Sometimes people find me depressing to be around. I endlessly point out the impacts of rising human population and resource use, extinction of Earth’s biodiversity, air and water pollution, and climate change. When I really get going, I point out that these human impacts on our planet may threaten the continued persistence of our own species.
So, let’s take a moment to reflect on some environmental success stories. When I entered the field, leaded gasoline was in widespread use across the US. Lead particles in exhaust, coupled with a history of leaded paint, were tied to neurological and behavioral deficits in exposed children. When leaded gasoline was banned in 1972, lead levels declined markedly in both our atmosphere and the blood of urban youth.
Ozone depletion is another success story. In the early 1980s, atmospheric chemists noted a loss of ozone in the stratosphere over Antarctica. The growing ozone hole, and increased ultraviolet light, threatened to drive up rates of skin cancer and cataracts in people at high latitudes, if not globally. Chlorofluorocarbons, known to cause ozone loss, were banned by the Montreal protocol, and there are now signs that the ozone hole is closing.
Other successes include: reductions in the amount of sulfur dioxide that we allow from power plants, reductions in the phosphate in detergents, and the phase out of PCBs in industry. In all cases, the initial response of industry was to fight these changes. But, wisdom prevailed over profits, and we have a better, cleaner, healthier environment today because of those who championed these causes.
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Photo, posted on February 13, 2010, courtesy of Steve Snodgrass via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.