• Question: is the world getting more poluted or less

    Asked by shamsham13 to Andrew, Ash, Gem, Paige, SJ on 28 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Ashley Cadby

      Ashley Cadby answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      I’m guessing it’s getting more polluted. We are using resources faster and faster.

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      If we are talking about Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, than the world is DEFINITELY getting more polluted. While governments have taken actions to reduce some pollutants, like the CFCs that harmed the ozone years ago, then maybe pollution has decreased for these things… but the pollution level of greenhouse gases has increased dramatically. Where CO2 in our atmosphere is normally around 280-300ppm, it is now up to 400!!!!

    • Photo: SarahJayne Boulton

      SarahJayne Boulton answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      I too would guess that it’s getting more polluted as more nations are becoming industrialised and more resources are consumed.

      That said If I go down to my local beach, it’s a lot less polluted than when I was a kid thanks to better waste management and the closure of the local mines.

      In comparison though there are huge floating islands of plastic rubbish and debris in the pacific ocean that are concentrated by currents called gyres. These floating rubbish patches cause massive problems for the ecosystems around them. Hawaii’s beaches are being ravaged by the same problem. You can read more about this here ::

      http://ocean.si.edu/blog/plastic-trash-plagues-ocean

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