Top Risks to the Environment

Environmental pollution is a concern for many people in the United States, but what is it? There are many different types of environmental pollution with a number of causes. Environmental pollution encompasses any negative change to an eco-system. Part of finding solutions to a problem is identifying the major source of the problem and analyzing it. There are a number of groups who advocate for positive ecofriendly changes in many different capacities. Whether you are a private citizen looking for ways to help, a public official collaborating on a new legislation, or a business owner who wants to ensure they are complying with regulations, educating yourself on the most common causes of environmental pollution is an important step toward eradicating the problem. These are the top risks to the environment.

Energy is an important part of everyday life in our modern society and as new technologies are developed the amount of energy needed to power our lives continues to increase. In the past coal and fossil fuels have dominated the markets as the most used sources for energy. The negative impact these energy sources have had on our environment combined with the fact that these are not renewable forms of energy have created a new push for developments in new types of energy. Burning coal and fossil fuels creates a number of air pollutants that can be very dangerous in large quantities.

Another major environmental concern is waste. In the United States and many other countries around the world, consumerism is at an all-time high. We live in a world where our food comes in bags inside boxes that we bring home from the store in another bag. What happens to all of that trash when the food is gone? Beyond consumer items, corporate waste from offices, manufacturing, and other businesses grows every day. What to do with all of this waste is a major concern. Many countries have tried deal with waste problems by imposing regulations on corporations and citizens to help with the disposal of waste. No living thing on earth can survive without water and humans require water every day to sustain a healthy life.

For many people all over the world, clean water is very difficult to come by, and even developed countries are experiencing problems with contaminated drinking water. Conserving clean water is important. One of the biggest problems in the United States drinking water is the threat of an intentional or unintentional release of pollutants into ground water. The government in the US has passed legislation and monitors ground water through an agency called the EPA.

Closely associated with the waste problem, is a consumption problem. How many cell phones or other tech items have you bought in the last five years? How many of them are you still using? In the United States we use things for a short time and then replace them with a newer, better version. We are currently using up natural resources at a rate that cannot be sustained forever. Developing new plans for private citizens and industry to learn to reuse and recycle instead of just consuming new things is very important if we are going to move toward a more sustainable life style.


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Written by L. Reaves for Beacon Hill Associates, Inc., found at http://www.b-h-a.com - an environmental insurance broker and program administrator focusing on specialty insurance related to the environment and pollution.


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