I. Environmental Issue Houston, Texas is one of the cities in the United States with the worst air pollution (NASA, 2007). The sources of this pollution are varied, motor vehicles, chemical industry, power plants, and an ever growing population (NASA, 2007). Air pollution has negative impacts on the environment, human health, and the economy. Some negative environmental impacts are acid rain, damage to crop and other plants due to ground-level ozone, and birth defects, reproductive failure, and disease in animals (Health & Environmental Effects of Air Pollution, n.d.) Toxins in the air can also cause many health problems in humans which can severely affect people’s quality of life. In one study, a task force found that of 179 pollutants in Houston that might have health impacts, there were 12 substances are definite risks, 9 are probable risks, and 24 are possible risks (Sexton et al., 2006). These pollutants were shown to cause respiratory illnesses, cancer, cardiovascular problems, etc. (Sexton et al., 2006). All of these health problems would have a major impact on people’s lives, and even cause death. While much of the air pollution in the Houston area comes from industrial sources that are good for the economy, there are also negative economic impacts. For example, for health reasons, there are many days of work lost. People with respiratory illnesses may not be able to go out some days with poor air quality which would limit the work they could do or the days they
Pollution continues to pose an enormous threat to residents of urban cities worldwide. In the August 2008 Monthly Update, it is stated that approximately 800,000 deaths each year can be attributed to outdoor air pollution, making pollution the single most harmful environmental hazard to human health in urban areas (Kallman). The fact that pollution kills hundreds of thousands of people each year alone portrays just how dangerous living in these conditions can be. Kallman writes about a study which proves an increase in upper respiratory diseases, cardiovascular mortality, respiratory mortality, and low birth weights when exposed to air pollutants (August 2008: Monthly Update). These can be very serious diseases and complications which, when contracted, can lead to death or very serious illnesses. There
Pollution was first introduced in October 1948, Donora, PA; was enveloped in a lethal haze. Lethal is harmful and is sufficient to cause death. During this people experienced severe respiratory problems. It was difficult for them to breath. The death rose nearly to 40. But this wasn’t a surprise since Donora was no outsider to pollution. Since pollution has long plagued Donora with dirty air.
Air pollution causes great damage to the environment. These damages include acid rain, eutrophication,haze, ozone depletion, global climate change, etc. "Acid rain is precipitation containing harmful amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids."Acid
This article, written by Jocelyn Lockwood, explores the severity and effects of air pollution in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Lockwood begins her article by discussing the findings of the ‘State of the Air 2015’ report, written by the American Lung Association, to emphasize that the amount of pollution in the air is dangerous. The author continues the article by referencing an interview with Blazer, a 9-year-old who has asthma, to give more evidence
The Central Valley is one of the many sites of where air pollution is most greatly produced. This is due to the vast majority of electricity, fuels, and transportation that people in the Central Valley utilize along with the amount of agriculture that is produced here. Many people go through their daily activities without thinking about how they are harming not only the environment but also the health and well being of humans. The cause of air pollution is not only due to natural events like volcanoes and wildfires but is mostly contributed to human activities. These include use of gases, the burning of wood, power generation, driving, the use of household and farming chemicals, and more! (Lad, 2016) Air pollution is interconnected with many health effects like upper respiratory infections and chronic respiratory diseases like asthma. (cdc.gov, 2016) However, there are many mitigation strategies that are being implemented to help address the health effects of air pollution.
Everyone today contributes to pollution in some way or another. Daily routines such as driving to work or cooking release hazardous gases and numerous other toxins in the air. The same toxins released can cause harm to the lungs or even kill due to the carcinogens. Not only does the polluted air harm people but the effect to the planet is vast as well. Issues such as global warming, acid rain, and droughts are evidently linked to polluted air. Though pollution is not solely based in the air, many other forms exist as well like water, radioactive, and thermal/heat pollution. Yet the sad reality is, many people are exposed to it far more than others because of their ethnic backgrounds or for poverty based reasons. Communities with lower income
Arizona is on the rise as one of the fastest metropolitan areas in the United States of America. In fact, in 2015 Forbes Magazine ranks Phoenix, Arizona as the 11th fastest growing city in the U.S.1 This growth is due the unprecedented resources and growing opportunities in the state of Arizona. With all of these opportunities come more production, which means more emissions from various industries and cars, more fossil fuels burned, and household and farming chemicals added to the sky. All of these are examples of pollution; which is one the sacrifices that comes with being a large city that is emerging. Pollution is defined as the action or process of making land, water, air, etc., dirty and not safe or suitable to use.2 We understand that Phoenix is a rapidly growing city, but they should be able to grow without being a detriment to the environment and health of their citizens. The purpose of my report is to examine the problem of air pollution in Phoenix, Arizona and look at solutions to fix this problem.
No matter where you are at today the air quality is poor and increasing in most cities. Dallas-Fort Worth is ranked number seven according to the American Lung Association’s air quality report for having the worst air. Everywhere you look there is pollution and its time to take dramatic measures in order to lower health and en-vironmental problems. Problems that are increasing due to the higher demand for goods, services, and transportation.
The University of Texas Health Science Center has found that the amount of PM2.5 in the air in Houston, Texas can be linked with a small increase in mortality rate. Houston is largely industrialized which accounts for the emission of pollutants that negatively affect the people and environment. Home to America’s largest petrochemical industry, as well as many ports and forms of transportation, it’s little surprise that the concentration of PM2.5 in the city can be greater than some other cities. Scientists recorded the levels of PM2.5 in Houston over 11 years and found that though the PM2.5 particles’ mass was greater than the national standard on only 17 days out of the 11 years, on those single days, the mortality risk increased by 1.43%.
Global warming is correlated with hot, humid days that can activate asthma symptoms. For patients with chronic lung diseases the onset of an intense heat wave can lead to death. “A study of New York City summers from 1991 to 2004 found that each 1°C above an empirically derived temperature-health effect threshold for the population resulted in a 2.7% to 3.1% increase in same-day hospitalizations for respiratory diseases,” (Bernsetein and Rice pg 3). The elderly with respiratory diseases and people living in urban areas due to amplification of temperature rises are the most prone to the effects of heat waves. (Another result of increase in temperature is the increased likelihood of forest fires releasing particulate matter (PM) and carcinogens, which have also been, linked to increased likelihood of asthma symptoms and hospital visits. PM can carry absorbed toxic compounds deep inside the lung do to their size to weight ratio. The majority of PM in the atmosphere comes from desertification and droughts and these natural events are likely to increase as a result of global warming. Even individuals with healthy functioning lungs were shown to have decreases lung function after exposure to PM and carcinogens. People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease are effected most by air pollution because sometimes the pollution can lead to
You can’t escape from it. Everybody has to breath, and when air isn’t clean you health is affected. Air pollution is problem of all of us. You might think that you are healthy because you eat, and do only healthy things, so you cannot be sick, or get cancer, allergies or even die. Everybody is affected by air pollution.
Air is an indispensable part of human, animal and plant lives. Without it, no organisms would be able to survive on Earth (Reference, 2017). Due to excessive human activities, air pollution has become a detrimental worldwide issue in current days (Sciencing, 2017). However, scientists have found new chemicals that can assist in improving the air quality (Phys.org, 2017). Moreover, humans are able to adopt many methods to help decrease the severity of contamination released into the earth’s atmosphere. This investigation is linked to ‘application and limitation’ in ‘science as a Human Endeavour’.
Air pollution has affected millions of people in some way. There are cities where air pollution is not a problem but there are cities where air pollution is a big problem. South Bronx in the 2000s faces critical high levels of air pollution. Children were the ones who suffer the most. Every day many kids were hospitalized because of asthma. One of the main causes of air pollution in South Bronx were thousands of trucks traffic on the highways. The carbon dioxide that the truck release into the air cause high air pollution levels. Air pollution in the South Bronx last decade was life-threatening for children with asthma due to truck traffic.
Earth is the only place in the universe that can support human life. It is very important that we realize this fact and take very good care of it. Various human activities cause the destruction of earth. Human beings can live a few days without food and water however humans can last only a few seconds without oxygen. Various human activities lead to the aggravation of the quality of air. Gases produced by human activities mainly due to exploitation of resources and industrialization cause air pollution. Green house gases mainly chlorofluorocarbons; carbon
There are several main types of pollution and well-known effects of pollution which are commonly discussed. These include smog, acid rain, the greenhouse effect, and "holes" in the ozone layer. Each of these problems has serious implications for our health and well-being as well as for the whole environment.