Clean Water Act was established in 1972 to regulate
pollutant mass emissions. According to Lyon and Stein (2008), monitoring and data
This quote indicated that even though the Clean Water Act is regulating pollutant emissions,
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information that organizations need to collect to establish strict and personalized control to
industries. Countries need to work as a single organism to regulate laws that prevent
emissions that industries produce. Throughout the years, despite authorities attempts to
control pollution, factories chemical emissions increased, which damaged the environment.
The first chemicals that proliferated in industries were the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The
CFCs were refrigerants used on spray cans. Industries found CFCs cheap to produce.
However, a research from the British Antarctic Survey showed that CFCs are so stable that
their emissions reach the stratosphere without breaking down, where they then participate in a
series of chemical reactions whose end result is the destruction of ozone. (as cited in
Industrial Pollution, 2009, p. 456). Although CFCs production have stopped, these chemicals
will stay in the atmosphere for more years, which means they will keep damaging the ozone,
and raising the probabilities of skin cancer. (Industrial Pollution, 2009, p. 456). Skin cancer
is, nowadays, one of the most catastrophic effects of industrial pollution. Furthermore,
pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture have been polluting the environment. Pesticides
are chemicals that kills pests. Fertilizers are chemicals used as plants supply of nutrients.
Human exposure to pesticides have many consequences, such as cancer, birth defects, or
organs damage. Pesticides and fertilizers are also toxic for wildlife. For example, the rain
spreads the pesticides to the rivers contaminating not only the water but also killing fish.
Fertilizers leftovers that end on rivers and oceans causing a lack of oxygen, dead zones, that
kill marine life. Over the years, industries have produced many dangerous chemicals such as
CFCs or pesticides that are dangerous for the environment and humans health.
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Another main cause of industrial pollution is human unawareness about the effects of
Recognized unawareness refers to people who think about of the effects of pollution but do
not have credible sources of information to confirm their doubts. For example, today, there is
plenty of information on the internet about pollution and how industries contribute to it.
industrial pollution, which creates suspect about any type bias against or for industries. The
other type of unawareness is deliberate, which refers to people who know about the
environmental issue but think it is not important; therefore, they do not search information
about the issue. Cultural influence plays an important role for deliberate unawareness because
some cultures ignore industrial pollution. To illustrate, a comparison between Chinese and
American cultures determined that Chinese people did not considered industrial pollution as a
serious problem. However, after facing and realizing that rates of diseases have increased,
people are demanding that their governments protect them from dangerous pollution and
slow the environmental destruction that is consuming vital resources. (Cultural practices,
2009, p. 180) People do not care about a problem such as industrial pollution unless serious
effects start to affect their daily life as shown in the example of the Chinese culture. Humans
need to be informed about problems that are harmful to the environment, so they can act to
prevent it.
pollution show up worldwide. For example, with the automobile spread, carbon dioxide
(CO) emissions also increased. Fossil fuels such as coal, and gas are necessary to run a car.
The reaction of these chemicals when burned produce CO . According to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels have
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ushered in a new epoch where human activities will largely determine the evolution of
Earths climate. (Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium and
Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles, p. 12). The quote above by the EPA refers to the
transportation, energy consumption has widely increase in the last years. The fire which was
used to heat or cooking, was the first source of energy. Today, societys major energy
consumption is through electricity power. People need electricity from getting up until they
lie down. For example, people need electricity to charge their phones. But the crucial point is
how electricity is generated. In many countries, electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels.
In 2015, research of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (2016) stated that coal was
used for about 33% of the electricity generated in the United States. Demonstrating that
humans need of energy, electricity to be specific, is harmful for the environment because the
fossil fuels that are burn to generate electricity pollute with carbon dioxide. The quote shows
that coal is the most chemical used in the United States to produce electricity.
While many studies demonstrate the inefficiency of laws that lead to increase
chemical emissions, and the unawareness of people tied with their development, other
researchers show their support of the governments regulation. Regulations are helping to
curb chemical emissions in many countries. Therefore, not all the laws are inefficient. Actual
studies show that people are getting more involved in prevent industrial pollution by using
bicycles instead of cars, for example. Researchers also affirmed that human development in
terms of usage of fossil fuels makes modern life possible (Fossil Fuels, n.d).According to a
study of the Institute for Energy Research expressed that fossil fuels are huge sources of
energy work to generate steam, electricity and power transportation systems. They make the
the other side, one way to decrease pollution and recover dead zones is by unifying all 200
countries to work together. Rockstrom (2010) gave a good example of countries that started
with scientists into an agricultural revolution of zero tillage systems combined with mulch
farming with locally adapted technologies, which today, for example, in some countries, have
led to a tremendous increase in area under mulch, zero till farming which, not only produces
more food, but also sequesters carbon. This example of Brazil showed that making a change
is possible if people work together and realize that pollution is harmful for the environment.
Industrial polluting has been increasing throughout decades, which becomes a danger
emissions from manufactures around the world, humans lack of information about the effects
of industrial pollution, and the continuous human development through the times have
influence on increasing industrial pollution. Humans beings need to make a decision to stop
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