Protecting our Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Protecting our Environment - Essay Example Global warming and climate changes are the major outcomes of injudicious human activities. It is believed that sustainment of life in this world may become extremely difficult in near future itself if effective measures were not taken to counter environmental problems. Even though the size of the earth remains the same, global population is growing at alarming rates so that it may become extremely difficult for our earth to accommodate or cater the needs of all the people. As each individual contributes heavily to environmental problems, growth of population means growth of environmental problems also. In other words, population growth is directly proportional to environmental problems. As the world population grows, so does hazardous waste, toxic materials polluting our environment and affecting our eco-system. There should be a coordination effort by governments around the world to control pollution affecting our environment in order for human survival for future generations. Water pollution and preventive measures United States has many federal and state laws that have enacted to protect our water system and help regulate the amount of pollutants that affects our water. However, the implementation of these laws are not much effective so that American water sources are getting polluted more and more as time goes on. For example, Colorado River seems to be one of the major victims of environmental pollution in western American region. More than 30 million people use Colorado River as their major drinking water source. However, Colorado River is dying gradually because of environmental problems. â€Å"If climate change results in a 10 percent reduction in the Colorado River's average stream flow as some recent studies predict, the chances of fully depleting reservoir storage will exceed 25 percent by 2057, according to the study† (Future Of Western U.S. Water Supply Threatened By Climate Change, 2010) Irrigation projects are helping agricultural farming in America. However, water drained o ut of the agricultural lands may contain toxic ingredients because of the increased usages of fertilizers, chemicals and pesticides to improve the agricultural yields. Selenium seems to be the major harmful chemical content in irrigated water drained out of the agricultural lands. â€Å"When selenium uptake is too high health effects will be likely to come about. The health effects of various forms of selenium can vary from brittle hair and deformed nails, to rashes, heat, swelling of the skin and severe pains† (Selenium – Se, 2009). The Environmental Protection Agency, have supported and helped enforcement of water laws in our country and have introduced many laws concerning safe drinking water. The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Contr ol Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the Act's common name with amendments in 1977. Under the CWA, EPA has implemented pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. CWA act was formulated for the purpose of preventing all types of