The Supreme Court case and the petition from the East Coast states underscores one clear fact: air pollution regulations, including for climate change, boil down to the problem of coal. Coal is by far the most polluting form of power generation used in the U.S. and Midwestern and Appalachian states depend disproportionately on coal power.
The throwaway consumer culture in the United States is a far bigger contributor to ocean plastic pollution, which has become so pervasive that plastic is expected to outweigh all the fish in the oceans. A new study finds coastal waters and water supplies along a fifth of U.S. coasts are vulnerable to pollution from hidden underground water transfers between oceans and land (study by NASA maps hidden water pollution in U.S. coastal areas).
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment into the atmosphere. Ever since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, America has had much trouble with environmental issues, air pollution in particular.
Animal manure, excess fertilizer applied to crops and fields, and soil erosion make agriculture one of the largest sources of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the country. Other sources include stormwater, wastewater, fossil fuels, fertilizers for home use, and yard and pet waste. A better waste management system is needed.
Pollution off United States East Coast in increasing. Great swirls of pollution cover the northeastern United States and parts of Canada in a true-color Terra MODIS image. While clouds in this image appear solidly white, the pollution is a murky, semi-transparent gray that makes indistinct the image’s geographic and aquatic areas.
Dredging of east coast ports are under way because of the New Panama Canal expansion and the expectation of larger container ships. The Jasper Ocean Terminal is a planned container terminal to be built on the Savannah River upriver from Savannah, GA that is expected to begin operations in the mid 2020s.
And it’s not just the east coast of Florida that is affected. Big Sugar has always relied on the geographic separation of the Gulf from the Atlantic to keep voters divided. Through social media, the rampant abuse by polluters is linking outraged citizens the west coast with their counterparts on the east coast.
Water pollution has become a health hazard in the U.S. and waterborne bacterial illnesses have become a constant danger. There are many factors that contribute to water pollution. Animals, humans, illegal dumping off the coast, people leaving their garbage on the beach, and cigarettes littering the sand are just a few.
Furthermore scientists have found a record amount of microplastic particles trapped in Arctic sea ice — as much as 12,000 pieces per liter of ice. The level of plastic pollution, measured in core samples taken at five different regions in the Arctic in 2014 and 2015, measured three times higher than previous studies.
Most of the plastics are found in the North Atlantic garbage patch that foams within the North Atlantic Gyre. The North Atlantic is sandwiched between Western Europe, West Africa, the east coast of the United States, and Northeast South America. These zones are contributing significantly to the pollution of the oceans.