Week-5 - Type: Individual Project Unit: Toward a Sustainable Future This informa

Question

Week-5 - Type: Individual Project

Unit: Toward a Sustainable Future

This information was answered but not able to used it due to turnitin showing "Plagiarism"

Instructions:    For this assignment, you will research and write an APA research paper about environmental policies, including the following:

Choose 1 U.S. environmental law. State the name of the law and the date the law was passed.

Summarize the major provisions of the law that you chose.

Describe the economic impact of the law. Provide specific economic data from credible references.

Has the law improved the environment or situation? Provide specific data from credible references.

Do you think that sound science has proven that global warming is a credible threat or not?

Should the United States adopt additional policies or laws to curb greenhouse gas emissions?

What should these policies or laws regulate or encourage?

Use specific facts to defend your position.

Explanation / Answer

The Clean air act was first passed on 1963 and then major amendments were done in 1970,1977 and 1990. It is federal law of United States whose main function is to protect the environment and human health from the air pollution. The Clean air act of 1963 sets the standards for reducing the air pollution emitting from the stationary sources. After the law was revised in 1970 it also includes the pollution from stationary as well as the mobile sources and also increase the fund for the research of air pollution. In 1990 the law was revised and addresses issues like acid rain, stratospheric ozone depletion, emission from motor vehicles, toxic pollutants in air.

Economic impact:After the regulations of clean air act, it helped the industries to develop many new and innovative solutions to reduce the air pollution emitting from factories, power plants and vehicles and in the process helped to generate new jobs and thus strengthen the economy of the US.

The clean air act has helped in :

Since 1990 the mercury emissions has reduced by 45%

Since 1980 the lead pollution has reduced by 92% after reducing the use of lead content in gasoline

It has cut the ground ozone level by 25% since 1980 which is responsible for the formation of smog

Since 1980 the main air pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide has reduced by 71% and 46% respectively.

Ban the use of chemicals that were responsible for the hole in the ozone and substituting them with other chemicals

Global warming: Certain greenhouses like carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour are resposible for trapping of solar heat and is raising the earth's temperature. It has been scientifically proved that we humans are responsible for the global warming by adding the CO2 content in the atmosphere through burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity for the power plants, run the vehicles and for heating our homes. Over the last 130 years, the average global temperature of the earth has increased by 1.5 degree Fahrenheit and most of the warming takes place in the past 35 years only. According to reports the 2016 was the hottest year and the 12 warmest years has been recorded since 1998. The concentration of CO2 is increasing at a steady rate per year and has increased by 25% since 1957.

Global warming is a potential threat because it is responsible for the extreme weather events which can cause deaths, illness due to stress, injuries etc. Also increase in ground ozone level can cause increases in cases of asthma and other respiratory disorders. The hotter and longer heat waves are especially harmful for those people who are outdoor workers, poor, sick, children and older people

The United States should adopt additional policies or make changes in the existing policies to curb the greenhouse gas emissions because the global warming is a serious concern and the average global temperature has been increasing since the past decades at a steady rate. To protect the human health as well as environment, stronger are required since existing policies are not sufficient to curb the global warming. The rules and policies regarding the pollution due to factories and vehicles should be strengethened and should be followed stringently. Those who does not follow the rules should be punished. Also the target should be set for reducing the air pollution. Also the innovative new technologies should be encouraged which helps in reducing environmental pollution.

References:

http://www.ucsusa.org/our-work/global-warming/science-and-impacts/global-warming-science#.WT9BumiGPIU

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/reduce-emissions/the-clean-air-act.html#.WT86YmiGPIU

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse W
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.