Causeand Effect EssayPollution is a very serious problem in society today. The lives of millennials are constantly being impacted by the worsening situation of the Earth. The definition of a millennial is someone who is born between 1981 and 1996 (Dimock). They represent the majority of the population of individuals on the planet at this time. This generation of individuals is greatly impacted by the effects of pollution which only seems to get worse as time goes on. Pollutioncan be best defined as the “introduction of harmful materials into theenvironment” (National Geographic). Pollutants can beeither natural or human made. Natural pollutants do not hurt the environment asmuch as human made pollutants do, especially considering how much human madepollutants are released into the environment every day. The human madepollutants can come from many different sources, such as factories orlandfills. Another kind of pollutant is the burning of fossil fuels. This typeof pollution can source from gas burning in cars to the fuels burned for energyin homes. The fumes that come from these activities is very harmful and causesthe formation of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are “gases that trap heatin the atmosphere.” Examples of greenhouse gases include, carbon dioxide (whichis released through the burning of fossil fuels), methane, nitrous oxide, andfluorinated gases (US Environmental Protection Agency). These gases trapheat waves from the sun which hurts the environment. Due to pollution of theenvironment, millennials have to deal with warming temperatures, worseninghealth, and changing energy sources.   One of the biggest focuses on the impacts of pollution is climate change. The increasing amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap heat waves from the sun in our atmosphere. This is causing the average temperature of the Earth to continuously increase. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), “the average global temperature has increased about 0.8ºC since 1880” (Przyborski). To put this into perspective of how large of a change this really is, a negative one-degree change in Earth’s temperature was enough to cause the Little Ice Age. With temperatures on the rise, environments with normally cold temperatures are now experiencing warmer weathers. For example, the Antarctic ice shelf is currently melting into the ocean because of the rise in temperatures. The ice melts into the ocean and it is causing a sea level increase by “1 meter per year for every 0.1ºC rise in ocean temperature” (Rignot). This is causing flooding in coastal communities. Communities that have been present for generations are being forced to move inland because the sea is expanding into their homes. With therelease of the harmful chemicals in the air, the air quality is becomingincreasingly worse, especially in large metropolitan cities. Air pollutioncomes from many common sources such as, cars, buses, trucks, factories, powerplants, and wood burning fireplaces. All of these sources release chemicalwaste into the air which people breathe in.  It is quite scary to think that black fumesreleased from cars end up in our lungs. The worsening air quality in cities hascaused many diseases to become more common such as “chronic respiratory andheart disease, lung cancer, acute respiratory infections in children andchronic bronchitis in adults, aggravating pre-existing heart and lung disease,or asthmatic attacks” (Kampa).Millennials have to deal with these serious illnesses on a day to day basishappening either to them or to a loved one. This leads to more trips to thehospital, in cars that emit more pollution, more money spent at pharmacies, andmore inconvenience that could have been prevented if everyone would have justbeen more environmentally conscious. Thepollution that ends up in the air also eventually cycles back into the bodiesof water around. The fumes and chemicals float in the air and dissolve intowater vapor which turns into clouds. Clouds release rain and the chemicals thathad dissolved also come back to the surface of the earth in the form of acidrain. This acid rain can contaminate lakes and rivers and even sources ofdrinking water. Directly ingesting these chemicals or swimming in contaminatedbodies of water is very dangerous for human beings. This can cause humans todeal with “waterborne diseases, viruses, and microbial pathogens” (Schwarzenbach). Millennials must thendeal with more hospital trips, more money spent on medicines, and moreinconvenience that could have been prevented through measures that keptindustries more environmentally conscious. Anotherimpact of pollution is the push towards cleaner energy production andintroducing measures that prevent further destruction of the Earth’s valuableresources. Millennials have started to promote energy production that does notinclude the burning of fossil fuels such as, solar energy, which is the methodof harnessing sunlight and converting it into energy, wind energy, whichinvolves using the energy of the wind and converting it into the usable energy,geothermal power, which is the conversion of heat from the earth into energy,and hydro energy, which is the conversion of the energy of water into energythat humans can utilize. There is also a push from millennials for the use ofhydrogen gas, which is a clean renewable alternative to natural gas and fossilfuels. Toconclude, pollution is a very big problem for millennials. Pollution is hurtingthe planet that humans live on and individuals are destroying it by not caringfor the environment. It causes global warming, which causes humans to have tomove around to escape coastal flooding, air and water pollution, which causesmany serious illnesses, and the push towards clean energy. Works CitedDimock, Michael. Where millennials end and post-millennials begin. 1 March 2018. 15 October 2018.Kampa, Marilena. “Human Health Effects of Air Pollution.” Environmental Pollution (2008): 362-367.National Geographic. pollution | National Geographic. 2018. 15 October 2018.Przyborski, Paul. World of Change: Global Temperatures. n.d. 15 October 2018.Rignot, Eric. Rapid Bottom Melting Widespread near Antarctic Ice Sheet Grounding Lines. 14 June 2012. 15 October 2018.Schwarzenbach, Rene P. “Global Water Pollution and Human Health.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources (2010): 109-136.US Environmental Protection Agency. Overview of Greenhouse Gases. 9 October 2018. 16 October 2018.Get Help With Your EssayIf you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!Find out more