The Impact of Industry on the Environment

I must admit, all Americans do benefit from the growing industry in our country, whether it be advancements in mass media production, commercial opportunities, energy plants, or even as simple as a new mall that was just built. Industry plays a crucial role in each individual’s lives, a role in which we cannot go a single day without using a device or buying something in which was manufactured through a big corporate industry. Although industry does seem to have a positive correlation with our every day lives, there is an extremely negative impact of the growing industry on the environment.

To start off, one of the most known epidemics occurring today is air pollution. Air pollution is one of the main factors as to what is causing Global Warming, and it is due to factories and the growing industry in America that is bringing about such pollution. The use of factories released pollutants into the air, such as nitrogen oxides and organic solvents. Most of this air pollution we cause results from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, natural gas, and gasoline to produce electricity and power our vehicles. These pollutants not only harm public health, but also harm the environment, bringing about climate change, the greenhouse effect, and the ozone hole. Not only is pollution caused by factories, but also from every day activities such as driving cars and trucks. Most cars have a typical combustion engine that burns fuel for energy, which results in the production of a wide variety of harmful chemicals like carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter. Additionally, they require several liquids to run that are toxic to people, animals and plants.

Factories are not only harmful to the environment because they bring about tons of air pollution daily, but they also cause land pollution. The most simple way that these factories cause land pollution is simply by being build. Large acres of perfectly good land is destroyed in order to build either a mall, factory, or some other upscale building. These factories that contain hazardous materials inside sometimes have leaks in which the fuel and energy stored in the factories seep through into the ground under the building, bringing about land contamination. Referring back to my very first Civic Issues Blog, one of the oppositions to the pipelines that Trump wants to revive for oil transportation was the fact that those pipes brought about mass amounts of land pollution to the places they ran underneath. Not only are those pipes harming the environment for which they are around, but also the communities that have been established above ground. If one of the pipelines was to burst, the ground would be completely infected with harmful oil, bringing about soil contamination. Soil contamination is caused by direct exposure to the pollutant, leakage of toxic gases into buildings, and groundwater pollution. The exposure to these toxic liquids could potentially make the soil or ground unsuitable to be used due to the industrial waste that would thus begin lingering on the surface of the land.

Most people would not think of radiation as harming the environment. We tend to think that radiation is only present when receiving an x-ray or even, positively, from the sun. However, the improper disposal of toxic wastes into the ground causes radiation to play a huge part in the demolition of the environment. Some forms of radiation are found in the natural environment and others are due to modern technology. The damage it causes depends on the level of radiation and the resiliency of the organism. Radiation causes molecules to lose electrons thus destroying it. Killing certain enzymes in the body can simply make you sick. This is why, when receiving Chemo Therapy, cancer patients tend to get very sick from the treatment. In regards to the environment, radiation may result in weakening of seeds and frequent mutations, thus killing plants and the soil in the vicinity of the exposure. High doses of radiation from factories are a leading cause in the continued killing of the environment.

Chernobyl ^ (Radiation disaster in Russia)

There are multiple human-made causes of the demolition of the environment. Industry is the number one cause in why our environment is slowly becoming “less green”. Although industry is important for economic growth, it brings about substantial harm to nature and even to ourselves.

Sources:

http://www.sviva.gov.il/English/env_topics/IndustryAndBusinessLicensing/Pages/EnvironmentalImpactOfBusiness.aspx

Causes and Effects of Soil Pollution

3 thoughts on “The Impact of Industry on the Environment”

  1. I believe this is an important issue that needs to be taken seriously. I agree that this mentality that business and competition is healthy, but the environment is something we rely on to maintain life. Under the current administration, it seems that they do not understand that so people have been trying to educate what this could mean for the future. As of right now, there will be 150 climate refugees and major damages from stronger natural disasters. So economically, the effects that climate change will have will actually cost more to repair than any possible business (even all those oil businesses which cause more problems) could bring in. Furthermore, it would just be finding housing and repairing damage, once these changes start, it will be almost impossible to stop unless we halt carbon emission completely. Overall, I think this is an issue that we cannot let fade away as the environment should be something we all protect. Great post!

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