Essay on water pollution, global warming, acid rain, deforestation, intensive farming (0)

Water pollution
Attention for water pollution exploded in the 1980s.  The oil spill of the Exxon Valdez showed many around the world just how horrible the effects of water pollution could be.
However , even the Exxon Valdez spill barely touched the surface of the problem of water pollution.  The ship spilt only 5% of the oil spilt that year , and oil is just one of many pollutants that people dump into the water every year.
Every year, 14 billions pounds of sewage, sludge, and garbage are dumped into the world's oceans.  19 trillion gallons of waste also enter the water annually.
The problem of ocean pollution affects every nation around the world.  This is especially true because water is able to transport pollution from one location to another .
For many years , chemicals were dumped into bodies of water without concern.  While many countries have now banned such behavior , it continues to go on today .
As the world has industrialized and its population has grown , the problem of water pollution has intensified.  The simple fact that millions of people live along coastlines and near rivers means that these bodies of water are likely candidates for heavy and destructive pollution.
It is hard to know now what our oceans will look like in the future.  Just how damaged they will be by pollution is uncertain.
Acid rain
The term acid rain refers to what scientists call acid deposition.  It is caused by airborne acidic pollutants and has highly destructive results .
Scientists first discovered acid rain in 1852 , when the English chemist Robert Agnus invented the term.  From then until now, acid rain has been an issue of intense debate among scientists and policy makers.
Acid rain, one of the most important environmental problems of all, cannot be seen.  The invisible gases that cause acid rain usually come from automobiles or coal -burning power plants .
Acid rain moves easily, affecting locations far beyond those that let out the pollution.  As a result, this global pollution issue causes great debates between countries that fight over polluting each other 's environments.
For years, science studied the true causes of acid rain.  Some scientists concluded that human production was primarily responsible, while others cited natural causes as well.  Recently, more intensive research has been done so that countries have the information they need to prevent acid rain and its dangerous effects.
The levels of acid rain vary from region to region.  In Third World nations without pollution restrictions, acid rain tends to be very high.  In EasternEurope, China, and the Soviet Union, acid rain levels have also risen greatly .  However, because acid rain can move about so easily, the problem is definitely a global one.
Global warming
Global warming, also known as the greenhouse effect, immediately received international attention. Scientists, environmentalists, and governments around the world took an interest in the subject .
Global warming is called the greenhouse effect because the gases that are gathering above the earth make the planet comparable to a greenhouse.  By trapping heat near the surface of the earth, the greenhouse effect is warming the planet and threatening the environment.
Many scientists criticized Mr. Hansen 's report, and the debate over global warming continues today.
Current fears stem largely from the fact that global warming is occurring at such a rapid pace.  Models are predicting that over the next century , the global temperature will rise by several degrees.
Some scientists still do not think that the effects of global warming are as severe as some people say.  They think that droughts, hurricanes, and floods often blamed on global warming might actually have other causes.
One major difficulty in studying global warming is the fact that weather data only exists for the last century and a half .  As a result, understanding the present and predicting the future are very difficult.
Rain forest destruction
The atmosphere and oceans are not the only parts of the environment being damaged.  Rain forests are being quickly destroyed as well, and their survival is questionable.
E.O. Wilson, a biologist at Harvard, called the depletion of rain forest areas "the greatest extinction since the end of the age of dinosaurs."
Unlike some environmental issues , rain forest depletion has fortunately received significant public and media attention.
Despite the opposition to the cutting down of rain forests, the problem continues.  Every year, Brazil chops down an area of forest the size of the state of Nebraska.
In addition to the Amazon 's rain forests, many other forests are being cut down as well.  In Indonesia , Zaire, Papua-New Guinea , Malaysia, Burma , the Philippines , Peru, Colombia , Bolivia, and Venezuela , rain forests that were once great have been lost.
According to some estimates, 50 million acres of rain forest are cut down every year.  The United Nations says the figure is closer to 17 million acres.  The World Wildlife Fund says that every minute , 25 to 50 acres are cut or burned to the ground .
The world's growing population has been a primary cause of rain forest destruction.  More people need land to live on and wood products to consume.  Limiting population growth may be the first in a series of steps that would limit the destruction of the rain forests.
Intensive farming
Advantages
✔ One of the major advantages of this farming technique is that the crop yield is high.
✔ It helps the farmer to easily supervise and monitor the land and protect his livestock from being hurt or hounded by dangerous wild animals.
✔ With the introduction of intensive farming, farm produce, such as vegetables, fruits , and poultry products have become less expensive. It also aids in solving the worldwide hunger problems to a great extent. This means that common people can now afford a balanced and nutritious diet.
✔ Many opine that organic food can be afforded only by the elite strata of the society. Apart from that, large farming spaces are required to cultivate organic crops using natural manure. However, with the introduction of intensive farming, the space , equipment, and other requirements for farming are less and more economical.
✔ The EPA (Environment Protection Agency ) has set certain rules and regulations on how livestock, pesticides, and animal manure are to be maintained. The farmers, who follow these set rules help to provide an affordable, safe , and healthy produce to all alike.
✔ Another advantage is that large productivity of food is possible with less amount of land. This leads to economies of scale and directly contributes towards meeting the ever-growing demand for food supplies.
Disadvantages
✘ Intensive farming involves the use of various kinds of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides. Apart from this, it is also associated with farms that keep livestock above their holding capacity , which in turn leads to pollution, various diseases , and infections brought about by overcrowding and poor hygiene.
✘ Reports and studies reveal that intensive farming affects and alters the environment in multiple ways . Forests are destroyed to create large open fields, and this could lead to soil erosion. It affects the natural habitat of wild animals. Use of chemical fertilizers contaminates soil and water bodies, such as lakes and rivers.
✘ Pesticides sprayed on crops not only destroy pests and contaminate the crops, but also kill beneficial insects. Heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers also affects the workers (who spray the pesticides) and the people residing nearby. Eventually, these chemicals are passed on to human beings, who consume the agricultural produce.
✘ Fruits and vegetables purchased from farms that promote intensive farming are covered with invisible pesticides. These cannot be washed off easily. Exceeding the use of pesticides affects the health of human beings severely, leading to skin allergy, physical deformity, and congenital disease.
✘ Statistics show a direct relation between the consumption of food procured from intensive farming sites and an increase in the number of cancer patients and children born with defects. Researchers opine that consumption of inorganic poisonous vegetables, fruits, poultry, and meat could probably be one of the reasons for causing such damage in the human body.
✘ There are many hybrid varieties of livestock, plants, and poultry available today. The livestock and poultry are injected with hormones and other chemicals to increase the yield.
Alternatives?
Organic Farming: We are all well-accustomed to this concept of farming. It produces good quality food without using any chemical fertilizer or pesticides, helps reduce diseases, and lowers the environmental impact.
Hydroponics: In this method , plants are grown not in the soil but in water containing dissolved nutrients in greenhouses. This technique eradicates diseases caused by soil organisms but the plant needs constant support, supervision, and is grown in areas where there's no soil.
Biological Control : Using a predator intentionally to fix the pest population size is known as biological control. This technique demands utmost caution and thorough study, as it could go all wrong , if not managed properly.
It is very difficult to pick a side in the debate regarding intensive farming. While it is true that agricultural intensification is necessary to meet the ever-increasing population growth, it is also true that intensive use of chemical fertilizers will largely affect the health of human beings, plants, fish , honey bees , frogs, birds , and livestock. There is a tug-of-war between the animal rights activists and farmers of intensive farming. However, the debate is still ongoing, but we hope to see some new inventions or improvements in the near future.
Read more at Buzzle:  http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-for-intensive-farming.html