Environmental Issues
During the Industrial Revolution and Now
History of Environmental Issues- What is it? When did they occur?
The environmental issues in Great Britain are just that- issues with the environment. There were poor living conditions, poor and contaminated water supply, and pollution everywhere- in the water, air, and on land. The factories create pollution when burning coal, dumping waste and chemicals into the street and water, and the trash that was thrown anywhere. Along with those, there was a great amount of land lost so they could create more housing units, houses, shops, ships, factories, etc... as well as a great deal of trees cut down to supply the cities wants and needs. It also lead to a depletion of various other natural resources and fossil fuels like coal and iron ore, which will permanently damage the earth and environments. With deforestation also came with the loss of wild life. Also due to deforestation the amount of carbon dioxide went up dramatically. This is also a cause of global warming, which still effects us today. Another issue would be that more animals are becoming endangered and even extinct because of it. The glaciers are also melting due to global warming, which causes the ocean and sea levels to rise, and makes the endangerment and extinction even worse for the land animals. This has started around the 1780's.
How does it Impact people...
Economically? The environmental issues impacted Great Britain economically because there was less trade to offer in fur, fish, animals, etc... due to the pollution, deforestation and global warming. It effected farmers because some of issues had killed off livestock and crops, which farmers had spent a lot of money on. This impacts them economically because the prices had to go up for the surviving livestock and crops so the farmers could make at least some money off of their loss.
Politically? They hadn't worried about the environmental issues, they had only worried about production and money. Eventually though, in 1863, they had passed a regulation about the pollution- specifically about the air.
Socially? Many other countries started to mass produce, which caused more pollution and worsened the environmental issues that were already occurring.
How does it impact the world during the Industrial Revolution?
The environmental issues effected the world during the Industrial Revolution by increasing pollution and decreasing the status and sustainability of the habitats and environments around. It was very unsanitary, which had lead to an easier and faster spread of disease and illness from person to person, city to city, and even country to country. If you look at the Bubonic Plague as an example, the country had fallen into an era of darkness and destruction, which could eventually lead to the country to cease, though it didn't happen with this example of a disease. It decreased the population, which meant less workers, then lead to less production, and the decrease in the nations money. This also could have meant less food if/when farmers died. There was also a decrease of natural resources and fossil fuels. The pollution was horrible, waters filled with oil, chemicals, and trash, streets filled with trash, bodies and waste, and the air filled with smog, smoke, and fumes. In reality, humanity should have ceased within this time period due to the spread of disease and the instability of the environments and habitats in which we've been placed, but had managed a break through in medical science.
How do we see this still impacting us today?
The environmental issues still impact us today because there is even more pollution, layers of the atmosphere are growing thinner, water is polluted with oil and chemicals, trash is everywhere around us on land and even in the water. There is a great amount of deforestation, which may eventually lead to not having trees at all in the future. Fossil fuels are running lower and lower, which may also lead to not having them at all in the future. If we don't learn to clean this up and try to restore it, learn to live without using sources that don't pollute so much, and learn to sustain off the land as it is, humanity and the world around us may even cease to exist...
Amber Loose