Running head: INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION 1

Industrial Pollution: A Retrospective Look to Current Problems

Maria E. Silva

Montgomery College- Germantown Campus

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Industrial Pollution: A Retrospective Look to Current Problems

Is industrial pollution a real problem for the environment? Since the discovery of fire,

humans have gradually polluted the environment. With the development of industry, pollution

has also increased at higher rates. People just wanted to be pioneers in industrial

development, forgetting protect the environment, and prevent further pollution that could be

harmful to all forms of life including plants. Today, industrial pollution is a reality that is

causing several problems in the environment, and affecting humans' health. Lacking

environmental regulations from governments and worldwide organizations are reasons for

industrial pollution. For this reason, chemical emissions, another cause of industrial pollution,

have increased dangerously in recent years especially in industrialized countries where

factories are a prime source of the economy. Human unawareness about the effects of

industrial pollution was crucial when increasing industrial pollution because people who do

not know about an important and harmful problem tend to have a delayed reaction to the

problem. Human development regarding technology also leads to support industries

proliferation; thus, pollution. Industrial polluting is like a snowball; it grows through time

becoming a dangerous weapon against the environment.

In the nineteenth century, industrialization became a primary tool for mass

production. Releasing massive emissions of polluting gasses was a prime characteristic of

industrialization which caused, for example, the great smog in London in 1952 (Effects of

Industrial Revolution, n.d.). Furthermore, coal started to be a prime source of fuel, causing

acid rain, which began to produce respiratory problems in surrounding communities. Water
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pollution also got intensified because factories disregard chemical wastes into rivers that were

the main cause of the 1850s epidemics of cholera and typhoid. (Effects of Industrial

Revolution, n.d.). People who lived in this period cared more about industrial development

than the impact of factories on the environment. They saw smog as a clear sign of success

and thought that exploiting newly discovered resources was their right. People started to build

new cities and develop new ways of transportation without considering what harmful

pollutants these inventions could contain. Human greed grew with industrialism. On the

other hand, the increasing demand for new lands due to urbanization and farming brought

deforestation. Deforestation prevented trees from absorbing greenhouse gasses that cause

climate change. The paradox of deforestation is that in many cases acres of trees were cut

because of the need of lands for farming. However, without trees that protected soil from sun

rays, farmlands rapidly became barren deserts. Based on the examples given, society is

suffering from the consequences of industrialization, human greed, and deforestation that

drive to an increasing rate of industrial pollution.

One of the causes of industrial polluting is the deficiency of environmental

regulations from government and international organizations. Lack of policies that prevent

the unstoppable increase of pollution from factories has been a major problem for decades.

Even though governments try to regulate industrial pollution, enforcing these policies not

only in a country but also globally is necessary. Laws differ from country to country with

different consequences for the environment. Many companies find methods to bypass these

laws and therefore continue polluting without being sanctioned. For example, the efficiency

of the Clean Water Act is debatable. The Clean Water Act was established in 1972 to regulate

pollutant mass emissions. According to Lyon and Stein (2008), monitoring and data

compilation of [storm water discharges] is lacking, making it difficult to accurately assess.

This quote indicated that even though the Clean Water Act is regulating pollutant emissions,
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it is complicated to have a correct measurement of chemicals levels due to the extensive

information that organizations need to collect to establish strict and personalized control to

industries. Countries need to work as a single organism to regulate laws that prevent

industries from polluting.

In addition, inefficient regulations have an impact on the volume of chemical

emissions that industries produce. Throughout the years, despite authorities attempts to

control pollution, factories chemical emissions increased, which damaged the environment.

The first chemicals that proliferated in industries were the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The

CFCs were refrigerants used on spray cans. Industries found CFCs cheap to produce.

However, a research from the British Antarctic Survey showed that CFCs are so stable that

their emissions reach the stratosphere without breaking down, where they then participate in a

series of chemical reactions whose end result is the destruction of ozone. (as cited in

Industrial Pollution, 2009, p. 456). Although CFCs production have stopped, these chemicals

will stay in the atmosphere for more years, which means they will keep damaging the ozone,

and raising the probabilities of skin cancer. (Industrial Pollution, 2009, p. 456). Skin cancer

is, nowadays, one of the most catastrophic effects of industrial pollution. Furthermore,

pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture have been polluting the environment. Pesticides

are chemicals that kills pests. Fertilizers are chemicals used as plants supply of nutrients.

Human exposure to pesticides have many consequences, such as cancer, birth defects, or

organs damage. Pesticides and fertilizers are also toxic for wildlife. For example, the rain

spreads the pesticides to the rivers contaminating not only the water but also killing fish.

Fertilizers leftovers that end on rivers and oceans causing a lack of oxygen, dead zones, that

kill marine life. Over the years, industries have produced many dangerous chemicals such as

CFCs or pesticides that are dangerous for the environment and humans health.
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Another main cause of industrial pollution is human unawareness about the effects of

pollutants in the environment. Thomas (2013) recognized unawareness and deliberate

unawareness as two types of human unawareness regarding environmental issues..

Recognized unawareness refers to people who think about of the effects of pollution but do

not have credible sources of information to confirm their doubts. For example, today, there is

plenty of information on the internet about pollution and how industries contribute to it.

However, a majority of websites do not provide credible or accurate information about

industrial pollution, which creates suspect about any type bias against or for industries. The

other type of unawareness is deliberate, which refers to people who know about the

environmental issue but think it is not important; therefore, they do not search information

about the issue. Cultural influence plays an important role for deliberate unawareness because

some cultures ignore industrial pollution. To illustrate, a comparison between Chinese and

American cultures determined that Chinese people did not considered industrial pollution as a

serious problem. However, after facing and realizing that rates of diseases have increased,

people are demanding that their governments protect them from dangerous pollution and

slow the environmental destruction that is consuming vital resources. (Cultural practices,

2009, p. 180) People do not care about a problem such as industrial pollution unless serious

effects start to affect their daily life as shown in the example of the Chinese culture. Humans

need to be informed about problems that are harmful to the environment, so they can act to

prevent it.

In general, the impact of human development is obvious. With new discovers,

pollution show up worldwide. For example, with the automobile spread, carbon dioxide

(CO) emissions also increased. Fossil fuels such as coal, and gas are necessary to run a car.

The reaction of these chemicals when burned produce CO . According to the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels have
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ushered in a new epoch where human activities will largely determine the evolution of

Earths climate. (Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium and

Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles, p. 12). The quote above by the EPA refers to the

transportation industry expansion. If transportation continue growing, climate change, which

is a result of the CO in the atmosphere, will continue damaging the environment. As

transportation, energy consumption has widely increase in the last years. The fire which was

used to heat or cooking, was the first source of energy. Today, societys major energy

consumption is through electricity power. People need electricity from getting up until they

lie down. For example, people need electricity to charge their phones. But the crucial point is

how electricity is generated. In many countries, electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels.

In 2015, research of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (2016) stated that coal was

used for about 33% of the electricity generated in the United States. Demonstrating that

humans need of energy, electricity to be specific, is harmful for the environment because the

fossil fuels that are burn to generate electricity pollute with carbon dioxide. The quote shows

that coal is the most chemical used in the United States to produce electricity.

While many studies demonstrate the inefficiency of laws that lead to increase

chemical emissions, and the unawareness of people tied with their development, other

researchers show their support of the governments regulation. Regulations are helping to

curb chemical emissions in many countries. Therefore, not all the laws are inefficient. Actual

studies show that people are getting more involved in prevent industrial pollution by using

bicycles instead of cars, for example. Researchers also affirmed that human development in

terms of usage of fossil fuels makes modern life possible (Fossil Fuels, n.d).According to a

study of the Institute for Energy Research expressed that fossil fuels are huge sources of

energy work to generate steam, electricity and power transportation systems. They make the

manufacturing of tens of thousands of commercial goods possible. (Fossil Fuels, n.d).On

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the other side, one way to decrease pollution and recover dead zones is by unifying all 200

countries to work together. Rockstrom (2010) gave a good example of countries that started

to work, Brazil, leading to innovation and entrepreneurship among farmers in partnership

with scientists into an agricultural revolution of zero tillage systems combined with mulch

farming with locally adapted technologies, which today, for example, in some countries, have

led to a tremendous increase in area under mulch, zero till farming which, not only produces

more food, but also sequesters carbon. This example of Brazil showed that making a change

is possible if people work together and realize that pollution is harmful for the environment.

Industrial polluting has been increasing throughout decades, which becomes a danger

to the environment. Ineffective regulations from governments to industries, chemical

emissions from manufactures around the world, humans lack of information about the effects

of industrial pollution, and the continuous human development through the times have

influence on increasing industrial pollution. Humans beings need to make a decision to stop

polluting if they want to live in a safe environment.

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References

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