Filthy Habits Affecting Tomorrow’s Generation

The negligence today’s population shows towards pollution is already having a substantial effect on the planet, and will have an even more immense effect on the future generations. Releasing toxic substances into the air, land, and water should worry everyone, the effects that this could have on the planet and community are surely harmful, and in extreme cases, lethal. Pollution is usually regarded as a negative subject, yet what many people do not consider is that there are positive influences also associated with pollution. What is said to be killing the planet and its’ people, could alternatively be saving it; influencing profound research. The result of the current population’s vulgar habits of polluting the earth will without a doubt affect the future of humankind, whether it will have balance between positively or negatively is the main concern.

Alternatively to what many people believe, pollution has the potential to influence a considerable amount of scientific research and discoveries in the future. The Government of Canada had posted on their website that they recommend further future research in the field of pollution and pollutants (1), showing that this is obviously something that is ongoing and probably will be for a while. Due to air pollution causing many health issues with with most recent generations, it is likely that more sickness will arise as a result of rising pollution levels. This will lead to medical research, helping to progress medicine as a whole by discovering different types of maladies and medications, as well as improving the world’s knowledge of disease and illness. By currently not taking care of the planet, today’s citizens are doubtlessly yet unknowingly helping the forthcoming scientists with many scientific breakthroughs.

On the contrary, pollution has been an escalating issue for the world, known to be the cause of disease and sickness, as well as expected to be the cause of lowered food supplies and decreased biodiversity. Studies performed by places such as the U.S. National Institute of Health (2), World Health Organization (3), and many others show that air pollution has been causing many health issues in people such as cancer, heart and lung problems, reduced energy levels, eye, nose, mouth and throat irritation, immune and endocrine systems not working properly, and premature death, just to name a few. Alongside health issues in people, all types of pollution have been known to kill countless types of plant and animal species around the world. The Environmental Protection Agency has predicted that 1 and 11% of all marine life on Earth has succumbed to extinction each year between 1975 and 2015 (4), due to water pollution. Health issues are not even the biggest concern surrounding pollution, another worry is that soil pollution is causing infertile land, therefore reducing the food supply available in the world, making it even more difficult to survive in the contaminated planet humankind inhabits.

Global warming has been an ongoing affair, especially recently with the past few years being some of the hottest years ever recorded. There is a debate going on in the world currently as to if pollution is contributing to global warming, or fighting against it. Commonly preached to the communities around the world, many people state pollution is causing global warming, and hand in hand they are destroying the ozone layer. Yet, a recent study by Cornell University showed that the pollutants in the air that are harmful to humans’ health are actually helping to cool down the atmosphere and by doing so, slowing down global warming. If the future generations are influenced to execute medicinal research based on the pollution that today’s people carelessly left for them to deal with, it is possible that they would be able to reverse the effects that these air pollutants have on people’s bodies, and help to stop global warming all together (5). Another possibility is of course that the effects of pollution are irreversible, and the mortality rate caused by pollution could rise drastically in the next hundred years or so. The World Health Organization has stated that according to their research, the temperature of the Earth has risen 0.85 degrees Celsius in the past 130 years (6), leading to the glaciers melting, sea levels rising, which contributes to more regularly occurring intense natural catastrophes, as well as cardiovascular and lung diseases.

The future inhabitants of the earth will realise early on in their course that the pollution they are tolerating, provided to them by today’s generation, has caused a huge impact on their lives and future. Due to the inattentiveness of the present day population, their future children and grandchildren will be affected in many ways, both positively and negatively. The modern day public seemingly does not care about the future generations’ fate, as they deem pollution unimportant. When the time comes that it may destroy many types of life, they will no longer be alive to have to deal with it. Pollution that present day society has caused may influence many breakthroughs in the future of science and research, although the permanent damage caused by pollution is already done by today’s citizens and their negligence, leading their future families to an uphill battle for a healthy life.

(1) Ec.gc.ca. (2017). Environment and Climate Change Canada - Air - Canadian Smog Science Assessment Highlights and Key Messages. [online] Available at: https://www.ec.gc.ca/air/default.asp?lang=En&n=72F82C27-1&offset=10&toc=show [Accessed 13 Apr. 2017].

(2) Niehs.nih.gov. (2017). Air Pollution. [online] Available at: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/air-pollution/ [Accessed 15 Apr. 2017].

(3) Who.int. (2017). WHO | 7 million premature deaths annually linked to air pollution. [online] Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/ [Accessed 16 Apr. 2017].

(4) Pollutionsolutions-online.com. (2017). What Would Happen if Pollution Doesn’t Stop? Pollution Solutions Online. [online] Available at: https://www.pollutionsolutions-online.com/news/air-clean-up/16/breaking-news/what-would-happen-if-pollution-doesnrsquot-stop/34329 [Accessed 13 Apr. 2017].

(5) Harris, R. (2017). Air Pollution: Bad For Health, But Good For Planet?. [online] NPR.org. Available at: http://www.npr.org/2011/11/11/142218650/air-pollution-bad-for-health-but-good-for-planet [Accessed 14 Apr. 2017].

(6) World Health Organization. (2017). Climate change and health. [online] Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs266/en/ [Accessed 16 Apr. 2017].