Please note nameWritten by a 10-year old Goan 4th grade student
Our World that is Now a Dumpster
“We are living on this planet like we have another one to go to.” (Terri
Swearingen.)__________________SARAH FERNANDES
Everyone wishes the world to be clean, but how can it be kept it that way?
Taking care of the atmosphere is a big part of keeping the earth healthy.
People have been careless about polluting the planet, by throwing away too much
garbage. Humans thought that if they just threw junkyard scraps all over,
nobody would care, and the waste would disappear. Today, scientists know that
all the rubbish will decompose and release poisonous gases, which will pollute
the atmosphere. These gases which we breath, can cause fatal diseases. Now, so
many more humans are starting to care about the environment. Everyone used to
toss rubbish anywhere, because they thought it was not harmful. There are a few
myths about litter polluting the atmosphere. People believed that their trash
will disappear. Almost the whole world thought that it would go away into thin
air, but the big reason is, nobody cared. In reality, waste takes a very long
time to decompose. For example, a plastic bottle takes between 450 to 1000
years to break down. Actually, plastic never decomposes, it just keeps on
getting smaller and smaller, but it never goes away. (Postconsumers.com) The
first recycling can that was put into use was in 1904 in Chicago and Cleveland.
(Busch Systems Recycling Made Simple) The earth keeps producing more waste. For
example, in 2012 the earth created 288 million metric tons of trash. In the
year 2010, about 4.8 to 12.7 million metric tons of junk ended up in the
oceans. - CNNHumans are polluting the earth, which is destroying the whole
entire planet. “Water and air, the two essential elements on which life
depends, have become global garbage cans” (anonymous) Now it is known that,
this litter when decomposed releases poisonous gasses which can lower the
quality of the air we breathe.This can lead to many diseases like asthma which
lowers the quality of life. ( Yahoo Answers.) According to Ziv Lautman, the
author of a very good website called breezometer, “Air pollution is only a
concern in the summer.” (Ziv Lautman.) Ziv Lautman is the author of a
environmental friendly website called breezometer. Actually, it occurs year
around, coming from cars, factories, and dust. One misconception is, “Only
long-term exposure to particle pollution causes health problems.” (Ziv
Lautman.) Humans can experience health problems from exposure to particles
lasting from as long as one year to periods as short as one to twenty-four
hours. There is much evidence of pollution in our atmosphere. In the U.S,
air pollution causes as many as 50,000 deaths per year and costs as much as $40
billion a year in health care. It has been found that in Mumbai, India,
breathing the usual dirty air, is equivalent to smoking half a pack of
cigarettes a day. Half a pack of cigarettes is 10 - 13
cigarettes.http://www.worldwatch.org/air-pollution-now-threatening-health-worldwide
The ocean is also not free of contamination. The garbage dumped in the ocean
every year is roughly around 14 billion pounds. Plastic is the major
constituent. Pollution kills more than one million seabirds and 100 million
mammals every year, and all of this damage is from human actions. There are
multiple things that all nations can do to help the environment. One reason we
should make an effort, is that millions of people are getting fatal diseases.
Not only , but animals are also suffering because of the pollution. A lot of
garbage gets dumped into the ocean and animals think it is food.There is a lot
of trash that ends up in their bodies. Every one can sort all of their excess
rubbish into compost, recycling, and if necessary, junkyard scraps so the
landfill is minimized. Unfortunately, we do not, so we should start cleaning
and stop polluting the earth.
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save
it.”
Robert Swan the first person to walk both poles
