Air pollution and effects on the economy

Air Pollution and Effects on Economy

Pollution has been a contentious topic for the past decades, with it having affected virtually every domain. The financial system is no exception from the rule, as pollution has caused severe damage to economies in most countries. Canadians have been affected by pollution both directly and indirectly. While breathing contaminated air has had a direct effect on their health, they have also suffered from consuming lesser and less pure agriculture productions. Thus, it would only be natural to conclude that if Canadians were to reduce their present level of emissions, the economy would better significantly. Moreover, they would also have lesser chances of coming across respiratory problems.

Air pollution is mainly a result of people wanting to exploit fossil fuels to their maximum potential, without being concern what the effects of their actions are. Air pollution is not only caused by human activity, as it can also be a result of natural events related to volcanic activity, methane coming from animals digesting food, etc. In the recent centuries, people have been obsessed with production, the population increase also leading to a greater demand in food, potable water, and industry. "The burning of fossil fuels has increased nearly four-fold, and carbon emissions have risen accordingly" (Melody Hessing, and Michael Howlett, pp. 3). Canadians too have joined the rest of the world in putting economical interests in front of environmental ones. However, they did not realize that they were actually paying a price for their undertaking, and that the emissions they were producing would have a long-term effect on their economy.

The general public has always displayed a skeptical facade on the subject of them being the ones responsible for air pollution. However, traffic emissions are apparently the main air pollutant in Canada. People generally have the tendency to think that the environment is an infinite source of resources, and, concomitantly, a place where waste of every kind can be deposited, with no side effects whatsoever.

There are several reasons for which it would be beneficial for Canadians to unite against air pollution. One of the main reasons would be that having a lesser amount of emissions would directly influence the country's socio-economic statue, and, thus, it would also better the living conditions for its inhabitants.

Making the air more pure would lead to a decrease in illnesses and in the mortality rate. Consequently, this action would have social benefits and it would improve Canada's industry. The finances currently invested in treating air pollution related diseases would also be reduced.

By damaging the environment and increasing health costs for Canadians, air pollution proves to be an expensive contaminant. Apparently, "the Ontario Medical Association has estimated that air pollution costs more than $1 billion a year in hospital admissions, emergency room visits, and absenteeism" (Environment Canada). Having more and more sick people leads to a lesser production because Canada is left with a smaller number of healthy people to fill in the gaps in the workforce.

Even though the topic of fighting air pollution does not appeal to the masses, they gradually realize that it is a very important subject. As a response to air pollution, Canada needed to introduce a large number of programs intended to transform several products in order for air pollution to have a less damaging effect on them. The people guilty for polluting Canada normally claim that their emissions are justified through profits. Moreover, while they pose in environment protectors and appear to fund environmental programs, they continue to pollute the country.

Industrialization has been developing for the last centuries with great rapidity, and, with it, air pollution has also developed. One could go as far as claiming that air pollution is part of a vicious circle. By consuming more energy, people burn fossil fuels, which contaminate the air, which people later attempt to decontaminate with the money that they made from using energy.

Air pollution is far more dangerous than some might think, as it can even be harmful for those that are believed to have strong immune systems. Whereas the level of air pollution in Canada is smaller than the ones in other countries, it can still be considered to play an important role in the tourist industry. People generally come to the country thinking about fresh mountain air and no pollution. However, if one of those wanting to visit Canada would have came across the information that, in 2007 alone, air pollution in Toronto was responsible for 1,700 premature deaths and 6000 hospitalizations, the respective person would certainly have second thoughts regarding their travel destination.

When concerning the impact of air pollution on Canada's agricultural sector, matters become even more complicated, as it is responsible for deficiencies in other divisions of the country's economy. Airborne pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide transform in acid rain when they are mixed with water vapor. Acid rain has a devastating effect on plants and on aquatic ecosystems, reducing the level of production coming from both resources. "Some areas of the region issue advisories, recommending that people limit their consumption of certain types of sport fish" (Environment Canada). With the plants and the fish being contaminated, people have to resort to spending money on attempting to decontaminate them, or on buying more expensive products that are not polluted.

Crops in Canada are normally insured and when productions are destroyed as an effect of pollution, insurance agencies have to come up with funds meant to repair the situation by reimburse the people affected.

One of the most harmful pollutants transported through air is Mercury and it too can have severe effects on Canadian economy. Every organism exposed to the air pollutant in large quantities or for long amounts of time has greater chances of being critically affected by it.

Communications are also affected by the fact that air is polluted, as radio signals from space and high frequency radio wave communications can be jammed by the Particulate matters travelling suspended in the atmosphere. Whether coming from chemical reactions, or from the smokestacks of factories, particulate matters are likely to cause interruptions radio, telephone, and television signals.

Air pollution does not only affect economic sectors directly related to it, as it can have an influence on a series of domains, ranging from banking to communication. People need to make choices that might come in disagreement with their principles relating to comfort in the present in order to avoid having to pay money because of air pollution.