Wanna swim in garbage?

Did you know that human landfills take up 160,000 acres of land? They are 400 feet deep. Is this really what we want to waste all of our land on?

 Toxic chemicals ruin the environment by emitting pollutants into the air and the trash and waste that is spread across the globe. For example, Puente Hills Landfill is the biggest landfill and stretches 500 feet high and covers 700 acres of land. When old food waste and biomaterial break into particles, they release methane, which is a greenhouse gas that is extremely potent into hurting the climate. In 2016 factories around the world emitted 15.1 trillion tons of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. In 2013, transportation contributed more than half of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, and nearly a quarter of the hydrocarbons emitted into our air.

Water Quality in local rivers, lakes, and oceans are unsafe to swim in. In lakes, it takes more money to refine the water for safe human consumption because the pollutants in the water are from non-point sources (meaning we don’t know the source of the waste). The discharge of untreated waste, dumping of industrial effluent, and run-off from agricultural fields is the main source of freshwater pollution. In 2016 factories emitted 15.1 trillion tons of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. In addition, unsafe water kills more people each year than war and all other forms of violence combined, yet no one cares nor put forth an effort to fix it.  

Since many animal populations are on the path to extinction, and all species balance out another species overpopulation will mess up the way everything lives. Climate change affects their habitats. The population of polar bears is nearly extinct because of the ice caps melting due to climate change. This is significant because they are at the top of the food chain so they if they go extinct, all the substances they eat will have larger populations and become overpopulated and cause more problems. The thicker the blanket, the warmer our planet becomes. At the same time, the Earth’s oceans absorbed parts of this extra carbon dioxide, making them more acidic and less hospitable for sea life. Many places experienced record droughts followed by intense rainfalls because heat waves have become more frequent.

People need to use precise products yet parts of the world don’t have the technology to have clean and recyclable waste. Since this is a major problem in poorer countries, more developed countries should take a step forward and commit to helping other countries to get rid of the waste. In addition, we can create organizations to raise money to supply less developed countries with what they need to fix the pollution problems.

To conclude, everyone is aware of the pollution and environmental problems we have, yet no one really cares to make a change. Instead, people turn the other cheek when it comes to pollution and expect someone else to do the dirty work, and this is why there is no change. Something needs to be done sooner than later or else you might swim with oil and plastics next time you go for a dip in the lake.