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Problems Caused By Air Pollution
Problems Caused By Air Pollution Problems Caused By Air Pollution Some people think that air pollution is not harming the earth or the people, but it is doing worse, by killing the earth and getting people sick. "Air pollutants," according to Gay, "are known to cause respiratory diseases, cancer, and other serious illnesses" (12). Air pollution not only threatens the health and life of humans but also causes damage to the environment (Gay 13). First, air pollution causes a great deal of health problems. Wanting clean air is a good reason because air that is polluted can damage human health (Edelson 25). In the United States many health problems have occurred because of air pollution. According to Sproull, "For more than a decade, local residents in the tri-state valley bounded by Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia have claimed to suffer from health problems, including rashes, respiratory problems and even cancers" (D4). In 1948, in the industrial town of Donora, Pennsylvania, which sits in a valley, had twenty deaths, and nearly 6,000 residents, or 40% of the population, suffered respiratory problems (Edelson 25, 26). New York experienced several killer smogs, which in a later analysis attributed, from the usually severe pollution, 58 deaths (Edelson 26). Not only in the United States are health problems caused by air pollution showing up, but they are also showing up in other parts of the world, like Europe. In 1930, in Belgium's Meuse River valley, a major industrial region, where the primary fuel was coal reported sixty deaths, and about 6,000 residents of the valley became ill with breathing problems and respiratory infections (Edelson 25). In December 1952, the toll was huge in London from the infamous smog, which caused up to 4,000 deaths, when levels of sulfur oxides and particulates rose above normal (Edelson 26). Air pollution also increased deaths from chronic lung disease in the United States. "Although statistics on the physical effects of air pollution are not easily calculated," according to Edelson, "an alarming related statistic is that between 1970 and 1986, deaths in the United States from chronic lung disease rose 36%" (35). Air pollution has cost a great deal of money on health care in the United States. In terms of health care and lost productivity, the costs of air pollution in the United States alone have been estimated at more than $100 billion (Edelson 35). Another cost air pollution has caused is human life, which is incalculable (Edelson 35). Air pollution causes many health problems that lead to death. Also, air pollution causes a great deal of damage to the environment and property. Lot of air pollution creates acid rain, which deteriorates things. Acid rain began to emerge as a serious problem in the late 1960's, when a decline in fish population was noticed by scientists in Scandinavia (Edelson 37). In the 1970's, a number of studies related the declining of fish stocks and forest damage to acid rain from industrialized and urban areas, often hundreds of miles away (Edelson 37-8). Thousands of lakes and streams, across the northeastern part of the United States and the mid-Atlantic states, in Canadian provinces, in Scandinavian countries and in other parts of Europe, have acid concentrations so high that aquatic food chains are destroyed, and fi... This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Academic Library. Please register below now!
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