Introduction
Pollution refers to the act of introducing a substance that has harmful effects to the environment. The poisonous substance may pollute the air, water or soil. The harmful effects of these harmful substances manifest in plants and animal health. Global warming, on the other hand, refers to the gradual rise in earth’s atmospheric temperature majorly caused by greenhouse gases. This argumentative essay seeks to discuss the advantages of environmental protection, curbing pollution and global warming.
Advantages of Protecting the Environment
The advantages for protecting the environment far outweigh cons of not doing the same if at all there are any cons for doing the same. The first major advantage of protecting the environment and preventing global warming is to ensure sustainability. Human beings rely on the environment for survival and thus preserving the same source of livelihood can never be a subject of debate. Failure to protect the environment that is the source of our livelihood means endangering our lives.
We risk extinction if we fail to ensure that the environment stays safe. We cannot get sufficient food from our farms to sustain the ever-growing human population if we pollute the very soil upon which our food grows. Soil pollution reduces farm productivity, which leads to food shortage that predisposes the large human population to hunger and starvation. Soil pollution also leads to accumulation of harmful substances that through the crops grown, find their way into the human body causing various diseases such as cancer from accumulation of mercury in the body. This therefore means that environmental pollution endangers the livelihood of human beings both directly and indirectly. This leaves conservationists with no choice other than to insist of conservation measures by every individual and every government in general. Sustainability thus becomes a factor of concern that ensures conservation efforts remain on course.
The other advantages of preventing pollution and global warming hinges on the fact that the future generations depend on the conservation efforts that we enforce now. Failure to take up pollution prevention initiatives spells doom to the future generations who also deserve to live in clean and conducive environment. The ever-growing industrialization come at a cost as it increases the development of industries, which emit carbon into the atmosphere thus resulting to global warming. The very industries further discharge hazardous substances into water sources after their processing activities. This calls for measures that will keep in check pollution of such magnitude. If this continuous unabated then we risk exposing the future generations to conditions that do not favor human survival.
The future generations will have little to do to control a situation that will have already gotten out of hand. It is prudent that the current generation set a base for these conservation measures upon which the future generation will build the conservation efforts. It will be a daunting task to start the conservation efforts in future when pollution and global warming would have reached to unmanageable levels. Containing the situation now only increases the chances of winning the war against pollution for the future generation. By that time, the world would have established a tradition of conservation will ensure that the environmental remains safe for human existing for both the current and the future generations. The tradition of conserving the environment will have taken effect at both individual, organizational and government levels. This will provide enough time to establish policy regulations that will ensure sustainability measures remain on course and entrenched in people. Once we make conservation a culture the future generation stand a better chance of carrying on with the measures already in place.
It is also advantageous to protect the environment and prevent global warming as well as pollution for health measures. Environmental pollution comes with a lot of health complication. Since the substances that pollute the environment such as the accumulation of heavy metals such as mercury in the soil also have health implication on human beings, environmental protection remains inevitable. Heavy metals such as mercury and lead cause cancer once they find their way in to the human body.
Cancer, as it stands, has no cure and its one of the leading causes of human deaths. We consume foodstuffs grown from polluted soils and this is how the harmful substances find their way into the human system. Many resources that would otherwise go to other development activities are wasted on cancer therapies that at times end up as a waste. Air pollution that results in the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere causes serious respiratory complications to human beings.
These gases further cause lungs infections that cause the health sectors of many governments to spend billions of cash in both curative and preventive measures. It, thus, saves the economy more cash to deal with global warming and curbing pollution rather than to deal with the effects of the same. It is easier to prevent than cure. In this case, it is easier to prevent the emission of greenhouse gases in to the atmosphere than to cure respiratory complications arising from the same. It also goes down on record that not curative measures to respiratory infections end up successfully as cases of deaths relating to respiratory diseases have also taken an upward trend. Carbonic poisoning as now become a common phenomenon but the efforts to ensure that all industries install purifiers in their chimneys to purify the air has provided an easier solution to the problem.
It is worth noting that the greenhouse released in to the air deplete the crucial ozone layer that protects us from the harmful sunrays that causes cancer. It is, therefore, logical to prevent pollution which will in turn protect the ozone layer thus will protect us from harmful sunrays that to cure cancer. Planting of trees can also help in reducing the presence of carbon gases in the air as plants take in carbon from the air and release the much-needed oxygen. Human beings and animals need oxygen for healthy living and survival.
Environmental conservation prevents extinction of animals. It is common knowledge that global warming cause’s extinction for instance, greenhouse gases conserve heat in the atmosphere, which in turn causes global warming. The increase in global temperatures causes melting of glaciers in the arctic and Antarctic circles which causes the rise in water volume in oceans and seas. Polar bears feed on animals whose natural habitants include the ice that is melting away due to global warming.
This leaves the polar bears with no food as their primary prey get extinct due to the destruction of their natural habitats. This simply means that in the next couple of decades, the polar bears might be extinct and they will only exist as drawing and sculptors. The future generations might never see the polar bears but read about them in books and other online sources the same we read about dinosaurs that were long extinct.
The fish also risk extinction since pollution increases acidity level of water masses thus poisoning the marine animals. Increase in water alkalinity compromises livelihood of marine animals as well as the growth of plankton that is the main food for the marine animals. This simply means that unless adequate measures are put in place to curb this phenomenon, then these animals might end up extinct from the face of the earth. This will also affect the human population since fish form a major part of their diet. It is major source of proteins in the human body that helps the body to protect itself against diseases causing microorganisms.
Psychologists also argue that a clean and conducive environment is good for overall human growth and development. Polluted environment hinders proper growth and development in human beings and further causes psychological complications to the individuals. Psychological disturbances resulting from a polluted environment reduces human productivity in all the spheres of life. Reduced productivity limits innovations and invention s that serves to better human life. It also leads to irrational behaviors among individuals, which may render some individuals dangerous to others. This makes it clear that we all need to live in a clean environment and it is not a question of debate. Human productivity keeps the world economy steady and the fall of the same may plunge the world into an economic turmoil.
It is worth noting environmental conservation helps to reduce chances of animals’ extinction. Extinction has far-reaching effects other than the cessation of existence of the animals in question. Each animals or organism in the ecosystem has a role to play that brings about ecological balance. Extinction of any species of animal from the ecosystem therefore disrupts this delicate ecological balance resulting in other ecological complications. For instance, release of chemical substances in the soil increases the acidity of the soil that provides unfavorable conditions for the growth of the Wondering Jew plant, which provides the primary food for the African Wild beast. This automatically reduces the population of the wild beasts. A reduction in wild beast population threatens the lion’s population that depends on the wild beasts as their primary prey. This example demonstrates how pollution can have far-reaching consequences on the delicate ecological balance.
The points discussed above affirms that protecting the environment no longer stands as a matter of debate but has already assumed the status of an emergency. Global warming and pollution have now become a global crisis that require input from every individual, stakeholders and governments of the respective States to pull their resources together in order to mitigate the impacts of this phenomenon. Global conferences on global warming and pollution as well as environmental conservation measures have helped greatly to address the issue but more needs to be done to make the talks a success.
The campaigns to protect the environment require adequate resources, which will aid in facilitating and coordinating of programs. Global policies on conservation have had a significant impact on mitigating pollution, as standards of operation have been set. However, mainstreaming conservation efforts in all the mainstream medias will also advance the conservation efforts as well as make the conservation goals achievable. Mainstreaming conservation efforts in education will also came in handy in creating awareness over environmental protection. Those in skills need to learn about the importance of protecting the environment since the very individuals are the ones who will be managers, conservationists, entrepreneurs of the future.
Conclusion
Early acquisition of these skills will ensure that they take up leadership roles in future conservation efforts. The pros discussed above affirm my support for environmental protection as well as prevention of pollution and global warming. Even though other arguments contradicting this position do exist, it stands beneficial to support a course that has public interests at heart and has a mind for the future generations. Protecting the environment remains vital for our survival, which make it a matter of necessity.
