As a human being, we cannot help but wonder about our own actions as we consider pollution and all that we have wrought on this planet though our own actions. We have to take the responsibility for polluting this planet, there’s no other way about it. Ever since the advent of industrial revolution, we have been polluting our lands, our rivers and even the very air we breathe today. Pollution is insidious and we have become immured to the same today – that’s the extent that we have polluted and are still continuing to do so. It is extremely difficult to think of the positive impacts of pollution and except for a handful of situations which benefits from the rampant pollution, it is to a large extent negative and one that we must all strive against. So let’s take a closer look at pollution, shall we?
Positive Impacts of Pollution
- Rain: As hard as it may be to believe that smog or air pollution can cause rain and in fact, they do not, they actually help the rain clouds to form since they can nucleate around the small particulates and fall down as rain. So while it may be a bit of a stretch to claim that pollution causes it to rain, the fact is that it helps to facilitate the same.
- Effect on plants: Spewing millions of tons of carbon dioxide directly into the atmosphere does have an impact on plants. With excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, plants and trees grow a lot faster. This can help promote plant growth in various areas that need the same. Plant life is essential for our planet and the excess gases in the atmosphere should facilitate faster and robust growth of the same.
Negative Impacts of Pollution
- Air pollution: As various industries spew their toxic cocktail directly into the atmosphere, air pollution is bound to take on gargantuan proportions. And the fact that people still continue burning fossil fuels only serves to increase it further. All this air pollution is having a direct impact on our respiratory systems; some of the cities are so polluted that it is just not possible to see the skyline any longer. If this trend continues, then we may all be required to wear masks most of the time to help filter out the polluted air.
- Green house effect: Thanks to the unstinted act of air pollution, we have managed to increase the average mean temperature of this planet and in the process, have speeded up arctic and Antarctic melting. If both the poles were to melt, the resultant inflow of fresh water will reduce salinity in all the oceans, not to mention the fact that coastal areas would all be under one hundred feet of water and therefore unlivable.
- Water pollution: Due to various industries allowing their run off to go untreated into the local water bodies has started a cascading effect with most of the local small organisms being killed off. Most of our water ways are toxic since we polluted them with industrial run off and now are too toxic for any life form. As a result, several natural habitats had been destroyed and some of the species have become extinct. It is important that we take immediate action to arrest this or we may soon run the risk of having all our waterways polluted. And it is also our responsibility to ensure that all living species are protected and that means protecting their natural environment and ensuring that it remains clean and healthy.
- Disease: The fact is that all forms of pollution are not healthy for us; we can choose any form air pollution to water pollution and we are bound to get our health impacted in the long run. For example, air pollution kills nearly 100000 people each year; it places severe stress on our respiratory systems and that’s just an inkling of what pollution can do to us in the long term. It is essential that we use effective measures to combat pollution before it can kill more.
These are some of the positive and negative Impacts of pollution; it is pivotal that we do our bit for bringing down the pollution or our children may not even have a blue planet to call their own.
- Tulip Mania – The Story of One of History’s Worst Financial Bubbles - May 15, 2022
- The True Story of Rapunzel - February 22, 2022
- The Blue Fugates: A Kentucky Family Born with Blue Skin - August 17, 2021
