Air Pollution

Air Pollution

An environmental issue that is of great concern to me is the issue of air pollution. Air pollution is of great concern to me because air is something that I use in my daily functions. For there to be pollution in the air, this will surely have an impact on my everyday life, therefore, limiting what I can do. Another reason why the issue of air pollution is of great concern to me compared to other environmental issues is because it also affects other people, animals, and plants. Air pollution is defined as the contamination of air by harmful substances that can cause health problems."(http://www.tryscience.org/csp/cspfieldadvap.html) The health problems that are caused due to the effects of air pollution can range from something small like irritated eyes to something big like death. According to the article "What's up in my neighborhood," air pollution affects kids more than adults because, for their body size, kids breathe more air and spend more time playing (http://www.tryscience.org/csp/cspfieldadvap.html). I believe that if the matter of air pollution isn't resolved, then future generations will be more at risk than the people at risk now. The worst case scenario that I believe will occur if air pollution isn't handled correctly and soon is that future generations of children will develop life-threatening conditions such as lung diseases and heart failure at an extremely young age. Children are the key to a stable environment, so air pollution is something that needs to be stopped sooner rather than later. Most of the problems that are the cause of air pollution are the cause of human activities. Air pollution can be caused by natural occurrences like forest fires, volcanic eruptions, wind erosion, pollen dispersal, evaporation of organic compounds, and natural radioactivity (http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution.html#). Because these occurrences are natural, I believe that people need to focus more on preventing the air pollution caused by humans. I believe that in reducing our contribution to the issue, air pollution will mostly be caused by natural occurrences, and then focus can be placed on finding ways to reduce natural air pollution. I believe that the central critical-lynch pin for this issue is to reduce the use of fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels is the main human activity that increases air pollution. According to the article "The Environment: A Global Challenge" operation of fossil fuel-burning power plants and automobiles that combust fuel are the things that cause fossil fuels to affect the air (http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution.html#). I believe that stopping the burning of fossil fuels is a critical roadblock in fixing air pollution because it would slow down our economic growth as well as make life harder. According to Rolston's essay, there must be winners and losers among the humans who are helped or hurt by the condition of their environment. I believe what Rolston means by this is, to make one thing better; humans must be willing to make something harder or even worst. For one thing to prosper, another thing must fall, that is something that all humans must learn. If we stopped burning fossil fuels our resources would be reduced, automobiles couldn't be used as much, and money would be reduced. The fact that people aren't willing to give these resources up is the impediment to the solution to air pollution. I believe that the central problem could be reframed as "What alternative energy sources could we use to reduce the use of fossil fuels?" I believe if people use alternative energy sources, the need to burn fossil fuels will become obsolete. Alternative energy sources that could replace the burning of fossil fuels are solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and ocean