How have European actions changed the natural environment of Europe?
Air Pollution
Source: Marsh, C. (2012). Student Workbook. (pp. 105-106). Peachtree City, GA: Gallopade International.
Air pollution is a concern in the United Kingdom (UK). In the past, it was caused mainly by emissions from factories or from homes burning coal for heat. The pollution mixed with the fog that occurs frequently in the UK. The resulting smog hovered over cities, leading to 4,000 deaths in the Great London Smog of 1952.
Today, the UK’s air pollution is mainly caused by emissions from cars and trucks and from ozone. Pollutants from cars include carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides. They hover close to the ground, contaminating the air people breathe. Ozone adds to the problem, forming when air pollutants mix and react with sunlight to from smog. Air pollution can lead to many health problems.
The UK has been working hard to reduce air pollution since the Great London Smog occurred. The government has tightened emissions standards for vehicles, endorsed the use of cleaner fuels, and urged citizens to use public transportation like buses and subway systems.
How have European actions changed the natural environment of Europe?
Background Essay 2: Air Pollution
Source: Mullins, E. (2009). CRCT test prep. (p. 115). Atlanta, GA: Clairmont Press.
London, the capital of the United Kingdom, is famous for air pollution. In fact, the word smog was first used in 1905 to describe the air in London. Smog is air pollution caused by sunlight acting on the gases from automobile and factory exhausts. It sometimes hangs over cities in the United Kingdom. Thick London smog happens when water in the air mixes with smoke particles from a coal fire. In the Great Smog of 1952, the smog was so dense that, for four days, the people in London could not see what was in front of them. Transportation slowed, crime increased, and thousands of people died from the pollution. People around the world suddenly were frightened. They began to worry about the quality of the air they were breathing in.
The United Kingdom’s major natural resources are oil, natural gas and coal. Much of the United Kingdom’s manufacturing uses these resources. The Industrial Revolution began around the coalfields where fuel was cheap and available. Many people in the United Kingdom work in these coalfields. Today, coal from these fields still fuels the country’s power plants. It also burns in fireplaces and stoves in many homes. Use of coal is decreasing. However, that means fewer jobs for workers in coal mining.
In the past, the major source of air pollution was smoke and sulfur dioxide from burning coal or other fossil fuels. Today, exhaust from gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles is the major problem. Asthma and pneumonia are linked to vehicle emissions. This makes people concerned about air pollution and heath. It burns the lungs, nose, and eyes and endangers human life. High air pollution keeps children and senior citizens indoors. Air pollution also blackens buildings and threatens wildlife.
As far back as the 1300s, Kind Edward I tried to solve the problem by banning coal fires. After the Great Smog, the government created smokeless zones in London where only smokeless fuels could be used. Cleaner coals, increased use of electricity, and use of gas have reduced air pollution. Today the government sets limits for industry. Laws have forced automakers to build vehicles that produce less harmful exhaust. The government regularly checks air quality. It asks citizens to drive less and use cleaner forms of energy.
Londoners no longer experience the blackout smog of the 1950s. Air quality has improved. However, the United Kingdom still ranks in the top ten in the world in harmful industrial emissions. Air pollution in the United Kingdom continues to cause acid rain in many countries in Western Europe.
Air Pollution Background Essay Questions
1. What pollution problem is the UK facing?
2. What is causing this problem?
3. Why should humans care about the effects of air pollution?
4. What other ways can the government can help?
Document A – Air Pollution
Source: Twomey, D. (2013, March 13). Air pollution puts UK in dock, EU in the red. Eco News. Retrieved from http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/air-pollution-puts-uk-in-dock-eu-in-the-red/
Document “A” - Air Pollution Analysis:
1. Describe what you see the picture?
2. What message do you think the photographer was trying to get across with this photograph?
3. Create a caption for this image.
4. How could this photo be used to record history? What information does it provide?
Document B – Air Pollution
Source: Hudson-Smith, A. (2006). London air pollution in 3d [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-pWWj6szNs&feature=youtu.be
Watch the video using the following link: http://youtu.be/P-pWWj6szNs
Document “B” – Air Pollution Analysis:
1. What are the yellow/red lines?
2. Why do you think those areas have more pollution?
3. There appears to be several large red spots showing increased pollution. What do you think those are?
4. Why would those areas have the most pollution?
5. How can the government use the information in this video to improve air quality in London?
Document C – Air Pollution
Source: Vidal, J. (2010, June 25). London air pollution 'worst in europe'. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/25/london-air-pollution-europe
London air pollution 'worst in Europe'
Britain faces court cases and unlimited fines after dangerous levels of minute particles breach EU levels
The City of London has been found to be one of the most polluted places in Europe after monitoring equipment recorded dangerous levels of minute particles for the 36th time this year. Under EU rules, Britain is allowed no more than 35 "bad air" days in the whole year, and now faces court cases and unlimited fines by Europe.
The breaching of the EU levels after just six months will embarrass the government, which was sent a final warning only three weeks ago from the European commission to improve air quality. Many other places in central London are close to the limit and can be expected to break the law within weeks.
The government has applied to Europe for a time extension until 2011 to comply with daily particulate pollution from traffic, but is not certain to be granted it because it has been flouting EU air quality laws since 2005 and is perceived by the environment commissioner Janez Potočnik to have done little to address the problem.
"Air pollution is bad for our health. It reduces human life expectancy by more than eight months on average and by more than two years in the most polluted cities and regions," he said.
The London Liberal Democrat MEP Sarah Ludford said: "This latest breach is yet another wake-up call for the mayor of London and the government. Research has shown that airborne pollution in London could be responsible for up to thousands of premature deaths a year: this is an invisible public health emergency."
Poor air quality is now considered one of the biggest public health issues now facing the UK. A recent report by the House of Commons environmental audit committee included evidence that air pollution could be contributing to 50,000 deaths in the UK a year. A study (pdf) commissioned by Boris Johnson, mayor of London, calculated that more than 4,300 deaths are caused by poor air quality in the city every year, costing around £2bn a year.
Simon Birkett, founder of the Campaign for Clean Air in London, said: "With the first of many London sites breaching the legal limit before the end of June, it is blindingly obvious now why the European commission sent the UK a second and final written warning for breaching these same legal standards, every year since 2005 in London, less than a month ago".
Jenny Bates, London campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: "Boris Johnson must abandon plans that will make the situation worse, such as scrapping the western extension to the congestion charge, pursuing more river crossings for vehicles and supporting a 50% increase in flights from City airport. This means taking strong action himself, rather than relying on uncommitted government measures to do the job."
A spokesperson for Johnson said: "This is one of several central London locations which will receive a targeted package of measures to tackle pollution, for example applying dust suppressants to road surfaces and deploying the cleanest buses into these areas. Other initiatives include proposed age limits for taxis, converting the bus fleet to hybrid and investing record levels into cycling.
"We are also proposing to include the dirtiest lorries and vans in the London low emission zone by early January 2012. The new bus for London will be 40% less polluting than traditional diesel and we are spending millions to support the mainstream use of zero-polluting electric vehicles."
A Defra spokesman said: "The mayor and London boroughs are responsible for local air quality in London. The mayor has published a draft air quality strategy which includes specific measures to reduce PM10 and NO2 pollution.
"We are confident that PM10 limits will be met in London by the 2011 deadline and the government has submitted evidence to the European commission to demonstrate this."
Document “C” – Air Pollution Analysis:
1. Why is Britain facing fines from the European Union (EU)?
2. Explain how London’s high levels of air pollution are a public health emergency?
3. Why does the author think that Britain will not receive a time extension?
4. What are some of the steps the government can make to help the air pollution problem?
5. Would London’s air pollution problem prevent you from visiting the area as a tourist? Why or why not?
6. If you were a member of the British Parliament, what suggestions would you make to help solve the air pollution problem in London?
Document D - Air Pollution: Political Cartoon
Source: Baldwin, M. (Photographer). Asthma Cartoon 3 [Web Drawing]. Retrieved from http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/a/asthma.asp
Document “D” – Air Pollution Analysis:
1. What people and objects are shown? ·
2. What's happening in the cartoon? ·
3. What issue do you think this cartoon is about? ·
4. What do you think the cartoonist's opinion on this issue is?
Document E: Deforestation: National Geographic
Modern-Day Plague
Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year.
The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.
Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to people’s need to provide for their families.The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. Often many small farmers will each clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them in a process known as “slash and burn” agriculture.
Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also cut countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl.
Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and subsequent overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.
Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes.
Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts.
Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and holds in heat at night. This disruption leads to more extreme temperatures swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.
Trees also play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming. Fewer forests means larger amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere—and increased speed and severity of global warming.
The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees. Though deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities make this unlikely to occur.
A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating clear-cutting to make sure that forest environments remain intact. The cutting that does occur should be balanced by the planting of enough young trees to replace the older ones felled in any given forest. The number of new tree plantations is growing each year, but their total still equals a tiny fraction of the Earth’s forested land.
1. What are the dangers of deforestation?
2. In what ways is deforestation unintentional? Explain how this happens?
3. In what ways can people solve the deforestation crisis?
Document F: Recycling
1. What has the most recycling in Europe?
2. What two countries have the same amount of recycling?
3. What European countries have the least amount of recycling
Climate change
Source 1:
“Many factors, such as the sun, the Earth's orbit, and sometimes even volcanic eruptions, can affect the Earth's climate.
The sun: Since the 1970s, the sun has been cooling slightly. Over this same time period, the Earth has gotten warmer. Most of the warming has occurred in the lower atmosphere near the Earth's surface.
The Earth’s tilt: The way the Earth tilts on its axis and the way it circles the sun can influence the amount of the sun's energy that reaches the planet. As a result, changes in the Earth's orbit can cause the climate to change, but these changes happen very slowly, over tens to hundreds of thousands of years.
Volcanoes: When volcanoes erupt, they release dust, ash, and other particles called aerosols. Some volcanic explosions are so strong that they throw these aerosols high enough into the atmosphere that they block some sunlight from reaching the Earth.
1. What are the three potential causes of climate change listed above?