Air pollution brings to mind visions of smokestacks billowing black clouds into the sky, but this pollution comes in many forms and can have far reaching negative impacts on people’s health and ecosystems. Antonia will talk to us about the threats we face.
1.What can happen if people are exposed to pollutants?
The gases emitted by factories are very toxic and contribute to smog and acid rain. Short term exposure to air pollution can irritate the eyes, nose and throat and cause upper respiratory infections, headaches, nausea and allergic reactions. Long-term exposures can lead to chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, and heart disease. In Romania, in Copsa Mica, the place where the Sometra factory produced heavy metals, many of the people working there had to be treated for lead intoxication. 3400 hectares cannot be used for farming as they are highly poluted, and traces of lead and cadmium were also found in the nearby waters. The construction of a taller chimney only expanded the polluted area.
2.What if the water is polluted?
Clean freshwater is an essential ingredient for a healthy human life, but globally 1.1 billion people lack access to water and 2.4 billion don’t have adequate sanitation. If people keep throwing garbage in the waters and the water treatment plants do not function correctly, people will no longer be able to drink water from rivers and there will soon be water shortage.
3.Is there a danger of rivers drying up?
Yes. Some rivers are overused till they dry up and soon we might end up not having enough water flowing naturally. Every year thousands of hectares of water coverage evaporate from the Romanian map, as shown in the picture. At this rate, in less than 100 years half of Romania’s waters might disappear.
As we have seen, the effects of air and water pollution are drastic, but there is hope that the situation can be improved if the right measures are implemented and if people become more responsible in their relationship with the environment.
(Andrei Maris, Atonia Devian, Nicoleta Trusca, Alexandra Sauchea, Anca Stefania Corlaci, Patricia Mociar)
Read more on our activities on this topic here:
https://erasmusgoga.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/estonia-meeting-part-1-the-work/
Our town
Air and Water
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