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Emily Zheng

What's up with Pollution?

Have you seen black smoke in the air, plastic in the ocean, trash on the ground? That is called pollution/ litering. The main pollution I will be talking about is Air, water, and land.


Air pollution


To keep the World clean we have to stop littering and polluting the world. We have to help clean up at parks and beaches. Also don’t throw trash in the ocean.You might have seen black thick smoke in the city. It might seem harmless, but it’s a big example of air pollution right in front of you! Air pollution is a major threat to the world around us. All the natural disasters recently? They are caused by climate change, also known as global warming. Furthermore, they are caused by human activities, which cause air pollution! Human activities release greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide(CO2), methane(CH4) and nitrous oxide(N2O). These cover up parts of the earth, causing sunlight to get trapped in the atmosphere. This warms the world up and causes major problems.

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Land pollution

Land pollution is also called littering. In the website, “ Britannica” they stated , “The waste materials that cause land pollution are broadly classified as municipal solid waste (MSW, also called municipal refuse), construction and demolition (C&D) waste or debris, and hazardous waste. MSW includes nonhazardous garbage, rubbish, and trash from homes, institutions (e.g., schools), commercial establishments, and industrial facilities. Garbage contains moist and decomposable (biodegradable) food wastes (e.g., meat and vegetable scraps); rubbish comprises mostly dry materials such as paper, glass, textiles, and plastic objects; and trash includes bulky waste materials and objects that are not collected routinely for disposal (e.g., discarded mattresses, appliances, pieces of furniture). C&D waste (or debris) includes wood and metal objects, wallboard, concrete rubble, asphalt, and other inert materials produced when structures are built, renovated, or demolished. Hazardous wastes include harmful and dangerous substances generated primarily as liquids but also as solids, sludges, or gasses by various chemical manufacturing companies, petroleum refineries, paper mills, smelters, machine shops, dry cleaners, automobile repair shops, and many other industries or commercial facilities. In addition to improper disposal of MSW, C&D waste, and hazardous waste, contaminated effluent from subsurface sewage disposal (e.g., from septic tanks) can also be a cause of land pollution.”  To prevent littering we can help clean up the park and put the trash where they can belong.

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Water pollution


You might have seen plastic in the water, which is very harmful to sea animals that swim in the area. In the website, “ Britannica” it states, “ Domestic sewage is the primary source of pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms) and putrescible organic substances. Because pathogens are excreted in feces, all sewage from cities and towns is likely to contain pathogens of some type, potentially presenting a direct threat to public health. Putrescible organic matter presents a different sort of threat to water quality. As organics are decomposed naturally in the sewage by bacteria and other microorganisms, the dissolved oxygen content of the water is depleted. This endangers the quality of lakes and streams, where high levels of oxygen are required for fish and other aquatic organisms to survive. In addition, domestic sewage commonly contains active pharmaceutical ingredients, which can harm aquatic organisms and may facilitate antibiotic resistance. Sewage-treatment processes reduce the levels of pathogens and organics in wastewater, but they do not eliminate them completely (see also wastewater treatment).” To prevent plastic from going in the oceans we can have a clean up team and don’t throw trash in the ocean. 

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In conclusion, what is the most important lesson you have learned on how to prevent littering? If there is anything you take out of this article, I hope you can put effort into cleaning and helping the your local community park (how about the Marie Curie Playground?)

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