Introduction
Did you know that almost 98% of California’s population is breathing in polluted air? That is about 38 million residents not breathing clean air! These dangerous levels of pollution can affect one’s body and can cause serious medical problems. Pollution is a major problem in California, and it affects all forms of life. The different kinds of pollution target different areas of an ecosystem, making it seem impossible to start finding a solution. Many people contribute to pollution, climate change, and other problems, without even thinking. The problem is that people continue to live their everyday life thinking that they are helping the planet, but they are not. With the population of the Earth rising, people are emitting unhealthy
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And there is a serious question that needs to be addressed. What effects has pollution had on our society and what is being done to prevent it from spreading further?
Who?
There are many people and things that are involved in the problem of pollution. Senior citizens and young infants are at risk of having breathing problems due to the unclean air. Our society is putting ourselves at risk by doing simple tasks that emit smog and smoke into our ecosystem. According to the World Health Organization, “The health burden of polluting energy sources is now so high, that moving to cleaner and more sustainable choices for energy supply, transport and food systems effectively pays for itself,” (Neira 1). This quote explains that our lungs are at serious risk when it comes to breathing in polluted air. FAQ air pollution Frequently Asked Questions, emphasizes, “Air pollution is caused by both human and natural sources. Human sources are traffic, agriculture or industry, as was mentioned before. Natural sources are be dust storms, volcanic eruptions and emissions from plants,” (2).
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In the past, people have tried to go green and try to use electric cars instead of gasoline ones, but people seem to go back to their old habits. There are many possible solutions that people could try to help make California decrease the pollution we create. According to United States Environmental Protection Agency, it explains, “Since 1990, EPA has issued regulations limiting emissions of air toxics from more than 174 categories of major industrial sources including chemical plants, oil refineries, aerospace manufacturers, and steel mills. The requirements in a number of these regulations took effect between 1999 and 2011. When fully implemented, these standards are projected to reduce annual air toxics emissions by about 1.7 million tons,” (1). This quote explains that there are plans that were put in place, but they aren’t working fast enough. According to my interviewee, Sukhwinder Singh, he argues, “If I was in a powerful position, I would try to convince companies and factories to try to reduce the amount of pollution going into the atmosphere. I would make recycling mandatory and the fine for littering would increase a lot. I would make transportation more accessible,” (Singh 1). Singh explains that recycling would help the outcome of pollution in the future so that companies and factoies don’t burn fossil fuels when there are other options. As mentioned in United States Environmental