Las Vegas Nevada: Air Pollution (Essay Sample)

Las Vegas Nevada: Air Pollution
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Las Vegas Nevada: Air Pollution
The American Lung Association ranked Las Vegas as the 16th worst city in valley smog levels in the United States. However the community has recorded an improvement in the other forms of air pollution as noted by the American Lung Cancer Association. The report had it that the air quality in Las Vegas is cleaner then the way it was 14 years ago when the association started writing reports on air quality. It was also noted in the report that despite the low marks for the ozone, the community is consistent with the U.S Environmental Protection Agency Health standards CITATION Ame15 \l 1033 ( American Lung Association, 2015). Despite the performance of the Las Vegas in maintaining and controlling the level of air pollution, still the problem of air pollution remains a serious environmental problem not only in Las Vegas but in the United States at large. There is need to come up with sustainable environmental friendly and cost effective strategies to control air pollution for a healthy environment.
Strategies for Promoting Positive Environmental Behaviour
Policy makers and environmental managers have come up with a series of regulations on the management of the environment. They have implemented various strategies of discouraging pollution but with very little success CITATION Wil09 \l 1033 (Willuweit, 2009). Private cars among are among other major sources of air pollution in Las Vegas. The car exhaust pipes release a lot of gases to the environment which affect the ozone layer and consequently increasing the level of air pollution and chances of unhealthy living among the residents. Ajzen (1991) came up with the theory of planned behavior which has been frequently used by social psychologist in prediction environmental behavior of individuals. The theory of planed behavior focuses on the outcome of an action and its benefits. This theory can be applied in managing the environment effectively and encouraging positive environmental behavior. Statistics around the world indicate that there is an increase in the number of private cars as compared to the number of public transport vehicles. In order to discourage the purchase and use of the private cars there should be regulations such free parking for bicycles within Nevada. For instance increasing the price of fuel for private cars and decreasing the price of bicycles can encourage people to purchase bicycles. In addition to saving the environment it’s also health wise recommended to use bicycles as it can help burn body calories encouraging healthy living. Reducing fare for public transport vehicles and also increasing price for imported cars can encourage people to adopt behavior of using public transport systems. This in return will help reduce air pollution in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Environmental campaigns and education programs can help promote positive environmental behavior among people in Las Vegas. Education programs have proven to be the most resourceful means of passing information to the public about the negative effects of environmental pollution. People who pollute the air do not realize how much they are contributing to the air pollution as what they may be producing is very minimal CITATION Mon03 \l 1033 (Monroe, 2003). When presented with the right statistics on the amount of air pollution that they are producing and how negatively the pollution affects their health, then they can easily understand the need to protect the environment from air pollution. These educational programs and environmental management campaigns can be prepared and delivered either in institutions or in public places where people can learn. To comprehensively achieve free air pollution community there is need to evaluate on the effectiveness of such education programs. They should also be carried out continuously.
How Positive and Negative Consequences Can Increase Pro-Environmental Behaviour
One of the positive advantages of pro-environmental behaviors is that it encourages savings. The pro-environmental behaviors encourage waste recycling as one of the strategies of decreasing release of waste to the environment CITATION Wil09 \l 1033 (Willuweit, 2009). Recycling and res-use of plastic and water minimizes the costs of water and the costs of purchasing new plastics. When plastics are disposed of to the environmental or when they are burnt produce toxic gases which are harmful to human beings. In addition to saving on cost it also encourages an environment free from diseases that result out of polluted air. Some of these diseases are fatal to human beings. For instance, lung cancer is classified among the killer diseases in the United States. Therefore when recycling it shall be saving human life and consequently reducing the costs that can be incurred in the treatment of such diseases. In overall, managing environmental pollution encourages a healthy life among the residents of Las Vegas.
There are several negative effects of air pollution that can stimulate pro-environmental behavior. One of them is the effect of acid rain. Acid rain is formed when the polluted air particles condense with the clouds resulting to the formation of acidic rain. When the acidic rain falls it affects crop production and lowers crop yield. When the crop production is reduced it results to famine and lack of enough food for families to feed themselves. Such cases can force individuals to start conserving the air. Some air particles when released to the atmosphere it forms haze. Haze results from fumes that are released to the air especially from factories and industries that release them to the atmosphere CITATION Pat11 \l 1033 (Patrick, Murray, Sullivan, & Kimmel, 2011). They form cloudy substances that obscure clarity, color and texture of what we see. When air pollution reaches to such extremes it can force people to start adopting pro-environmental behaviors for fear of their health.
How Technological Advances Have Impacted the Environment
In the world today technology has become a major input in agricultural production and industrial production. The utilization of technology has affected the environment in several ways both positive and negative. One of the positive effects of technology is that the utilization of technological tools has helped and boosted the environmental conservation efforts. Specifically, the utilization if the internet has become a major source of all types of information that individuals need. The internet is one of the best sources of information that scientists and researchers use to find better methods of promoting environmental conservation. Information about any type of environmental problem can be retrieved form the internet. For instance, in the above statement about running educational programs and environmental campaigns, the information on running such programs can be retrieved easily from the internet.
Despite its positive effects on the environment, technology has affected the environment negatively. Industrial benefits resulting from technology adaptation has led to negative impacts on the environment. This is very evident by the increased conferences and world summits that we have witnessed around the world every now and again discussing on better environmental management approaches. Advancement in technology has led to the increased production of machines, weapons and automobiles. The utilization of these technologies in the industrial sector results to quality products which in turn triggers high demand of these products. The technology in this case is associated with...