The Biggest Producers of Pollution

    A recent trip to the Dallas Zoo helped to reaffirm my selection for this week’s blog. As I journeyed through the Zoo with some of my fellow classmates, I could not help but feel a disconcerting sense of guilt and sadness as I perused several animals’ background information that accompanied each enclosure.  Many of the animals, for instance the otters, are experiencing declines in their populations and habitats due to water pollution stemming from human activity. Water pollution is defined as “the introduction of chemical, biological and physical matter into large bodies of water that degrade the quality of life that lives in it and consumes it” (Martelli). All living organisms need water, but when one group takes it upon themselves to utilize water sources recklessly and h0wever they deem fit, other life forms will surely suffer and currently do. Today, water pollution is one of the most noticeable and persistent signs of mankind’s impact on the natural world. 

http://www.greenlivingearth.net/category/oil-pollution/
 

 Greater Concerns at Hand

      Many Americans would assert that water pollution is not a serious threat or issue. Because Americans and residents of other developed counties generally have access to clean water sources, they do not recognize the severity of water pollution as both a health concern and an environmental hazard. It is thought that because water treatment facilities filter out many of the pollutants and toxins within water, there is no imminent danger to human health. Contrary to this belief, filtered water is not new water. All the water on the planet is recycled. Whether water goes through water treatment or the water cycle, the water is not new – just renewed.

      Some cancers, blood diseases, heart diseases, and skin lesions can occur due to the consumption and exposure of polluted water. Because humans rely on water so heavily for many of the activities they carry out through the course of a day, they are susceptible to ingesting or coming into contact with toxin infested water. There are a great many concerns in this world, and water pollution is a major one. 
 

http://zunia.org/post/dirty-water-pollution-problems-persist/

  Detrimental Effects 

      Ecosystems can be dramatically changed or destroyed by water pollution.  Dolphins, fish, birds, and several other species are killed due to their food and habitats being contaminated with toxins and waste that seep out into the bodies of water they inhabit. Furthermore, soil can also suffer due to water pollution because nutrients are flushed away and lost. The vegetation that does grow from polluted soil could carry some of the chemicals or toxins introduced if the plants absorbed some of the leakage that stems from the wastes of landfills or sewage systems. Contaminated vegetation could make its way onto the plates of many people, thus placing them in harm’s way.

http://everydaypollution.wordpress.com/tag/urban/page/8/

 My Position

      It is shameful that so many life forms are declining because of our wastefulness, carelessness, and inability to properly dispose of our waste. From my understanding, all water is recycled. This means that the same water we drink, cook with, bathe in, water plants with, give to our pets, and flush never really leaves us. Furthermore, it does not help that many people litter. Sizeable amounts of plastic bottles, paper bags, cigarette buds, clothes, toys, waste, toxic chemicals,  and various other items and substances  all make their way into oceans, lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water because mankind’s inability to properly dispose of and find better means of ridding their waste. The toll our selfishness and way of life takes on other species is reprehensible. Plants and animals that were thriving on this planet long before our species evolved are nearing their end because of our inability to put forth a collective effort to change the way we live our lives on this planet. Life is all about choices, and nature does not negotiate.  We have to be mindful. We have to make changes. We have to not only protect and save our fellow life forms but our world as well. 

http://everydaypollution.wordpress.com/tag/urban/page/8/

Citation(s) 

     

Martelli, Don. "Pollution | Encyclopedia." GreenStudentU: Green Students, 

              Environmental Education, & Eco-Lifestyles. One to One Global, Inc. 

              Web. 28 June 2011.  

        

              <http://www.greenstudentu.com/encyclopedia/pollution>.

Large-scale Logging

   The lumber industry involves the “production and harvesting of trees for varied uses” (Harris).

http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/3483/

Benefits of Logging

      Leaders in this industry uphold that logging is a necessary and fruitful business that meets many needs of society. Logging is an important practice as it is the primary source of lumber which is utilized as structural material for construction. The lumber or timber can also be converted into paper, a primary tool in creation, communication, and expression. Additionally, the logging industry provides many people with jobs all over the world. The main argument in favor of logging is that a service is being provided for a range of people and uses. There are some environmental risks, but there are sizeable benefits too.

Points Against Logging 

    The cutting down and removal of trees in forests and various landscapes can potentially devastate ecological systems. Invading different ecosystems runs the risk of displacing and even killing several species of plants and animals, thus leading to a loss in biodiversity. Environmental landscapes can also be altered due to the destruction and pollution. Because the levels of lumber being harvested are having to keep up with growing demand, the rate at which the trees are being cut down are surpassing the growth rate of new trees. It takes far more time for trees to grow than it does for them to be chopped down.

http://newslincolncounty.com/?p=7080

Working Together

      Many lumber companies have heeded the insight and warnings of environmental activists, and have worked to develop practices that are aimed at preventing the annihilation of forests and protecting the environment of those forests while harvesting take place. Several “lumber companies have adopted what are known as best management practices, which prescribe methods for protecting the forest environment during logging” (Harris). For instance, “a buffer zone of 50 feet around streams is not logged in order to protect stream ecology; … trenches are dug at right angles across logging roads to divert water from running down the roads and eroding the soil; and skid trails are reseeded with grass after a logging operation has been completed” (Harris). These types of precautionary practices are a step in the right direction when it comes to paving the road for a sustainable lumbering network. The increased demand placed on lumber, however, proves to be the main obstacle in pursuit of sustainability.

http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1566-048967

My Position

     I think that stricter state and federal regulations need to be developed and enforced when it comes to logging. Lumber companies should have to analyze and collect data about the environmental state of the landscapes and the species living in them before logging can commence. Furthermore, the data collected would have to be reviewed and submitted to state officials who would then decide whether or not the intended site could withstand the environmental impact that would accompany logging. If the aftermath of the logging is predicted to be too severe on the environment and its resident species, the lumber company would not be allowed to harvest lumber on the proposed site.  

Citation(s)

Harris, P. Gregory. "Lumber Industry." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia

        2000. Microsoft Corporation. Web. 23 June 2011.

        <http://autocww.colorado.edu/~toldy2/E64ContentFiles/IndustryMiningFuels/Lum

        berIndustry.html>.



Industrial Farming: Is It Better?

Pro Position à

      Industrial farming has proven to be one of the United States’ greatest successes. Among the benefits of industrial agriculture have been greater sums of food at cheap prices. If our nation did not rely on large-scale industrial farming there would not be enough food produced to feed the growing population. Because the population is steadily increasing, it is no longer possible to fulfill the huge demand for livestock by personal and small-scale cultivation. The livestock produced by factory farming have increased in terms of quantity and quality due to advancements made and implemented in technology. Modern farming techniques are efficient, highly productive and sustainable.

      Today’s food animal production systems are much more sophisticated and produce a much higher quality food product than older systems that exposed livestock to foul conditions, tumultuous weather, predators, and diseases. To shift away from industrial farming would result in lower production, lower quality food products, exposure to diseases, and higher food costs for consumers. To ensure that the welfare of the nation’s economy, food productivity, farmers, and consumers are secure, it is in our best interest to continue on with industrial farming as it is the most reliable option. Without industrial farming the very nature of our food industries would change, and not necessarily for the better. (This position is taken from an essay I wrote for my English action essay in the spring semester of 2011 at the University of North Texas. The title of my action essay is “Livestock Production: A Matter of Animal Welfare.”)

Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3u3r044Hsifcybw0rUrwVPBcKlMnWDiY2ixpGR-JbhyphenhyphenRMp8i73Y2WKvPQI0kTg38SG2jO4hxpDhZk9hEcKRtrP8Sm0wjPF8kyv8ZZNylG1BsGTuFic-X0msifbEE7ec_fnAkjXlfbR60/s1600/Cows-at-diary-farm-006.jpg

Con Position à

      From the research I have done so far, the cons of industrial farming are centered on the mistreatment of the livestock involved and the harm done to the environment. One of the leading problems with factory farming is the impact it has on the environment. These businesses, commonly referred to as agribusinesses, produce a great deal of water, air, and soil pollution. This pollution not only places the animals and workers on site in the line of danger, but nearby communities can be and are polluted as well.

     The animal waste, cleared out from the pens, goes into large ponds. These ponds can seep into streams, rivers, and lakes. The ponds can also seep down into the groundwater where many people get their drinking and bathing water. There are large amounts of bacteria poured into and festering inside the ponds and the runoff water of the factory farms. The air pollution stems from numerous sources such as the animal waste and the vast amounts of machinery, trucks, and equipment employed on factory farms. Chemicals used on the soil can become airborne and inhaled which can result in illness. Deforestation also occurs to provide the vast amounts of land needed to run a functional factory farm. Deforestation destroys nutrient rich soil.

     While pigs and cows are fattened up with corn and pumped full of hormones and antibiotics as they await their demise, they are subjected to disgusting living conditions. Before they are slaughtered, factory-farmed animals are forced to live in uncomfortably close living quarters with one another.

A Factory Farm Taxing the Environment / http://localhealthymeats.com/?page_id=295

My Position

I can appreciate that industrial farming produces larger sums of food at cheaper prices. I understand that factory farms are necessary to keep up with growing populations. I do feel that industrial farming needs to undergo serious changes in how livestock is treated and foods produced. I would really like to see the livestock treated with more care and respect because all life has value. Many of us eat livestock based foods, and we should therefore have greater concern for where our food comes from, how it is produced, and at what cost is placed on the environment.