Hazardous Waste Effects

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The effect hazardous waste plays on the environment Hazardous waste is seen nowadays as more of a chore than an actual problem which is affecting everything around us. We think waste, and our mind automatically generates a picture of a dump, or landfill with a protruding smell coming from it that we, as a whole, must deal with. To most people the saying “We as a whole” only deals with the human population, but how many natural habitats may have been destroyed due to our cold, selfish and obnoxious nature? Or how much cubic tonnes of methane, Carbon dioxide or Nitrous oxide has been dumped into the atmosphere since we started the industrial revolution? Have we, as the human race, been a parasite to the world in which we live and depend on?…show more content…
We cannot blame solely the agricultural industry for this problem, for example: aquaculture scientists and pond managers often intentionally eutrophy water bodies by adding fertilizers to enhance primary productivity and increase the density and biomass of recreationally and economically important fish via bottom-up effects on higher trophic levels (Boyd & Tucker 1998). However, during the 1960s and 1970s, scientists linked algal blooms to nutrient enrichment resulting from anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, industry, and sewage disposal (Schindler 1974). The known consequences of cultural eutrophication include blooms of blue-green algae (i.e., cyanobacteria), tainted drinking water supplies, degradation of recreational opportunities, and hypoxia. The estimated cost of damage mediated by eutrophication in the U.S. alone is approximately $2.2 billion annually (Dodds et al. 2009).…show more content…
It was once a land inhabited by thousands and now is a barren wasteland where not even plant life can grow. Not only did this event effect the landscape, but the aftermath was even worse. The international journal of cancer published in 2005 {6} that; the risk projections suggest that by now Chernobyl may have caused about 1000 cases of thyroid cancer and 4000 cases of other cancers in Europe, representing about 0.01% of all incident cancers since the accident. Models predict that by 2065 about 16,000 cases of thyroid cancer and 25,000 cases of other cancers may be expected due to radiation from the accident, whereas several hundred million cancer cases are expected from other causes. This is an extreme scenario but is a valid example of the consequences associated with incorrect waste

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