Air pollution and global warming

All of us know how important it is to protect our environment and we hear about the negative
effects that our lifestyles have on nature and our world every day. A very serious result of our
careless living is pollution. One of the main effects of pollution is global warming, which causes the
changes in our climate and makes temperature rise. This leads to many problems for humans,
plants and animals. Global warming has been present since the end of the 19th century, but we
are still not doing enough to stop it. We are still polluting our earth.

The three main kinds of pollution are: air, water and land pollution.

Air pollution
Air pollution means that the air we breathe becomes dirty and bad for our health.

Among the three main kinds of pollution the most frequent question is the air pollution, because
the different gases appear everywhere: in the most beautiful countries, in villages, but to the
highest degree in cities.
Air is polluted by natural activities like forest fires and volcanic eruptions, but human activity is
even more polluting.

Our consumer society is based on manufacturing. We need factories to produce the things we buy
and power plants for electricity, which emit high levels of carbon monoxide, methane and other
chemicals into the air through the fumes and smoke that come out of their chimneys. Burning
fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal for transportation also results in smog and serious air pollution.
These factories, which can be found on the outskirts of cities, don’t use filters that can reduce the
quantity of the poison-gases, which get into the air, so they make air pollution even worser .

These gases are directly pumped into the air as primary pollutants. Contaminated air can cause
respiratory and lung diseases apart from the climate change. But methane, for example, is also
produced by the animals we keep for food and by the tons of decomposing garbage in landfills.
The chemicals we use in our household can also be great pollutants, for example cleaning and
hygienic products.

Ways to fight air pollution are straightforward: be less dependent on polluting transportation - ride
a bike more and use the car less if you can’t have an environmentally friendly one. Buy less new,
non-recyclable products and check if they are environmentally friendly or not. Recycle your waste
and use less electricity!

Global warming

Global warming is caused by human-enhanced greenhouse effect. Normally, heat from the sun
warms the Earth and then C escapes back into space. But CO2 and other gases in the
atmosphere trap the sun’s heat, and this is slowly making the Earth warmer. This phenomenon is
known as the greenhouse effect. It’s very important because without it, the temperature of our
planet would be 40 degrees lowers and the oceans would freeze.

On the other hand, an increase in the greenhouse effect, which is caused by an increase in the
concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, may lead global warming, with disastrous
consequences:
sea levels would rise as the world gets warmer beacuse the heat would melt ice and expand the
water in oceans. Scientist say the temperature of the earth could rise by 3 °C over the next 50
years. This may cause drought is some parts of the world, and floods in others, as ice at the North
and South Poles begins to melt and sea levels rise.

Moreover the changes in climate will also cause problems in weather. For example, other than
cold or heat extremes, there woud be more frequent and intense hurricanes.
Scientists also say that extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, blizzards and
rainstorms will continue to occur more often and with greater intensity due to global warming

But of course some of these problems can be solved. For instance, there are several
environmentalist organizations which fight for a good cause. They give lectures and organize
exhibitions where we can see terrible films and photos about the dying Earth. We can view and try
the new things which have been developed.

Furthermore there should be more developments but they mean problems because they cost a lot.
Factories should replace the old machines and they should develop new technologies which don’t
increase the harmful gases in the air. It would be another sollution if they put into practice
alternative source of energy (wind, water, sunlight, etc.). The most possibilities are for the
recycling of waste.