When we
talk about pollution, we will normally point our fingers to human. Is pollution
always caused by human?
Generally, pollution
is defined as “the direct or indirect introduction by man into the environment
of substances, organism, genetic material or energy that cause or are likely to
cause hazard to human health, harm to living resources or to ecosystems, or
damage to amenities, or interfere with other legitimate uses of the environment” (Law of Malta,
2005) .
It is noticed that
different laws or resources have different definitions to pollution. Due to the
different in definitions, the substances or matters to be considered as
pollutants might be different.
For example, the Clean
Air Act defines “air pollutant” as “any air pollution agent or combination of
such agents, including any physical, chemical, biological, radioactive…substance
or matter which is emitted into or otherwise enters the ambient air. Such term
includes any precursors to the formation of any air pollutants…” The
classification of carbon dioxide as air pollutant has a strong debate because
it is the natural composition in atmosphere and it is a necessity to support
plants. Some argued that it causes global warming by trapping heat in the
atmosphere. Eventually, the Supreme Court of US decided that greenhouse gases
fit well within the CAA capacious definition of “air pollutant”. (MASSACHUSETTS, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. ENVIRON-
MENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ET AL. , 2007)
In fact,
pollution can be natural or anthropogenic (man-made). A simple example of natural air pollution is
the volcano eruption that releases smoke, ash, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide
and other pollutants. (Beychok, 2013) The projected 2010
anthropogenic CO2 emission rate of 35 gigatons per year is 135 times
greater than the 0.26 gigaton per year preferred estimate for volcanoes. (Gerlach, 2011)
Figure 1 Llaima Volcano erupting.
Source: (NASA)
Undeniably,
human is the main culprit that brings harm to the environment. We have our
basic needs to survive. We need food, clothes and shelter and we acquired these
from the environment. The method we extract these materials, the process to
turn materials to useful form (products), even when we use and dispose these products,
we are causing environmental pollution.
Figure 2 Input and output in product
lifecycle
Source: (Granta's Eco Audit
Methodology)
In Figure
2, it is noticed that the common by-products in the life cycle of product are
the harmful emissions. The inputs also associate with emissions by burning of
fossil fuel to get energy, manufacture and process of feed stock and drive the
vehicle. Although they are not obviously seen, they are also the contributors of harmful emission.
However,
does it mean that we should not have these products to fulfill our basic needs
in order to prevent any environmental pollution? If we need them to survive,
what should we do to minimize the impacts to the environment?
Figure 3 Example of environmental
impacts minimization
Source: (Reducing Waste Through
Promoting Product Ecodesign: A Discussion Paper)
Works Cited
MASSACHUSETTS, ET
AL., PETITIONERS v. ENVIRON- MENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ET AL. , No. 05-1120
(SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES April 2, 2007).
Beychok, M. (26 April, 2013). Anthropogenic and
natural air pollution emissions. Retrieved 17 August, 2014, from The
Encyclopedia Of Earth: http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/169979/
Gerlach, T. (2011).
Volcanic Versus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide. United States: AMERICAN
GEOPHYSICAL UNION.
Granta's Eco Audit Methodology. (n.d.). Retrieved 17 August, 2014, from Granta
Material Intelligence: http://www.grantadesign.com/eco/audit.htm
Law of Malta.
(2005, December 30). CHAPTER 435 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT. Retrieved
August 17, 2014, from
https://www.google.com.sg/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CBsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvafd.gov.mt%2Ffile.aspx%3Ff%3D814&ei=HE3wU4PBO4zo8AWum4CoDw&usg=AFQjCNH7zjaKRDIjEc68iOe2WeSLyzxQZQ&sig2=P-SX71ZwJNfeDaKphXI7NA&bvm=bv.73231344
NASA. (n.d.). Climate
Forcings and Global Warming. Retrieved August 19, 2014, from Earth
Observatory: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/EnergyBalance/page7.php
Reducing Waste
Through Promoting Product Ecodesign: A Discussion Paper. (n.d.). Retrieved
August 19, 2014, from The Scottich Government:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/08/18161245/7
Hi Mei Yee, indeed human is the main cause of pollution because we have to meet our needs. Almost every materials we use will cause a negative impact to the environment during the process of extraction to disposal. However, I think it might be because of our greed that result in further harm to the environment as we will tend to take things for granted and use more than what we need. Also, it might be because of our ignorance that result in all the unnecessary pollution. If we know the process when we use the product and the impact of the environment, we will try to minimize using them.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for your comment!
DeleteI agree with you that human greed and ignorance have caused the pollution. The idea of environmental impact of the products from cradle to grave is hardly reached to the people, because it is unseen (e.g. production and disposal stage) to the consumers.
It is noted that the first key idea of 3R is reduce, which is to deal with the "source" to subsequent environmental impacts.