Environmental pollution caused by the products, emissions and wastes of a wide variety of industries

 The topic of ‘climate change’ is a controversial one; mainly due to the ideas of the scientific establishment about the causes of changes in the climate. The main claims are that unprecedented levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have adversely affected the climate and that human activity is largely to blame for this situation; but these claims are unfounded. This is not to deny that the climate changes; that is an irrefutable fact. Climate change is a natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout the existence of the planet. The point of dispute is that it has never been proven that the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide is the driving force behind changes in the climate, or that human activity is the most significant contributory factor to the total volume of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Although carbon dioxide is regarded as a greenhouse gas, it is by no means the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere; it is, however, the only gas that has been accused since the 1980s of causing ‘global warming’, a label that was altered to ‘climate change’ when global temperature readings ceased to support the notion that the planet was experiencing unprecedented ‘warming’.

It is an acknowledged scientific fact that ‘human emissions’ form only a small fraction of the total volume of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which itself forms only a small percentage of the total volume of ‘greenhouse gases’. Nevertheless, it is claimed that the contribution from ‘human emissions’ creates a ‘dangerous’ level of carbon dioxide; a claim that is refuted by palaeoclimatologist Professor Robert M Carter PhD, who states in his book entitled Climate: The Counter Consensus that,“Though we know little about the transient effect of human emissions, there is little reason to suspect that the effect is dangerous.”

Carbon dioxide is not the ‘dangerous’ villain it is purported to be; on the contrary, Professor Carter states that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide have been shown to be beneficial and explains that,

“Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide both enhances plant growth and aids the efficiency of water use.”

Professor Carter is by no means alone in his recognition that atmospheric carbon dioxide is beneficial for plant growth; as demonstrated by a 2009 fact sheet entitled Carbon Dioxide in Greenhouses produced by OMAFRA (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs), which states that,“The benefits of carbon dioxide supplementation on plant growth and production within the greenhouse environment have been well understood for years.”

Carbon dioxide is essential for photosynthesis, which is a vital aspect of plant growth. This means that carbon dioxide is vital for life on planet Earth as many living organisms depend on plants for their food, either directly or indirectly; high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide benefits plant growth and therefore increases the food supply.

Unfortunately, whilst the attention of the public is focused on the idea that carbon dioxide is ‘bad’ and the primary cause of ‘climate change’, the far more important and serious issue of environmental pollution is ignored. The portrayal of carbon dioxide as the ‘villain’ of environmental pollution has become a diversionary tactic to avoid sufficient media attention to expose the real villains, which are the plethora of toxic substances that pollute the environment.

It is often claimed that people who ‘deny’ climate change are funded by the oil industry to help promote their cause; the discussions in this chapter will demonstrate that the oil industry is a major polluter of the environment; this claim cannot therefore be applied to the authors of this book.

The very real and urgent problem that faces humanity is environmental pollution caused by the products, emissions and wastes of a wide variety of industries, as this chapter will demonstrate.

It must be emphasised that this discussion should not be interpreted as a polemic against ‘industry’ expressed from a ‘Luddite’ perspective, in which all industry is viewed as ‘bad’. It is, however, a critique of the direction taken by many industries in respect of the processes and materials they create and utilise, as well as the irresponsible discharge of toxic industrial wastes. The sentiment of the authors of this book is described in Ralph Nader’s book entitled In Pursuit of Justice in which he quotes the words of conservationist David Brower, who states that,“We’re not blindly opposed to progress, we’re opposed to blind progress.”

There is no easily discernible point in history when efforts to understand the world and how it functions developed into efforts to control and dominate the world and its resources; the process seems to have undergone a slow but insidious progression. Activities that began as the utilisation of resources for everyday life, somehow developed into a full-scale exploitation of resources by certain groups of people in the belief that they had an inalienable right to exploit those resources, without regard or responsibility for the consequences of their actions.

In addition to the exploitation of natural resources by industry in general, the chemical industry in particular has created a wide variety of new substances that could never have developed naturally; this makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to degrade naturally. Dr Barry Commoner PhD expresses this point in his book entitled Making Peace With the Planet,

“Organic compounds incapable of enzymatic degradation are not produced in living things.”

In this context, ‘organic’ means carbon-based. Enzymatic degradation is the process by which matter is broken down into its individual chemical components. If the matter is organic, these chemical components are reabsorbed into the environment where they are ‘recycled’ by various organisms, including bacteria. The ever-growing volume of non-organic compounds that do not biodegrade naturally is a key factor in the ever-growing level of environmental pollution.

It is no understatement to assert that science has been largely, although not completely, corrupted by those who seek to control and exploit the world’s resources for their own narrow benefits, rather than to understand the importance of the maintenance of natural resources to ensure the perpetuation of life on Earth. Warnings about the dire consequences of the arrogant attitude of those who seek to control and exploit nature, have been expressed by many concerned people from various walks of life over a long period of time. One of those warnings was articulated over half a century ago by Rachel Carson in her book entitled Silent Spring,“As man proceeds towards his announced goal of the conquest of nature, he has written a depressing record of destruction, directed not only against the earth he inhabits but against the life that shares it with him.”

Although her book is primarily a discussion about the dangers of toxic pesticides, Rachel Carson’s words are equally applicable to various disciplines in which mankind seeks the ‘conquest of nature’, particularly by the manufacture of unnatural and dangerous chemicals and the generation of EM radiation. Peter Montague refers in his previously cited 1999 article to the level of awareness of the problem that existed in the 1970s,

“Technical mastery of natural forces was leading not to safety and well being, but to a careless and accelerating dispersal of dangerous poisons into the biosphere with consequences impossible to predict.”

Sadly, the situation has yet to change for the better in the intervening decades; in most instances the situation has substantially worsened. One major example is that with the development of nuclear weapons, mankind has taken the desire for control to its ultimate limit and created the ability to completely destroy the entire world; an event in which no one could ever be the winner.

This is also articulated by Peter Montague in his article, in which he states that,

“During the late 1960s it slowly became clear that many modern technologies had far surpassed human understanding, giving rise to by-products that were dangerous, long-lived and completely unanticipated.”

It is impossible in a single chapter to enumerate and detail all the ways in which the world has been, and continues to be, polluted and poisoned. Such a chapter would not only be long and cumbersome, but it would also be thoroughly depressing. The aim of this book is to inform, not to depress, and so this chapter focuses on providing information about pollutants and toxins, some of which are discussed in detail, for the purpose of demonstrating their widespread nature in everyday life and to assist people to avoid, or at least minimise, exposure to them.

The fact that people survive and are able to live despite constant exposures to a barrage of toxic substances is a testament to the body’s self-regulating and self-healing mechanisms. However, whilst it is essential to bear in mind throughout this chapter that the human body is amazingly resilient, it must also be recognised that there are limits to the body’s ability to withstand increasing levels of toxic intake; these limits are manifested in the serious nature of the diseases with which increasing numbers of people around the world now suffer.

This situation can be changed, but only when people have a genuine understanding of the real causes of illness, so that they can make informed decisions about matters that affect their health. However, informed decisions can only be made when people are in possession of all the relevant information about the ‘poisons’ to which they are exposed and can therefore avoid; providing this information is the core purpose of this chapter.

From: What Really Makes You Ill?

Why Everything You Thought You Knew About Disease is Wrong

Dawn Lester & David Parker