Pollution Is Not a New

¶ … pollution is not a new issue in the natural history of the earth, since the 18th century and the advent of the Industrial Revolution, more and more carbon and toxic properties have been released into Earth's atmosphere. Combining earth's natural geologic functions (volcanos, dust storms, etc.) with the rapid growth of the human population, industry, urban areas and most especially automobiles, many scientists believe there has been a gradual increase in the earth's median temperatures for both the air (climate) and ocean temperature. This is controversial because from a geological scale, 100-200 years of measurement may not be indicative of major changes, but minor fluctuations. Similarly, we have only been measuring temperature in a way that is meaningful for 60-75 years. Still, the data does show that after the 1950s, the combined effects of greenhouse gases from industry and automobiles began to warm the earth, with results ranging from weather anomalies to melting ice caps and climate change in certain parts of the world (Climate Change Science, 2001).

II. Thesis -- While scientifically controversial, the rapid industrialization and modernization of the global community appears to have an effect on the rising median land and sea temperatures on Earth. This has resulted in serious ecological issues in almost every place on the globe and, if not corrected, may change the natural history of our planet.

III. Major Points

A. Natural contaminants have been released into the Earth's atmosphere, water and soil and have had a detrimental effect. Human impact has also been negative, with history showing us that many civilizations decimated their forests, dumped toxic chemicals into the soil or water, and made certain areas uninhabitable or unfit for agriculture (Markham, 1994).

B. Since the Industrial Revolution, though, various problems associated with human excess waste and toxic chemicals have contributed to a phenomenon known as global warming. Because the earth's eco-system is in such balance, effects in one area or region also affect others. Warming oceans, for instance, affect the melting of glacial ice, which in turn has an effect on weather patterns. Similarly, temperature fluctuations on land and sea affect agriculture, what certain species eat, and even available potable water (Levin, 2011).

C. Global warming, rampant pollution, and unchecked carbon emissions into the atmosphere are so serious that, in theory, they could negatively impact earth's entire ecology. If we think of the earth as an organism, with the great forests as the lungs, the river systems as veins, the oceans as kidneys, etc., it is easy to see that any solution must be long-term and be formed in a manner that takes into consideration the inter-relationships between climate zones and regions, irrespective of political boundaries (Kimball, 2008).