Identity and Environment: Air Pollution in Waterford, CA (Essay Sample)

Identity and Environment: Air Pollution in Waterford, CA
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This paper presents an analysis of air pollution as one of the greatest environmental issues in Waterford, California. The paper shows that individual action is very valuable in environmental conservation. Air pollution is the release of solid air pollutants such as soot and harmful gases into the air. Waterford and other parts of Stanislaus County are affected by air pollution, which is rife in California. In California, thousands of people lose their lives every day because of respiratory diseases associated with air pollution.Air pollution is primarily caused by human activities and results to increased risk of respiratory diseases and cancer. Driving a diesel engine vehicle and burning wood in the fireplace are some of the personal activities that contribute to air pollution in Waterford and California in general. Personal action that reduces the release of harmful gases and particles to the environment is encouraged in an effort to reduce air pollution. Individuals can reduce air pollution by reducing driving, recycling materials, saving energy, and using gas and electricity instead of wood. The state of California has taken several strategic measures to improve air quality in the state and these include zero emission vehicles and use of low-sulfur diesel fuel.
Identity and Environment: Air Pollution in Waterford, CA
Waterford is one of the largest cities in Stanislaus County in the state of California. The city was established in 1857 as Bakersville but it was incorporated in 1969 and named ‘Waterford’. I spent much of my early life in Waterford, CA before joining the army and moving to Hampton, VA. Despite the fact that I still live in Hampton, Waterford has remained the city that I refer to a ‘hometown’. Like all other places, Waterford suffers from environmental problems that endanger the lives of its inhabitants. One of the greatest environmental problems in Waterford and the rest of California is air pollution. This problem is associated with an increased risk of respiratory diseases such as asthma and also an increased risk of developing cancer. Air pollution is an environmental problem which is created by human activities primarily in the transport and industrial manufacturing sectors (Hidy, Brook, & Demerjian, 2012). The problem can be solved at an individual level, regional level, national level and even at a global level. Each and every person has a role to play in efforts towards environmental conservation and the abatement of environmental degradation through pollution. Despite their wide negative impact, pollution and environmental problems result from environment-unfriendly human activities, and human action is required to solve these issues.
Across the globe, there has been a heightened focus on environmental conservation as a response to increasing degradation of the environment and the grave issue of global warming. The global warming effect of environmental degradation is caused by human activities that as land use and emission of ozone gases from the transport sector and the industrial sector (Jacobson, 2012). Global warming has adverse economic and social effects worldwide. Besides global warming, human activities in the environment increase the risk of diseases and make the earth a dangerous place for man to inhabit. For example, water and air pollution results from the release of harmful wasteinto water catchment areas and the air. The areas that have the highest levels of pollution in the world are associated with the highest risks of cancer and other diseases.
Waterford, my hometown is a city inhabited by not more than 10,000 inhabitants. The city’s history dates back to the 19th century, when the city was established and named Bakersville after one of the earliest and most influential inhabitants. The city was renamed after it was established that its name was being mistaken with Bakersfield, CA, and mail correspondence was henceforth affected. Waterford is located in a county that has hit news headlines in the past for the bad reason of pollution. Stanislaus County has historically had a carbon monoxide index and a particulate matter index higher than the average in the United States. The county, in which Waterford is found, also has a high diesel soot index, a high lead index and high ozone index (American Lung Association, 2011). The American Lung Association’s journal article on the air quality titled County air quality one of the worst in the nation explains that though the Stanislaus County has taken great strides towards achievement of a healthy air environment, there is more to be done. The American Lung Association (2011) further explains that the air pollution in the entire state of California claims not only lives but has adverse economic effects because it increases healthcare costs. The article reports that each year, air pollution in California results to 19,000 deaths, 9,400 hospital stays and above 300,000 cases respiratory illness such as bronchitis and asthma. The Valley Air organization, through news clippings on the air pollution in the Stanislaus County and the Valley area around Waterford, presents a longitudinal analysis of the extent of air pollution in the county. This analysis explains that in 2011, Stanislaus county was the 12th worst County in particle pollution out of 277 counties and was ranked 14th for ozone layer destruction throughsmog. The county has however made good progress towards reduction of air pollution as the average annual number of harmful days to the ozone has reduced from 43 in 1996 to 19.8 in 2011 (Grossi & Holland, 2011).Besides localized health effects in California, air pollution in the Stanislaus County is a contributing factor to global warming. Ozone gases released during various air polluting human activities destroy the ozone layer and increase global warming (Hidy, Brook, & Demerjian, 2012). The effects of global warming are felt worldwide through adverse weather events such as floods and hurricanes, adverse economic effects on tourism, and through elevated sea levels.
The air pollution that causes deaths, respiratory illnesses and missed working days in Waterford and the rest of Stanislaus County is as a result of human activities that if avoided, the environment would be much safer for human inhabitance. One of the greatest causes of air pollution in Waterford and the rest of California is emission of ozone gases from vehicles. Personally, I have driven through the streets of Waterford in a diesel engine vehicle. Diesel combustion in vehicles releases soot and carbon monoxide gases to the environment.Diesel engines also release lead to the environment and increase the particle index of the air. Particulate matter in air, including soot (carbon particles), lead particles and dust are associated with increased respiratory illnesses. Diesel soot is also associated with an increased risk of cancer. As a result of diesel soot emission from others who have driven diesel engine vehicles in Stanislaus, the diesel soot cancer risk in California is higher than the acceptable level. Another way through which I have contributed to polluting air in Waterford and California is through wood burning. Though electric fireplaces have been available for a while, there is a pleasure that comes from the crackling of real wood, and hence people have been using wood instead of electric fireplaces. Burning wood in a fireplace or even acharcoal grill releases carbon gases and carbon particles to the air as soot. Wood burning also increases environmental degradation because it creates market for wood and hence facilitates deforestation, which is a leading cause of global warming.
Cessation of the human activities that lead to air pollution can help reduce air pollution significantly. Through this call for action, the president of the American Lung Association outlines several practices that individuals can adopt to reduce air pollution in Stanislaus County and make the environment healthier for the population. Reduction in driving will reduce the emission of soot and ozone gases into the air. Reducing wood burning and using gas or electricity for grilling will have similar effects because particulate carbon matter will not be released to the environment. The use of energy-saving fluorescent bulbs instead of light bulbs will conserve electric power and reduce the amount of water used in hydroelectric power product and this will further improve environment conservation through forestation.
One of the measures that have been put in place to solve the environmental issue of air pollution is the development of legal structures to deal with the problem. Environment conservation in the United States is under the mandate of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), which is empowered to design and enforce strategies for attaining a healthier environment (Jacobson, 2012). The EPA has an Air Quality Planning Unit whose goal is to protect the American’s right to live in an environment with clean air. The EPA air quality unit operates under the guidance of the Clean Air Act, which requires states to develop plans for air cleaning. In each state, the air cleaning plan should include strategies for air quality improvement including reformulation of gasoline to remove pollutants, strict emission limits for industries and power plants, vehicle inspection and measures to reduce emission of ozone gases during vehicle refueling.The EPA provides oversight on the implementation of air quality improvement strategies in all states. The EPA receives great support from President Obama, whose primary presidential goals include the achievement of a healthie...