The Destruction of Our Fragile Planet and the Possibility of Reform
It is widely accepted that humans have been a major cause of environmental problems since we began creating our cities and especially since the Industrial Revolution of the 20th century. All aspects of the Earth have been affected by humans' desire to conquer and dominate the planet. Our impact has gone beyond pollution to altering the functioning of many natural systems. These systems include our atmosphere, several land ecosystems and the complex water environments of which we get our drinking water and food sources. The effects have been universal ranging from ourselves to just every other living organism on this planet. Sure, it sounds like we have ruined everything and probably the best this to do is just prepare for the worst of the consequences, but there is a possibility for improvement if we start correcting things now. The very air that we breath in most major cities is considered unhealthy because of the contaminants that we put in the air through the burning of fossil fuels by our cars and industrial power plants. The residence time of these pollutants is what determines there affect. Some pollutants are only around for days like NOx with impacts that are largely local, when at levels above air
The main solutions to all of these problems is alternate energy sources, more effective ways of waste disposal ,with emphasis on recycling, and somehow putting a cap on the growing population. Doesn't sound impossible, but it involves changing people's lifestyles, which is the hardest thing to do. If it doesn't affect that it is much easier to implement a change ,but it is also more difficult to think of "solutions". To begin any change, education must occur so that the general population understands what problems we are facing. General education is also the best combat against the growing population, countless studies have shown that educated women tend to have less children. A more technical approach to these problems is in the development of alternate sources of energy and alternate techniques for disposal of wastes. The best solution would be to combine our efforts into a technique of energy and biomass recovery from wastewater. Wastewater can also be used to grow plants while itself being treated through hydroponics treatment. Here plants provide support for growth of biofilms, you provide aeration to the system, then eutrophic nutrients will be removed by assimilation and in some cases both anaerobic and aerobic will occur enhancing biodegradation (80-90% BOD removed,60% SS removed, 84% of influent NH3 oxidized and DO concentration near saturation). Phytoremediation is also available
Some common words found in the essay are:
Los Angeles, CO2 CFCs, Industrial Revolution, , growing population, carbon dioxide, fossil fuels, drinking water, ground water, power plants,
Approximate Word count = 943
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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