Pollution. The curse that mankind has imposed onto the planet through industry. The industrial revolution was a huge step for American as well as the world. Through this revolution we as a species were able to create things that were only dreamt of. We created more powerful modes of transportation, taller, extravagant buildings, cities, and much more.  We were able to harness more energy so we could power these cities, homes and vehicles but as a result we created waste and pollution. These forces have harmed delicate surrounding environments, the health of planet, and ultimately the people in it. Pollution ultimately puts public health and safety at great risks.

Factories that produce much of the our products require incredible amounts of energy, particularly fossil fuels such as oil. Harnessing these fuels alone does damage to the planet but once such fuels are used the real damage is done. The use of these fuels puts out toxic chemicals out into the environment either through the air or water. This has caused many different problems. Air pollution has caused cities to be plagued with disease. One example is Bankock, Thailand where smoke fills the air in the city putting people in direct contact with toxins which in turn increases there chance of disease putting public safety at great risk. Though there are organizations such as Environment Planning Agency (EPA) make efforts to control or reduce such pollution there is still a great deal of pollution being put out into environments all over the planet. This could make a person wonder if there is enough being done about the damage and how much must be done before we realize that we are jeopardizing our future and that radical change must be made.

I wonder how we let ourselves get to this point. How did we let so much damage get done without changing our approach to productivity and industry as a race? Climate change is one of the most direct consequences of the damage we have done through pollution. The gasses that we are putting into the air have been damaging our ozone and in turn increasing temperature globally which is hurting our planet in numerous ways. This information is known but there has been minimal change in our actions. Much of our world is running on fossil fuels and this is not acceptable at this point in time when we have so many alternatives available to us.

I believe that many changes could be made. First I believe that we need to reduced the burning of fossil fuels entirely. I always get a horrible feeling when I am driving down to New Brunswick and see factories pumping pollution into the air at such a constant rate and I’m sure it happens all over the U.S. as well as the world. Commuting through these areas you can instantly tell the difference in the air quality. Around such areas there are also bodies of water which are clearly contaminated and people seem to ignore it. These contaminated bodies of water were once habitats that we have destroyed and is most likely effecting wild life and in turn the food chain and this could easily effect the human race.

These effects are irreversible but if we begin to act maybe, just maybe we could sustain the planet and begin to try to make it cleaner. I think that if we began creating garden cities and suburbs we could start to make and impact. We could control population within these areas to ensure they sustain themselves and help reduce the oversaturation of people in denser areas. We could make more walkable cities and increase the amount of public transportation reduce the need for so many cars and in turn reducing the amount of gasoline being burnt day to day. We need to make our world greener and we need planners and governments to do everything in their power to help reduce the amount of harsh chemicals being carelessly put into fragile world. Though some zoning has been done to separate these industrial areas from main cities and suburbs it is still happening even though we aren’t always in direct contact and action needs to be taken.