Effects of Noise Air and Water Pollution

How Pollution Negatively Affects Our Health

Pollution is an important issue today because it impacts both the health of the planet and the health of human beings around the planet. In fact, whenever the planet is harmed by pollution, humans are harmed as well because people depend upon the environment for sustenance. Pollution is therefore a major social and environmental issue that has negative effects on both the environment and human health. There are many different types of pollution, such as air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution. All of these types of pollution can have negative consequences for the people, and include consequences such as damage to ecosystems, climate change, and poisoning. Pollution can cause respiratory problems, cancer, and other health issues for people, depending on the type of pollution (Turner et al., 2020). Even noise pollution can harm people’s mental health and have both short and long-term effects on quality of life (Ma et al., 2018). As a result, it is important to be aware of the problem of pollution and to take steps to reduce its negative effects. I chose this issue because we all affected by pollution, no matter where we live or what we believe.

As the World Health Organization (WHO) points out, air pollution is one of the biggest causes of negative health. According to recent research, nine out of ten people across the planet breathe polluted air (WHO, 2018). In other words, everyone is impacted by air pollution—so much so that air pollution is actually responsible for killing 7 million people every year (WHO, 2022). Anyone who has ever lived in a crowded, noisy, dirty city knows how the air is heavy with smog: it is like breathing through a tail pipe on a good day. It can be suffocating on a bad day. Yet even people who do not live in crowded polluted cities can breathe in polluted air and not even realize it. Some pollution is not even noticeable yet it is still there, causing harm to people.

Some may not think that pollution is very important because they do not see how it affects them personally. They do not realize that their water, the water that comes from their tap, may be polluted. They do not realize that their soil may be bad—until they try to grow a garden. They may not realize how noise pollution impacts them on a health level. They do not realize these things because they either pay no attention to them or because they block them out, thinking there is nothing that they can do about it anyway. But there are things people can do to reduce pollution—and that is another reason this topic is important to me. The more we talk about pollution the more likely we are to actually address it and get it under control.

Other people do not like to talk about pollution because they think it rhymes with climate change, and they hate that topic as it has been politicized. That is unfortunate because whether or not one wants to believe in climate change is irrelevant to the problem of pollution. Pollution is real—and one can see it anytime one looks out over a city like Los Angeles. One can see it coming from factory exhaust systems. One can see it in the water, whenever there is an oil spill. One can see it in the way a gas leak kills the life of the environment. One can see it in the way water is undrinkable in some parts of the world. Pollution contaminates. It may or may not be a cause of climate change like that described by mainstream pundits—but what matters is that pollution occurs all over the planet, and it harms the health of individuals. It can cause cancer, mental health problems, breathing issues, growth issues, and more.

Pollution can be prevented. Burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil releases harmful chemicals into the air, while factories release pollutants into the water. Another major source of pollution is agriculture, specifically the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Fortunately, there are a number of things that individuals can do to help prevent pollution.

For example, one way to prevent pollution is by conserving energy. This can be done by turning off lights when they are not needed, unplugging appliances when they are not in use, and using public transportation instead of private vehicles. Another way to prevent pollution is by recycling. This means sorting materials such as glass, plastic, paper, and metal into the appropriate bins so that they can be properly recycled. Recycling is a great way to fight pollution because it means less goes to landfills, where so much contamination occurs. Finally, it is also important to reduce the amount of waste that is produced overall. This can be done by avoiding single-use items, composting food scraps, and purchasing products in bulk. Additionally, people can support legislation that aims to reduce pollution, such as laws mandating the use of renewable energy sources. By taking these pollution prevention measures, we can all help to make a difference and stop the negative health effects caused by pollution on men, women, and children the world over.