Did you know that pollution affects every thing around you? It affects people, animals, and our ecosystem. You may be wondering how pollution can affect all these things. All of your questions will be explained in this paper. I will also tell how you can help prevent pollution.
As you may have read, pollution can harm humans in many ways. Air contains pollen, microbes, particles, and gases. These pollutants can cause irritation in the eyes, and on the skin, coughing, sneezing, and production of secretions. There have also been many affects on people living around landfills. Children born near landfills often experience birth defects, such as low birth weight and small size. There have also been high incidences of cancer in people living near landfills. In American, homes the toxic chemicals found in them are three times more likely to cause some kind of cancer than outdoor air pollutants.
Now you have read how pollution affects humans and may wonder if it has similar affects to animals. Pollution does affect all the animals around you. Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, destroy parts of the ozone layer. The ozone layer shields animals from ultraviolet radiation, which causes skin cancer and eye damage. Eye damage may affect how well an animal can hunt or how well it can escape danger. Soil pollution is what happens when humans abuse pesticides. When animals inhale these pesticides it can hurt the animal or even kill it. When acidic air pollutants combine with water droplets in clouds it forms acid rain. Acid rain may hurt the fish and make the drinking water more acidic. This would be bad for an animal to drink. Solid waste in water encourages the growth of algae, which depletes water of oxygen. Also, when oil spills, it causes all nearby animals to be coated in oil. This makes it difficult for them to float or keep warm. Now you also know how pollution affects animals in your ecosystem.
Everything around you is being damage by pollution. This is our ecosystem being damaged. A coal power plant produces smog and soot, which can produce acid rain, that damages trees and other wildlife. Junkyards recycle the parts, but this releases many harmful wastes into the ecosystem surrounding it. Factory farming is creating untreated animal waste that pollutes lakes, rivers, and other waterways. When surface water gets polluted it runs off into the ground water. When this happens it pollutes all the water in that ecosystem. When freshwater gets polluted, it causes a low level of oxygen in the water. This may kill the trees around it because they don't receive a large enough amount of oxygen. Now you see why pollution is such a big problem, then why do I not see it in the news?
More recently people have been putting in the news as major lines. One article you may have seen have seen was about global warming. It talked about the greenhouse affect. This is when greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. This causes heat to be trapped on Earth, which is heating our world up and melting the polar caps. Another headline you may have seen was called Ozone Hole Growing. This article said that when humans pollute the atmosphere it is causing a hole to appear in the ozone layer. Now it is growing they say and this is bad because that allows more ultraviolet rays in from the sun. As I mentioned earlier ultraviolet rays can cause eye damage and skin cancer to both humans and animals. It was also trying to find a way to stop the hole from growing any larger. They said everyone can help by not burning so many fossil fuels. The one headline that stood out most to me was the one that talked about what will happen if the pole were completely melted. If this was to happen it would cause all landmasses to be covered by at least three inches of water. This would really change the way everyone lives. Now people are trying to stop this from happening.
Now you know that pollution is affecting our world. You too can help clean up our planet. It may be something as simple as making sure your trash gets in the can or as big as helping to clean up an oil spill. Now you have a chance to help our world. I hope you will now make a difference.
