In my essay, I explore the causes of pollution and its effects on the planet. The true consequences of pollution are blindingly obvious, but it seems nobody cares despite the fact that within as few as 15 years the world may start warming to the point of killing all life on earth. To maybe help expose this problem, I have highlighted a few of the more dangerous causes of pollution and their effects on the planet.
Cause – Cows creating methane
The farming of cows often results in deforestation to make room for farming cows and because the soil often grows grass very quickly because it is very fertile, which means cows can be raised and fattened up very quickly and for very little money.
Effect – Global warming
Global warming creates extremes in weather and causes the world’s oceans to rise. Methane builds up in our atmosphere and keeps the sun’s rays and heat on the planet, which heats it up further. This will lead to the destruction of the earth in the long term. In the short term it is creating extremes of weather that includes floods, intense cold, droughts, and storms.
Cause – Vehicles creating too much CO2
Business and vehicles that run on fossil fuel are producing a lot of greenhouse gases. These gases also enter our atmosphere in the same way that Methane from cows enters the atmosphere (though obviously they both take very different routes), and this gas traps the heat from the sun on the planet.
Effect – Global warming
Just like with Methane, the greenhouse gases created by the use of fossil fuels in things such as vehicles creates extremes in our weather, causes oceans to rise, and will eventually lead to the destruction of earth as it heats up exponentially.
Cause – Contamination in fresh water
Fresh water is contaminated by farming and industry. Farmers have their pesticides and fertilizers flushed into streams and ponds. Industry pumps chemicals into water because it is cheaper than disposing of the chemicals they create in a safe way.
Effects – Poor human health and dead marine life
The effects of contamination in fresh water are wide ranging. It kills of marine life and surrounding life. The contamination is absorbed by local plants that are then eaten by animals that are then eaten by people. The contamination also leeches into our drinking water, which then also negatively affects humans. Ponds and isolated water bodies will often become either pools of death with nothing in them, or become overgrown with moss and reeds, which kill off all the marine life in the pond before eventually choking themselves (again creating a pool of death).
Conclusion
Clearly pollution is a bad thing. What is more worrying is the fact that in less than 15 years the effects of global warming may be irreversible. This means a negative feedback loop will occur where the world heats up by a few degrees every year until it is a burnt out husk of a planet that is essentially a fireball being toasted by the sun.
