Pollution

The environmental issue has certainly been at the very top of the American agenda, I think, since the mid to late 60s. Public institutions have responded quite noticeably: there has been an outpouring of legislation by the Congress; during the last campaign Vice President Bush made the environment a major issue; the Congress is presently considering some basic revisions to the Clean Air Act; the global environmental issues have seized the attention of heads of state all over the world.

One of the major forms of pollution is air pollution. Air pollution is aggravated because of developments of: increasing traffic, grooving cities, rapid economic development, and industrialization. The Industrial Revolution in Europe in the 19th century saw the beginning of air pollution as we know today, which has gradually become a global problem.

The presence in the atmosphere of the major contaminants in such quality and such duration as is injurious, or tends to be injurious to human or welfare, animal life; it is the contamination of air by the discharge of harmful substances.

Air pollution can cause health problems and it can also damage the environment and property. It has caused thinning of the protective ozone layer of the atmosphere, which is leading to climate. Air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting the developing and the developed countries alike. Air pollutants that are inhaled have serious impact on human health affecting the lungs and the respiratory system; they are also taken up by the blood and pumped all round the body. These pollutants are also deposit on soil, plants, and in the water, further contributing to human exposure.

The land pollution is the second major problem in the earth pollution. The land pollution is described as the degradation of the Earth's land surface through misuse of the soil by poor agricultural practices, mineral exploitation, industrial waste dumping, and indiscriminate disposal of urban waste. It includes visible waste and litter as well as pollution of the soil itself. Examples of the land pollution are the soil pollution and waste disposal. The soil pollution is mainly due to chemical herbicides, like weed killers and pesticides (poisons which kill insects and other invertebrate pests). Litter is waste material dumped in public places such as streets, parks, picnic areas, at bus stops and near shops. On the other hand, waste disposal and its accumulation threaten the health of people in residential areas. Waste decays, encourages household pests and turns