The Effect Pollution Has On the Planet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Effect Pollution Has On the Planet - Essay Example In addition, many of these waters ultimately find their way to ocean waters which has cause large areas of the seas to be barren of life. Air pollution causes respiratory problems and, more importantly, is causing the Earth’s climate to change, the consequences of which are far-ranging and potentially catastrophic. Lawmakers have focused their efforts to address the pollution of America’s waterways by passing legislation intended to reduce the amount of contaminants discharged from factories but the American fresh water systems remain polluted. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, roughly 40 percent of the country’s lakes, rivers and streams still are unsafe for fishing or swimming because they are overburdened with silt and chemicals from thousands of small sources, a circumstance known as â€Å"non-point† pollution. This phrase refers to polluting the waterways other than by dumping chemicals directly into the water such as improperly discarded motor oil, pesticides, lawn chemicals, fertilizers or animal waste from commercial farms. Fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural sources, point of contact, cause more of the pollutants affecting the fragile water systems than commercial pollutants. These systems run across the â€Å"Breadbasket† areas of A merica then are deposited in ocean waters of the East Coast and oxygen-depleted Gulf of Mexico. Large areas of these seas have been designated as ‘dead zones.’ Vast areas of East Coast waters and the Gulf of Mexico can no longer support life such as crabs and shrimp. These dead zones are constantly expanding. â€Å"The dead zone fluctuates in size each year, extending a record 8,500 square miles during the summer of 2002 and stretching over 7,700 square miles during the summer of 2010.† (â€Å"Facts,† 2010) Ammonia, a lethal gaseous form of nitrogen released during waste removal, can travel hundreds of miles through the air before falling back to Earth either on the ground or in the water, where it produces algal blooms which kills fish. â€Å"Fertilizers and animal waste from factory livestock farms have helped trigger an unprecedented number of algal blooms, destructive growth spurts that clog waterways and suffocate fish.† (Warrick, 2001). Most i nfamous were outbreaks of deadly algae, including Pfiesteria piscicida, an organism blamed for the deaths of a billion fish along the coast of North Carolina. The quantity of fresh water for drinking continues to be significantly reduced because of chemical pollutants. This regretful circumstance is especially difficult for drought-stricken areas. This critical situation is reversible but must involve educating small and large-scale farmers to more environment friendly means of growing crops and requiring its implementation. A water restoration program initiated by the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 determines the maximum quantity of a pollutant that a body of water can have and still meet federal quality standards by using a calculation named The Total Maximum Daily Load. This is the primary legal remedy for government intervention concerning non-point water pollution. Federal regulations require state administrative bodies to take into consideration all sources of pollution acros s the watershed (drainage basin) of a river. â€Å"Watershed is the term used to describe the geographic area of land that drains water to a shared destination† (â€Å"Report,† 2011). Water, in the form of melting snow or rain, drains toward the lowest point in a