Factory Emissions

How factory emissions are effecting the health of people?

What are the long term effects of high emission rates?

How can we resolve the air pollution issues we currently have in the world?

In this story map, I will be discussing how factory emissions affect our earth and society. This topic really stood out because it is something that is affecting us currently. After doing research about factory emissions it is clear that as a whole we need to make some changes to preserve our environment. As we continue to innovate and produce, it is important to keep the protection of the earth in mind. I have chose this topic of Factory Emissions because it is a very relevant issue and is something that needs to be changed. Throughout this presentation, I will dive deeper into factory emissions and air pollution in the United States.

Factories all around the world affect the air we breathe and the climate of the world. Factories pollute the air through fossil fuel emissions and through different toxic ammonia. The common emissions that we see are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Air pollution can be helped solved by using filters and limiting the number of emissions that be produced. According to Sarah Gibbens of National Geographic, "based on research estimating 100,000 people die from air pollution in the U.S. every year."

According to World Health Organization, "one-third of deaths from stroke, lung cancer, and heart disease are due to air pollution." Living and being around factories and equipment that emit smoke has the same effect that smoking cigarettes have. The particles that factories release into the air to produce their products are affecting human life much more than people realize. "The emission of various gases such as carbon monoxide, or CO, often results in various respiratory disorders such as bronchitis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, on COPD, in individuals."

Power plants are primarily ran on by coal. Others use products like oils or methane gases. They are then placed into a furnace and burned. This then releases heat energy to use while the excess heat from the furnaces are released through the smoke stacks into the atmosphere. How is this Harmful? Coal has been a very reliable energy source, when burned it releases many different toxins into the air. According to Union of Concerned Scientists, "When coal burns, the chemical bonds holding its carbon atoms in place are broken, releasing energy. However, other chemical reactions also occur, many of which carry toxic airborne pollutants." These toxins include: Mercury, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides and many more.

One of the more recently studied factories that has been known for air pollution are Farm factories. According to Tarah Heinzen of OtherWise, she says, "these operations often store animal waste in cesspools (or “lagoons”), which can cause dangerous water pollution when they leak, spill, or breach." from these lagoons of animal waste, they release toxic ammonia into the air. In a study done in 2017 it showed an "estimated 50 percent reduction in agricultural ammonia emissions worldwide could prevent more than 200,000 deaths per year across 59 countries."(The surprising way fumes from farms are harming our health)

As shown in the diagram to the right, 58 percent air pollution per year is caused by industrial sites. This includes powerplants and any sort of production factories. In the up coming years, finding a way to reduce the amount of industrial pollution will be crucial. Preserving the land that we live on and the air that we breathe will always be a priority.

In the map shown to the left, you can see all the dark red in the eastern part of America. The red represents the quality of the air in that area and how harmful it is. We are still continuing to find answers and ways to eliminate air pollution all across the world. After doing research, the most effective way to do this is attacking the source of it. In this sense, looking at the fuel that companies use to produce. Weather it's trying to find any alternative energy resource or using filter to try to eliminate toxic air to enter the atmosphere.

Passing Gas: How Factories Can Reduce Pollutants and Emissions. Beauty Army. (n.d.). https://www.beautyarmy.com/blog/passing-gas-how-factories-can-reduce-pollutants-and-emissions/. 

What I Learned:

Fossil fuel emission is one of the most significant sources of environmental pollution in today's society. It is estimated that roughly 25 percent of emissions in the world come from factories themselves. The first major source is the burning of coal. When coal is heated up, it releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The best solution to the increase in emissions is to switch a natural gas. Finding a solution to help protect our environment is going to be very important in the future. Being able to preserve and keep the earth clean should be our number one priority.

This source was very important to my presentation because It really helped me understand the impacts of factory emissions. It also had plenty of information about the effects factory emission have on society and the environment.

“How to Reduce Air Pollution from Factories and Industrial Operations.” The CMM Group, 19 Oct. 2018, www.thecmmgroup.com/reduce-air-pollution-factories-industrial-operations/.

This article focused on the ways that we can help reduce the amount of air pollution from factories. It went into depth about ways to combat air pollution with filters and finding ways to break down the chemical before they enter the atmosphere. It also went into depth about how these chemicals released from factories are affecting our atmosphere and are damaging the earth.

I think this source is very important because it talks about combating air pollution and talks about ways to reduce pollution. I like this source because it helps support my claims that I making in my story map.

“Factory Farms Are a Deadly Nuisance.” OtherWords, 19 May 2021, otherwords.org/factory-farms-are-a-deadly-nuisance/. Accessed 23 May 2021.

This article talks about a new upcoming type of air pollution which is called factory farms. These types of farms are different than the traditional factories that release coal pollution. New research has been found that around 17,000 people die a year due to the air pollution that comes from these factories. It also talked about how important it is to make a change to these facilities and stop allowing them to continue to pollute the earth.

I think this source very resourceful because it talks about a type of air pollution that many people don't know about. When people think of factory pollution they think of the big industrial building that emits tons of toxins through the air. Whereas these small farm factories do the same thing just on a smaller scale.

Gibbens, Sarah. “Meat Production Leads to Thousands of Air Quality-Related Deaths Annually.” Environment, 10 May 2021, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/meat-production-leads-to-thousands-of-air-quality-related-deaths-annually.

In this article, Sarah talked about the risk factors of air pollution and what it is doing to the earth. she talked about the different types of air pollution and the ones that are most common and most dangerous. She also discussed the effect it can have on people's bodies if they are constantly exposed. When exposed to the dangerous chemicals that these factories emit can cause many respiratory problems as well as problems with your immune system.

I think this source is very creditable and can be very useful in my story map. It provides great examples and has plenty of information that can be used in my story. This source shares many possibilities of what can happen if we continue to damage our environment and makes you think twice about factory production.

Good, Kate. “How Factory Farming Creates Air Pollution.” One Green Planet, One Green Planet, 10 Mar. 2015, www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-factory-farming-creates-air-pollution/.

In this article, The majority of the material is talking about the negative effects of factory farms and how it is harming the air quality. It discusses what farm factories do and what toxins they release into the air. The waste that is harmful from these places is the animal's waste and the gas that it releases. It goes through the risks of being around these factories and what happens if you continue to live around these places.

This source had plenty of information about farm factories and how they are harming the environment. It taught me about the different kinds of toxins factories release and how each one is very different from one another. This was a very informational source and provided me with great insights.

“Coal and Air Pollution.” Union of Concerned Scientists, 19 Dec. 2017, www.ucsusa.org/resources/coal-and-air-pollution.

In this article, It talked about the effects that power plants have on air pollution. It more importantly talked about how the burning of coal creates many different toxins. It also talked about the long lasting effects of breathing in air from these factories and the impacts it has on peoples bodies. Coal is one of the most studied and most used fossil fuel for power. Coal does much more than just effect the air we breathe, it is also a big contributor in climate change.

I thought this was a very resourceful article. It had lots of information about the different energy sources companies use to produce energy. It talked about the long lasting effects of coal usage in power plants. This source did a great job of explaining how coal pollutes our air and why its fumes are dangerous to inhale.

“Air Pollution and Food Production | UNECE.” Unece.org, unece.org/air-pollution-and-food-production.

Throughout this article, It explained the connections between both food production and air pollution. It explained how food production creates and emits many different toxins into the air. It also explained how those toxins are effecting the abilities for places to continue to grow plants and other foods. Overall, I thought this article had lots of good information about the food production industry.

I thought this article helped contribute to my research because it gave me an insight about the food production and the whole agricultural industry. It had lots of valuable information about how these factories effect our atmosphere. It also shared solutions to the problems that are happening and how we can resolve the issues of big industry air pollution.

Through my research, I have gathered ample amounts of information about factory emissions and the impacts that they have on the environment. People need to become much more aware of the long-lasting impacts that these facilities have on society. I've learned that we need to find a solution to the large amounts of toxins that factories release. Finding a way to reduce and eliminate emissions will make a huge impact.

The topic of Factory Emissions has to do a lot with our urbanization and our agriculture. With our current urbanization and population growth, production has sky rocketed and has made factories busier than ever. As we continue to grow, factories are going to continue to produce.

Air pollution is never going to go away and is never going to stop until we decide to make a change. It is affecting people all across the United States and all across the world. Protecting and maintaining our Environment should be our number one priority. As long as we continue to work together to solve this problem, we will create a much healthier environment.