Environmental Problems Part 3-Land Pollution

Environmental Problems (Mooney, Linda, Knox, David, and Schacht)

Over the past 50 years, humans have altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any other comparable period of time in history (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). As a result, humans have created environmental problems, including depletion of natural resources; air, land and water pollution; global warming and climate change; environmental illness; threats to biodiversity; and light pollution. Because many of these environmental problems are related to the ways that humans produce and consume energy, we will begin with global energy use.

Land Pollution

About 30 percent of the world’s surface is land, which provides soil to grow the food we eat. Increasingly, humans are polluting the land with nuclear waste, solid waste and pesticides. In 2013, 1,320 hazardous waste sites in the United States (also called Superfund sites) were on the National Priorities List (EPA 2013a).

Solid Waste

In 1960, each U.S. citizen generated 2.7 pounds of garbage on average every day. This figure increased to 4.4 pounds in 2011 (EPA 2013b). This figure does not include mining, agricultural, and industrial waste; demolition and construction wastes; junked autos; or obsolete equipment wastes. Just over half of this waste is dumped in landfills; the rest is recycled or composted. The availability of landfill space is limited, however. Some states have passed laws that limit the amount of solid waste that can be disposed of; instead, they require that bottles and cans be returned for a deposit or that lawn clippings be used in community composting programs.

Solid waste includes discarded electrical appliances and electronic equipment, knows as e-waste. Ever think about where your discarded computer, cell phone, CD player, television, or other electronic product ends up when you replace it with a newer model? Most discarded electronics end up in landfills, incinerators, or hazardous substances, such as lead, cadmium, barium, mercury, PCBs, and polyvinyl chloride, can leach out of e-waste and contaminate the soil and groundwater.

Pesticides

Pesticides are used worldwide for crops and gardens; outdoor mosquito control; the care of lawns, parks, and golf courses; and indoor pest control. Pesticides contaminate food, water, and air and can be absorbed through the skin, swallowed, or inhaled. Many common pesticides are considered potential carcinogens and neurotoxins (Blatt 2005). Even when a pesticide is found to be hazardous and is banned in the United States, other countries from which we import food may continue to use it. In an analysis of more than 5,000 food samples, pesticide residues were detected in 43 percent of the domestic samples and 31 percent of the imported samples (Food and Drug Administration 2013). Pesticides also contaminate our groundwater supplies.

Sources

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Synthesis. Washington. DC: Island Press.

EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2013a National Priorities List (NPL), Available at www.epa.gov/superfund/sites

EPA, 2013b. Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2011 Facts and Figures. Available at www.epa.gov

Blatt, Harvey. 2005. America’s Environmental Report Card: Are We Making the Grade? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Food and Drug Administration. 2013. Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program Results and Discussion FY 2009. Available at www.fda.gov

Environmental Problems Part 2-Air Pollution

Environmental Problems (Mooney, Linda, Knox, David, and Schacht)

Over the past 50 years, humans have altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any other comparable period of time in history (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). As a result, humans have created environmental problems, including depletion of natural resources; air, land and water pollution; global warming and climate change; environmental illness; threats to biodiversity; and light pollution. Because many of these environmental problems are related to the ways that humans produce and consume energy, we will begin with global energy use.

Air Pollution

Transportation vehicles, fuel combustion, industrial processes (such as burning coal and processing minerals from mining), and solid waste disposal have contributed to the growing levels of air pollutants, including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, arsenic, nitrogen dioxide, mercury, dioxins and lead. Leaded aviation gasoline is one of the few fuels in the United States to still contain lead, and it’s the single largest source of lead emissions in the country (Kessler 2013). Air pollution, which is linked to heart disease, lung cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and asthma, kills about 3 million people a year (Pimentel et al. 2007). In the United States, 42 percent of the population lives in areas where they are exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution (ozone or particulate pollution) (American Lung Association 2013).

Destruction of the Ozone Layer

The ozone layer of the earth’s atmosphere protects life on earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. Yet the ozone layer has been weakened by the use of certain chemicals, particularly chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs, used in refrigerators, air conditioners, and spray cans. The ozone hole over the Antartic in 2012 was, at its peak, slightly smaller than the area of North America (Blunden & Arndt 2013). The depletion of the ozone layer allows hazardous levels of ultraviolet rays to reach the earth’s surface and is linked to increases in skin cancer and cataracts, weakened immune systems, reduced crop yields, damage to ocean ecosystems and reduced fishing yields, and adverse effects on animals. Despite measures that have ended production of CFCs, the ozone is not expected to recover significantly for about another decade because CFCs already in the atmosphere remain for 40 to 100 years.

Acid Rain

Air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, mix with precipitation to form acid rain. Polluted rain, snow and fog contaminate crops, forests, lakes and rivers. As a result of the effects of acid rain, all the fish have died in a third of the lakes in New York’s Adirondack Mountains (Blatt 2005). Because winds carry pollutants in the air, industrial pollution in the Midwest falls back to earth as acid rain on southeast Canada and the northeast New England states. In China, most of the electricity comes from burning coal, which creates sulfur dioxide pollution and acid rain that falls on one-third of China, damaging lakes, forests, and crops (Woodward 2007). Acid rain also deteriorates the surfaces of buildings and statues. “The Parthenon, Taj Mahal, and Michelangelo’s statues are dissolving under the onslaught of the acid pouring out of the skies” (Blatt 2005, p. 161).

Sources

Mooney, Linda, Knox, David, and Schacht, Caroline 2015. Understanding Social Problems. Cengage Learning: Boston, MA.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Synthesis. Washington. DC: Island Press.

Kessler, Rebecca. 2013. “Sunset for Labeled Aviation Gasoline?” Environmental Health Perspectives 121(2): A54-A57

Pimental, D., S. Cooperstein, H. Randell, D. Filiberto, S. Sorrentino, B. Kaye, C. Nicklin, J. Yagi, J. Brian, J. O’Hern, A. Habas, and C. Wenstein. 2007. “Ecology of Increasing Diseases: Population Growth and Environmental Degradation.” Human Ecology 35(6): 653-668.

American Lung Association. 2013. State of the Air: 2013. Available at www.lungaction.org

 Blunden, Jessica, and Derek S. Arndt. 2013. “State of the Climate in 2012.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 94(8): S1-S258

Blatt, Harvey. 2005. America’s Environmental Report Card: Are We Making the Grade? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Woodward, Collin. 2007. “Curbing Climate Change.” CQ Global Researcher 1(2):27-50. Available at www.globalresearcher.com

Empathy and the Election

Election years are always difficult times as it seems everyone is on edge and filled with anxiety over the high stakes. However, this year has proven to be one of the most difficult in my memory. As I reflected and observed the last couple of days, everyone seems beaten down by this process (on both sides of the fence). There appeared to be more talk and less listening, combined with more hate and less empathy. Supporters of each candidate had an incredible fear of what would happen if their candidate did not win. That is a very polarizing effect and does not leave much room for open and educated dialogue.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary (2016), the simple definition of empathy is the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions: the ability to share someone else’s feelings. From my observations, there is a major lack of empathy in our society at this time. We would rather judge, insult, belittle and demean others than listen to their stance or their knowledge. We blame victims rather than hear their story. We categorize people and dismiss their experience if it is not our own. We don’t believe them when they tell us what it is like to walk in their shoes.

Now, I am not calling anyone out with this discussion except maybe myself. This is not a self-righteous stance to condemn anyone other than me. I consider myself an open and educated person, however I have a long way to go as well. I studied Sociology and Community Services throughout my undergrad and graduate career and have been educated and aware of many issues for years (police brutality, discrimination, white privilege, environmental problems, income/wealth inequality, incarceration, etc.). Unfortunately, I cannot say I have done much to act upon eradicating these issues. I have worked in non-profits and mental health settings as my career and felt that was my way to contribute. However, I do not feel that is enough. I started my blog and have become more active on social media, but that is very unsubstantial. I have participated in some rallies and marches for various causes, but have not broadcasted it well. By staying quiet, I am part of the problem. Today, I am vowing to not be a bystander any longer. I am vowing to not leave anyone out. I care, I can help, I can make a change. I will stand up for what is right.

At this moment, half the country is elated, while the other half is in mourning. Yet, there are no winners if we do not learn how to collaborate. No one wins if we do not listen and develop empathy for others. No one wins if we refuse to educate ourselves and chose to make uninformed decisions. Let’s take action and change that. Educate. Empathize. Act.

"Nothing is more important than empathy for another human being's suffering Not a career. Not wealth. Not intelligence. Certainly not status. We have to feel for one another if we're going to survive with dignity."   -Audrey Hepburn

Environmental Problems (Mooney, Linda, Knox, David, and Schacht)

Over the past 50 years, humans have altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any other comparable period of time in history (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). As a result, humans have created environmental problems, including depletion of natural resources; air, land and water pollution; global warming and climate change; environmental illness; threats to biodiversity; and light pollution. Because many of these environmental problems are related to the ways that humans produce and consume energy, we will begin with global energy use.

When Hurricane Sandy hit the Northeast United States in 2012, 8.5 million people from Indiana to Maine experienced power outage. Until we experience a prolonged power outage, most of us take the availability of electricity for granted, and don’t think about how dependent we are on energy. Being mindful of environmental problems means seeing the connections between energy use and our daily lives:

Everything we consume or use-our homes, their contents, our cars and the roads we travel, the clothes we wear, and the food we eat- requires energy to produce and package, to distribute to shops or front doors, to operate, and then to get rid of. We rarely consider where this energy comes from or how much of it we use-or how much we truly need. (Sawin 2004, p. 25).

Humans have used more of the earth’s natural resources since 1950 than in the million years preceding 1950 (Lamm, 2006). In 1961, humanity used only about two-thirds of earth’s natural resources; in the early 1970s, human demand for resources began exceeding what the planet could renewably produce (Global Footprint Network 2013). Currently, the environmental footprint exceeds the earth’s biocapacity-the area of land and oceans available to produce renewable resources and absorb CO2 emissions-by more than 50 percent, meaning we currently use 1.5 planet earths to support our consumption. Rich countries that consume more goods and produce more carbon dioxide have much larger environmental footprint than poor countries. If every person in the world lived like an average resident of the United States, a total of four earths would be required to support humanity’s annual demand on nature. If the current global patterns of consumption continue, we would need the equivalent of 2.9 planet earths to support us by 2050 (WWF 2012).

Every year the Global Footprint Network identifies Earth Overshoot Day- the approximate date on which humanity’s annual demand on the planet’s resources exceeds what our planet can renew in a year. In 2013, Earth Overshoot Day was August 20, meaning that in less than eight months, we used as much natural resources as our planet can renew in a year (Global Footprint Network 2013).

Population growth and consumption patterns are depleting natural resources such as forests, water, minerals, and fossil fuels. About 1.2 billion people- nearly one-fifth of the world’s population-live in areas of physical water scarcity, which occurs when there is not enough water to meet demand (Kumar 2013). Water supplies around the world are dwindling, while the demand for water continues to increase because of population growth, industrialization, rising living standards, and changing diets that include more food products that require larger amounts of water to produce: milk, eggs, chicken, and beef. With 70 percent of freshwater use going to agriculture, water shortages threaten food production and supply.

The world’s forests are also being depleted due to the expansion of agricultural land, human settlements, wood harvesting, and road building. The result is deforestation-the conversion of forestland to non-forestland. Global forest cover has been reduced by half of what it was 8,000 years ago (Gardner 2005). Between 2000 and 2010, the world’s forests shrank by an area roughly the size of France (Normander 2011). Deforestation displaces people and wild species from their habitats; soil erosion caused by deforestation can cause severe flooding as well as contribute to global warming (fewer trees=less oxygen in the atmosphere/more CO2). Deforestation also contributes to desertification or the degradation of semiarid land, which results in the expansion of desert land that is unusable for agriculture. As more land turns to desert, populations can no longer sustain a livelihood on the land, and so they migrate to urban areas or other countries, contributing to social and political instability.

Sources

Mooney, Linda, Knox, David, and Schacht, Caroline 2015. Understanding Social Problems. Cengage Learning: Boston, MA.

Sawin, Janet. 2004. “Making Better Energy Choices.” In State of the World 2004. Linda Starke, ed. (pp. 24-43). New York: W.W. Norton.

Lamm, Richard. 2006. “The Culture of Growth and the Culture of Limits.” Conservation Biology 20(2): 269-271.

WWF (World Wildlife Federation). 2012. Living Planet Report, 9^th ed. World Wildlife Fund, Zoological Society of London. Global Footprint Network, and the European Space Agency. Available at www.panda.org

Global Footprint Network, 2013. “August 20^th is Earth Overshoot Day.” Press release Available at www.footprintnetwork.org

Kumar, Supriya. 2013 (March 13). “The Looming Threat of Water Scarcity.” Vital Signs World Watch Institute. Available at vitalsigns.worldwatch.org

Normander, Bo. 2011 (February 23). “World’s Forests Continue to Shrink.” Vital Signs. World Watch Institute. Available at vitalsigns.worldwatch.org