The World Counts
It Affects the Environment and Your HealthPollution is when gases, smoke and chemicals are introduced into the environment in large doses that makes it harmful for humans, animals and plants. Some forms of pollution can be seen, some are invisible.
Our Earth has an atmosphere that’s made up of different gases. The amount of gases on our atmosphere is just right to encourage life on our planet. We breathe the air and we thrive on it. Because of our advances in technology, we are introducing new chemicals into our atmosphere, causing an imbalance. The most popular effect of this imbalance in nature is Global Warming.
The Different Kinds of Pollution
Air Pollution – The vehicles that we use to get around such as cars, planes and trucks contribute to air pollution. These vehicles use fossil fuels, like gas, to power its engines. If you notice the smoke that comes out of our vehicles, what you are seeing is carbon dioxide. Due to the large number of vehicles in the world today, we are adding too much carbon dioxide to our atmosphere, causing the planet’s temperature to rise. This is the concept behind global warming.
But the toxic smoke coming out of our vehicles is just a small part of our air pollution problem today. Factories which are used to produce many of the consumer products we enjoy every day also give off toxic substances that pollute our air.
Not only does air pollution cause smog, it also causes sickness such as asthma and other respiratory diseases.
Land Pollution – Can you imagine how much trash is produced by 7 billion people? Did you ever think about where the trash goes? Some of the stuff that we throw away are toxic to our environment, like plastic. They contain chemicals that can leak into the ground and contaminate the water we drink. These chemicals can even reach our oceans, rivers and lakes. This is the reason why you should practice the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. We are encouraged to minimize the waste that ends up in the landfills so we won’t contaminate our environment. If we really need to throw out our stuff, we should do so properly by bringing them to recycling centers where they can use the materials to make other new products. This is effective way to manage our waste and keep them from reaching our landfills.
Water Pollution – What will we do when we run out of clean water to drink? What will happen when the oceans, rivers and lakes are so polluted that all the fish and aquatic animals die? Water keeps us alive and it’s very important for us to have clean drinking water. There was a time when we can safely drink from our faucets, but now, we don’t know if the water is really safe to drink and we buy purified water in bottles.
Humans are the cause of water pollution, directly and indirectly. We mindlessly throw our trash in the ocean, not thinking about what that may cause. Ships that carry oil can have accidents, spilling all that toxic oil into the ocean, causing havoc in our marine ecosystem and polluting our waters. Do you know that there are areas in the Pacific Ocean where there are “islands of trash?”
We need to stop throwing our trash into the oceans and dispose of them properly on land.
It Affects the Environment and Your HealthPollution is when gases, smoke and chemicals are introduced into the environment in large doses that makes it harmful for humans, animals and plants. Some forms of pollution can be seen, some are invisible.
Our Earth has an atmosphere that’s made up of different gases. The amount of gases on our atmosphere is just right to encourage life on our planet. We breathe the air and we thrive on it. Because of our advances in technology, we are introducing new chemicals into our atmosphere, causing an imbalance. The most popular effect of this imbalance in nature is Global Warming.
The Different Kinds of Pollution
Air Pollution – The vehicles that we use to get around such as cars, planes and trucks contribute to air pollution. These vehicles use fossil fuels, like gas, to power its engines. If you notice the smoke that comes out of our vehicles, what you are seeing is carbon dioxide. Due to the large number of vehicles in the world today, we are adding too much carbon dioxide to our atmosphere, causing the planet’s temperature to rise. This is the concept behind global warming.
But the toxic smoke coming out of our vehicles is just a small part of our air pollution problem today. Factories which are used to produce many of the consumer products we enjoy every day also give off toxic substances that pollute our air.
Not only does air pollution cause smog, it also causes sickness such as asthma and other respiratory diseases.
Land Pollution – Can you imagine how much trash is produced by 7 billion people? Did you ever think about where the trash goes? Some of the stuff that we throw away are toxic to our environment, like plastic. They contain chemicals that can leak into the ground and contaminate the water we drink. These chemicals can even reach our oceans, rivers and lakes. This is the reason why you should practice the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. We are encouraged to minimize the waste that ends up in the landfills so we won’t contaminate our environment. If we really need to throw out our stuff, we should do so properly by bringing them to recycling centers where they can use the materials to make other new products. This is effective way to manage our waste and keep them from reaching our landfills.
Water Pollution – What will we do when we run out of clean water to drink? What will happen when the oceans, rivers and lakes are so polluted that all the fish and aquatic animals die? Water keeps us alive and it’s very important for us to have clean drinking water. There was a time when we can safely drink from our faucets, but now, we don’t know if the water is really safe to drink and we buy purified water in bottles.
Humans are the cause of water pollution, directly and indirectly. We mindlessly throw our trash in the ocean, not thinking about what that may cause. Ships that carry oil can have accidents, spilling all that toxic oil into the ocean, causing havoc in our marine ecosystem and polluting our waters. Do you know that there are areas in the Pacific Ocean where there are “islands of trash?”
We need to stop throwing our trash into the oceans and dispose of them properly on land.
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A threat to life as we know it…There are certain conditions that allow for life to flourish on Earth. One of these conditions is that it is neither too hot nor too cold for all living things. It’s just right – and we easily adapt to it. In the past, there were changes in the Earth’s temperature that caused the planet to become too cold - this is the time of the Ice Age. These temperature changes were only a few degrees lower, but many species were unable to cope and they went extinct.
What’s the Earth’s Temperature?
You hear about Global Warming and how many people are concerned that it is being caused by humans and human activity – and that it is threatening our very existence. Scientists are now 97% sure that it is true. With all the fossil fuel that we burn, there is definitely more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now as compared to the past. We use up so much energy and the continued increase in population can only mean that we will need and use more energy in the future. This means more carbon dioxide and methane emissions which contribute to the warming of the planet.
The planet is now 1 degree Fahrenheit warmer than it was back in the 1800’s. Much of the increase in temperature happened in the last 30 years. Can you imagine how much heat is required to warm the whole planet even by 1 degree?
The Greenhouse EffectOur atmosphere is responsible for keeping the Earth’s temperature stable. It is made up of layers of gases such as Water Vapor, Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide and Ozone.
When the sun’s rays warm the Earth, the Earth reflects the heat back into space. Some of this heat is trapped by the gases in our atmosphere, keeping the planet comfortably warm for everyone and the weather stable.
When we upset the balance of the gases in our atmosphere, problems will happen. Right now, we are adding more carbon dioxide and methane because of our activities. The result of these additional gases is more heat gets trapped on Earth, causing Global Warming.
The problem with Global WarmingSo, what’s the problem if the Earth becomes too warm? A lot of things that are not good for living things, including us.
For starters, the weather will change. Warm places will become colder and cold places will be warmer. The storms and hurricanes that we see from time to time will be stronger and more destructive, as the ocean temperatures increase too.
In some places, there will be less rainfall. Crops will be more difficult to grow as water becomes scarce. As water becomes scarce, food will also be harder to come by and there will be famine and hunger.
Then, the glaciers and the polar ice caps will melt, causing the sea levels to rise. Remember that most of the major cities are near the coastline. If the sea levels rise by 6 feet, most of them will go under the water – destroying buildings and houses and killing off millions of people, plants and animals.
Global Warming is a scary thought, but there is still something we can do now to stop the planet from getting warmer. If we don’t act now, our future generation will be the ones to suffer the consequences of our actions.
What’s the Earth’s Temperature?
You hear about Global Warming and how many people are concerned that it is being caused by humans and human activity – and that it is threatening our very existence. Scientists are now 97% sure that it is true. With all the fossil fuel that we burn, there is definitely more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now as compared to the past. We use up so much energy and the continued increase in population can only mean that we will need and use more energy in the future. This means more carbon dioxide and methane emissions which contribute to the warming of the planet.
The planet is now 1 degree Fahrenheit warmer than it was back in the 1800’s. Much of the increase in temperature happened in the last 30 years. Can you imagine how much heat is required to warm the whole planet even by 1 degree?
The Greenhouse EffectOur atmosphere is responsible for keeping the Earth’s temperature stable. It is made up of layers of gases such as Water Vapor, Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide and Ozone.
When the sun’s rays warm the Earth, the Earth reflects the heat back into space. Some of this heat is trapped by the gases in our atmosphere, keeping the planet comfortably warm for everyone and the weather stable.
When we upset the balance of the gases in our atmosphere, problems will happen. Right now, we are adding more carbon dioxide and methane because of our activities. The result of these additional gases is more heat gets trapped on Earth, causing Global Warming.
The problem with Global WarmingSo, what’s the problem if the Earth becomes too warm? A lot of things that are not good for living things, including us.
For starters, the weather will change. Warm places will become colder and cold places will be warmer. The storms and hurricanes that we see from time to time will be stronger and more destructive, as the ocean temperatures increase too.
In some places, there will be less rainfall. Crops will be more difficult to grow as water becomes scarce. As water becomes scarce, food will also be harder to come by and there will be famine and hunger.
Then, the glaciers and the polar ice caps will melt, causing the sea levels to rise. Remember that most of the major cities are near the coastline. If the sea levels rise by 6 feet, most of them will go under the water – destroying buildings and houses and killing off millions of people, plants and animals.
Global Warming is a scary thought, but there is still something we can do now to stop the planet from getting warmer. If we don’t act now, our future generation will be the ones to suffer the consequences of our actions.