The Impact Humans Have on the Environment.

March 10, 2011

The impact that humans have on the environment is not exactly known, but scientists and environmentalists believe that we do contribute to environmental issues. Some of the issues that individuals contribute to our air pollution, landfills, depletion of the ozone layer, and to global warming. Air pollution can be traced back to when people lived in caves, back in those times, fires that were used to keep warm caused air pollution, or from smoke that was produced from cooking. (Asoff, Sarabeth)

Air pollution comes from many different sources, such as smoke, toxins, chemicals, or biological substances. Some of the contributors of air pollution are industrial and manufacturing processes, vehicles that burn fossil fuels, aerosol cans, fuel combustion, and smoking. All of these are the result of human error. Polluted air from chemicals and other substances cause a chain reaction, triggering acid rain, smog, depletion of the ozone layer, and to global warming. (Grosvenor, Carrie)

Landfills are an environmental issue that is hard to fix, because as the world population grows so does the need for more landfills. Landfills affect the environment because of the emissions that they produce. The emissions are often toxic and enter the air when garbage is decomposing or being burned. Landfills may also contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer, and affect global warming. These issues are caused by the choices that individuals make. (Baker, Sandy)

The ozone layer is a serious environmental issue that individuals have an impact on. The stratosphere has a layer of ozone that protects us from harmful ultra violet rays. Some of the affects that humans have on the depletion of the ozone layer, include rockets that blast off into space which poke holes in the layer, also air crafts cause the ozone layer to thin out. Old refrigerators, and the cutting down of trees also contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. (Wiki answers.com)

The last environmental issue is global warming and according to scientists and environmentalists, it is the most serious. Global warming is when the average temperature of the earth rises. The reason for the rise in temperature is greenhouse gases. The types of greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Theses gases trap the heat that would normally escape into outer space. The largest source of greenhouse gases comes from the burning of fossil fuels; these fossil fuels are used to run vehicles and to heat homes. To help stop global warming we need to change our lifestyles, we can do this by recycling plastic and glass bottles, switch to biofuels instead of regular gasoline, and use energy efficient appliances. (Lene, Vicki)

These environmental issues are a major concern to scientists and environmentalists,