Environmental Issues

Introduction

This includes a brief description of climate change and the various arguments related to the cause of climate change.

Causes of climate change and related human effects

This includes the various definitions related to the climate change. It also covers on the causes of climate change both natural and man made. Lastly, the area describes on the human effects and climate change. This includes the green house gases and the land use.

Debate on climate change
Supporting argument on climate change
The section gives detailed evidence on climate change as a real phenomenon. It also argues in support of climate change as caused by the human effects through the daily activities.

Argument against climate change
In the section, emphasis is on climate change as a conspiracy where it is not more so related to the human effects but naturally occurs through the various dynamics of the atmosphere and the changes in the solar cycle.

Australia and climate change
This includes the various ways that the Australian government is approaching the climate change phenomenon. They include Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), cap and trade schemes, carbon credits and carbon offsets Greenhouse and friendly Skills for the Carbon Challenge.

Conclusion
Gives a summary of the contents in the study

Global warming and Climate change
Introduction
Have you ever had questions emerging whether global warming is a scientific phenomenon or its a conspiracy issue For the scientific world, global warming is a real scenario and the global climate scientists are intensively working on the ways of adaptation and mitigation of the impacts. For some scientists, climate change is headed for the extreme point with the compounding of feed back mechanisms. This would lead to large scale events that would be impossible to mitigate and manage.

Considering the oceans are one the major absorber of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the recent increase in the acidity of the ocean according to the Exeter report would affect the system balance and lead to more severe effects more so to the marine ecosystem. The effects of climate change are speeding up and the level of severity of the impacts is increasing as a result of the feed back mechanisms and processes. (Schellnhuber et al 2006).

The argument on climate change has been taking various dimensions. However, the amount of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere as well as the global temperatures has increased. In Australia, some groups including the Lavoisier Group negates the climate change phenomena denying the fact that the twentieth century was no the hottest century. They have also denounced the Kyoto protocol as lies where they suggest the lack of relationship between the melting of ice and the increased carbon dioxide. Some like Pittock term it on the uncertainty of the climate prediction models. However he terms global warming as a joint between natural and manmade climate change. He also states that soils and vegetation have turned to be sources other than sinks of carbon dioxide. (Schellnhuber et al 2006).This has resulted to increased heat waves. Global warming results to a negative and a positive feedback mechanism to the dynamics of the atmosphere thus need to be well understood to avoid losses. The elite, being the policy consultants if not the leaders thus requires the knowledge for preparation of the policy papers.

Causes of Global Warming and the Human Effects
Definition of terms
Climate is the weather conditions of a given area over a long period of time of roughly thirty to thirty five years. On the other hand, climate change is the change of the mean state of the climate that persists for a long period of time, several decades or longer. This includes the changes in the mean weather parameters and more so in the occurrence of the extreme weather events. Climate change may occur naturally due to the changes in the solar cycle thus the change in the direct radiation, or may occur due to the human effects including the increased green house gases and the land use activities. Green house gases includes, carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons, with the major one being carbon dioxide. (NOAA 2004).

The energy from the sun drives the climate system that is controlled by natural processes including carbon cycle, green house effect, orbital cycles, ocean currents and the atmosphere-ocean circulations. Carbon is contained in soils and rocks, fossil fuels, ocean sediments, coals and also in the atmosphere. The climate system is mainly affected by the human activities as they alter the carbon cycle. Burning of fossil fuels and deforestation releases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases the amount of green house gases which acts as a molecule for the absorption of more radiation whether direct or long wave. In turn, this energy is then emitted and warms the earths surface and the lower atmosphere. Carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is on the increase with about 30ppm increase. Cattle production, rice cultivation and land fills have increased methane amounts. The industrial processes and auto mobiles on the other hand have increased nitrous oxide emission. (NOAA 2004).

The industries through burning of sulfuric fossil fuels increase the sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere and also generate black soot from pollution. These reduce the radiation reaching the ground as they absorb and reflect the atmospheric radiation causing a cooling effect. (NOAA 2004).

The debate on Global Warming
The science behind global warming as a human effect is filled with renewed upwelling of uncertainty. However, the amount of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is ever increasing and also the average global temperatures are on the upward trend. This brings forth the debate whether these effects are as a result of the carbon dioxide or is the natural climate variability. The Inter-government Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) statistically relates the climate change with the human effects with 90 certainty. This has led to the divided debate with some going for the 10 uncertainty and relating climate change with natural climate variability. (Ritter 2009).

Global warming protagonists are strongly supporting the anthropogenic global warming theory and the reduced use of fossil fuels energy where they view the antagonists as financed by the oil and gas industry and other politicians. They argue that activist journals are being published but they lack enough data to support their arguments and conclusions. The scientists rally behind the climate theory that uses a number of assumptions on radiation balance to include valuables called forcings that causes lack of equilibrium. They make use of CO2 as the variable responsible for global warming due to the significant changes in its amount. IPCC makes use of climate sensitivity in their models to predict the future climate trends thus increasing their validity.

To defend the bias in temperature climate scientist compares station data with that of neighboring station and satellite data before analysis. (Ritter 2009).

In denial of global warming as resulting from human activities there is the call that, humanity green house gases emissions and atmospheric pollutants are not related to the climate system. Singer, an atmospheric physicist argues that the data used by the IPCC in deriving climate change is not evident of human caused global warming. There is on quest that IPCC uses imperfect climate models and excludes some crucial studies, hence should be discarded. They also denounce the control of carbon dioxide emissions as an expensive exercise where they termed the increase of temperature and CO2 as effective for increased plant growth thus increased economic growth. They terms the IPCC as a politically motivated organization based on political findings  who are actively involved in the censuring of valid but contradicting information. On the temperature data, there is no single global temperature thermometer and the surface temperatures used were termed to be skewed and biased where the stations are substandard. They indicated that the medieval warm period IPCC temperature data was lower than reported and claims that the atmosphere controls itself. (Ritter 2009).

Australia and climate change
The Kyoto protocol took effect in 2005 and the Australian government being one of the annex 1 countries is working on schemes aimed at reducing the carbon pollution.

In Australia there are efforts to reduce pollution without harming the economy. This includes the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) or carbon taxes. This aims at reducing carbon emissions and at the same time increase business profits by utilizing it as an opportunity. The various mechanisms Australia is using to combat carbon emissions are the one proposed by the Kyoto protocol involving emission trading, clean development mechanism and joint implementation. (Laini 2008).

For Australia it uses cap and trade schemes, carbon credits and carbon offsets. Carbon offsets involves investing in low emissions activities where they plant trees that act as carbon sinks. This is practiced even in air lines and banking industry. For carbon trade schemes, depending on the market conditions, the government is now auctioning the carbon emissions permits. Emission trading scheme in Australia started back in 2002 the government is also using renewable energy sources at the expense of electricity. The carbon pollution reduction scheme was meant to be launched in 2010 to report on green gases. (Laini 2008).

Conclusion and Recommendation
Climate change is a great calamity with the various observations, including the NASA observations on the rapid recession of arctic sea icing and the melting of the permafrost in the northern hemisphere. The effects of this is the reduction of the albedo and the reflectivity of the surface which in turn leads to the increased global warming as a result of the increased absorption of the direct solar radiation that also increases the amount of the long wave radiation.

But to some scientists and non scientist, global warming is a conspiracy that has led to the heated debate. Some Scientists are supporting the global warming theory and others are discarding it.
However, the Australian government is working hard in the implementation of the Kyoto protocol to combat the climate change through reduction of carbon emissions. This is through the emission trading scheme.

Global warming is a reality and as a scientist I would relate it with the global warming theory and efforts to reduce carbon emission should be amplified.

Climate change is arrived at by studying weather variations on many different time scales ranging from millions of years to decades of years of a constant geographical area. The meteorological statistics such as temperatures, winds, rains and precipitation are collected over a period of time on a marked area and calculated and then variations recorded.  The change is the variance of the these weather conditions from their normal occurrence and this would be as a result of specific factors on the environment which is known to be controlling and determining and regulate the weather conditions of a certain area.

There have been many definitions from various scholars and other geographical and environmental science professionals regarding climate and its change. Well, whatever their definition, the term weather has not escaped most or all of their definitions. So, it would be sensible to understand the term weather and its fundamental position as far as climate definition is concerned. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York (2004-2005), defines the term weather as the sate of atmosphere at a specific time in a specific place. True this is in the sense that temperatures, winds, rains or humidity, clouds and their distribution are elements which define and determine the weather of a particular place at a given time.

The relationship between the weather and climate is that climate is longer in period while the former is short in statistics. The weather pattern of a given place is collected daily, weekly and monthly. This though does not yet amount defining the climate of a certain place or a place in question, this weather patterns however have to be collected daily, weekly, monthly and recorded for decades or millions of years to have a permanent like weather pattern. This permanent like weather pattern collected for such long period is now what is regarded as a climatic condition of that place or region in subject.

The climate change starts being noticed when these elements that make up the weather start showing a variance in some large noticeable scales from the previous recording done. The change has been known to be carrying devastating and worrying effects to the environment and its ecosystem. There have been many theories regarding climate change and the recorded effects that come with the change. This change that has of late been witnessed is a negative change which has had various effects to the social-economical well being of human live on earth planet.

The environment is dependant on the weather conditions or rather the live which is determined by the kind of environment present in a certain region is determined by the prevailing climate condition of that region. A reverse of the climate means the entire livelihood which is designed by that particular environment of which is designed or relies on a certain climatic condition means that entire life and the environment together will suffer dare consequences. This is so because the reliance factor would have been altered and so the live that was benefiting from such environment would not be relied upon any more and the sorry state is that such change will lead to a permanent shift or no live altogether.

The climate too relies on certain prevailing environment. The environmental factors such as forests and clean air and water are that which determines the elements of weather in a particular region. This implies that the destruction of the environment would result to a climate change and a change to the environment and at the same time severe effects to the environments ecosystem and life that depends on the environment. Thats the reason why today there is a song like scheme from government authorities and other scientific professionals and environmental activities on issues concerning conservation of environment.

Human causes of climate change
The human increased population has seen increasing demands for energy and land resources. This in turn has led to burning of fossil fuels to produce energy for industrial use and for domestic use. This has led to increased cutting of trees for domestic use leaving the land bare with no vegetation cover. Land meant for forests have been turned for agricultural use leading to disappearance of indigenous all this have led to altering the Earths energy balance which has been seen to change the global climate change.

Also humans have been linked to changing the climate during mining of coal and dumping coal by-products which contain very high levels of radioactive materials mercury and lead which are hazardous to the environment. Huge manufacturing industries such as oil refineries, or chemical plants keep on expanding on their workplace in terms of manpower and space with huge processing engines releasing toxic gases and the gases are captured in the atmosphere, which causes changes in the air temperature, precipitation patterns, sea-level rise, and melting of glaciers.

Natural causes of climate change
Other than human causes to climate change there are also natural causes that have too been contributing to the causes of climate change. The sun which is known to be the sole fundamental energy source for our climate system has played a role in climate change. The increased amount of heat that is thought to be being released by the sun is thought to be causing global warming effect.

Increased volcanic eruption and activities with its carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere has also contributed to rising temperatures and this has also added its effect in climate change adding it to the greenhouse emissions. Ocean currenthas also been noted as a major contribution to climate change. This is so in the sense that fast ocean currents move large amount of heat across the planet together with strong winds they produce phenomenon like el nino and with this movement of strong currents from the sea and back to the sea it determines the carbon dioxide concentration content into the atmosphere. Such change in ocean and seas circulation affects the climate through the movement of Carbon dioxide.

Chinas strategies to combat climatechange
China with the worlds highest population index is moving her masses towards combating climate change and at the same time providing her ever growing population with what is needed in her populations lifestyle. The strategy termed as Clean Revolution is aimed at lowering the amount of carbon emitted to the atmosphere. China the global leader in carbon emission and is the country with many poor and vulnerable population that would suffer the most from climate change.

Water scarcity, flooding and earthquakes would affect most of her cities due to climate change. This has given china a challenge to steer the country towards development but still within a controlled carbon emissions. This is done through emphasizing on manufacturing vehicles of low carbon emission which are major carbon emission to the atmosphere, practicing energy efficiency in industry, designing renewable energy such as, wind power, geothermal heat energy pumps, bio fuels and low carbon construction and urban design. This practice has seen Chinas population grow out of poverty and has transformed the country into an economical powerhouse.

Usage of Organophosphates within the U.S.
Agriculture is one of the largest industries in the U.S. with well over 2.2 million farms found within the country as such it has one largest consumer bases and is a major exporter for agricultural products. With a need to supply goods at affordable prices farmers turned to ever more effective and affordable ways of increasing their yields which resulted in the usage of organophosphates as a method of controlling pests that damage their crops. In her book Silent Spring Rachel Carson discusses how the continued use of insecticides over a period of time can cause long term damage to both the environment and the people living on it as such the usage of organophosphates comes with it the potential for causing health risks to those continuously exposed to it (Carson 1962).

Occupational Exposure
As a result of the usage of organophosphates as means to control pests farmers that are in their fields checking or harvesting their crops are at risk of exposure to these harmful chemicals through either direct exposure via their skin from chemical laden plants or through smell from the residue remaining in the air. Once in their system organophosphates can causes intense neurological damage which can lead up death if left unchecked. As such due to the nature of these chemicals special methods of protection are needed to ensure safe handling of the crops and to ensure the health of the worker (Hoffman 2009).

Protection against Organophosphates.
Organophosphates affect the body through either inhalation, prolonged direct contact with the skin or through ingestion. In order to prevent exposure and subsequent nerve damage specialized equipment or at least a suitable form of protection is needed when dealing with this particular substance. In order to prevent poisoning through the skin all areas must be covered, when organophosphates are sprayed onto plants trace elements are sometimes left on the stalks which can cause poisoning should they graze the skin of the body. Several layers of thick cloth would be able to prevent this from happening and a pair of thick plastic gloves is needed when handling the crops to prevent exposure through the palms of the hands. To prevent poisoning via inhalation a face mask with a filtering apparatus should be used as well as a hat and towel wrapped around the hair to prevent any chemicals from reaching the scalp. The most effective way to truly prevent exposure would be the use of an environmental suit made out of plastic which has an air filter in the helmet that comes with it (Hoffman 2009).

Health problems associated chronic exposure to organophosphates
Organophosphates by its nature targets the nerves of the subjects that it is exposed to as such most problems associated with organophosphates are neurological in nature examples of which are Neuropsychiatric effects Impaired memory, confusion, irritability, lethargy, psychosis, and chronic organophosphate-induced neuropsychiatric disorders as well as Ophthalmic effects Optic neuropathy, retinal degeneration, defective vertical smooth pursuit, myopia, and miosis (Katz 2010)..

Laws and regulations in place
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
Under the FIFRA the EPA is responsible for the registering and licensing of pesticide products for use within the United States. The decisions behind the licensing of certain pesticides are based on the EPA assessing the potential effects of certain pesticides on the human body and the surrounding environment. The FIFRA also requires the EPA to evaluate pesticides which have previously passed the examination to make sure that they meet current safety standards. The FIFRA requires the EPA and all states to establish programs aimed at protecting workers to ensure their safety (EPA 2008).

Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA)
The FFDCA oversees the creation of pesticide tolerances for all food and animal feed products. As such a set limit for the allowed tolerance of pesticide residues in human food and animal feed has been put into effect in order to protect consumers from potential poisoning (EPA 2008).

Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA)
This FQPA law which was passed in 1996, amends both the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act  which in effect creates a higher standard for pesticides used in the production of food products. The FQPA creates a single, health based standard which is to be used for the assessment of the potential risks inherent in certain pesticide residues in food or animal feed (EPA 2008).

Protecting our nations farmers
The best way to protect our nations farmers from these insecticides is not to give them better suits to protect themselves rather the most effective way would be to stop the usage of organophosphates all together. If safer methods of pest control are used then the health of our nations farmers wouldnt constantly be put in jeopardy.

Alternative methods to organophosphates
One alternative method to the use of organophosphates is the use of artificial pheromones to disrupt the ability of insects to communicate with one another (Science Daily 2005). By using this method only during the insects mating season not only due you reduce the insect population from increasing in a more natural way but you restrict the usage of artificial chemicals to only a few times a year thus preventing a the chemicals from saturating into the land and poisoning it. Another method would be the use of culture controls that to make crops less palatable to insects, methods under this include improved field sanitation methods, crop rotations so that the insects wont be able to get used to one particular plant, targeting plant rotation dates and improved irrigation and fertilization schedules(Science Daily 2005). Lastly a new method of deteriorating organophosphates has been developed recently where in a genetically engineered form of microorganism breaks down organophosphates and can actually commit suicide one its purpose has been completed, while such a method may be only repairing the damage it does present possibilities in protecting farmers from the damage already present in their lands (Li 2009). By using these natural methods not only do we safeguard the health of our nations farmers but also the quality of the food that we eat.

Water pollution is the undesirable change in state of water as a result of presence of harmful substances inside it. Water pollution is the second environmental issue after air pollution. Water pollution is defined as any change in the physical, chemical, and biological properties of water which has detrimental effect to the living organisms. Water pollution is a common problem affecting all the water bodies on the face of the earth such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and ground waters. Water which is polluted is not fit for drinking and other domestic uses. In addition to domestic consumption, polluted water cannot be used for agricultural and industrial purposes (Rubin, 2009).

Detailed description of the problem
The effects of water are detrimental to humans, animals, fish, and birds. Polluted water harbors disease causing organisms like viruses, bacteria, intestinal parasites, and other harmful micro organisms. The infectious micro organisms in polluted water are responsible for causing water born diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, and typhoid. Water pollution results in disturbance of the ecosystem.

Water pollutants are classified as natural and man made. Natural pollutants such as mercury and arsenic usually results in local concerns, however human generated pollutants are quite extensive and results in major problems. Sources are further divided into point source and non point source (Heath, 1995). Point source pollution is discharged into the environment from pipes, sewers, or ditches from specific areas like factories and sewerage treatment plants. Non point pollution source gains entry into the water body from expansive areas as opposed to point source. It is also referred to as runoff and occurs as a result of precipitation which sweeps over a large area carrying with it fertilizers, pesticides, livestock wastes, and salt from irrigation. Although they spread over a large area, their cumulative effects can be serious (Rubin, 2009).

The major sources of water pollution include domestic wastes, industrial discharges, and agricultural wastes. Other sources of are oil spills from sea vessels, atmospheric deposition, marine damping, radioactive waste, global warming, and eutrophication. Among the sources listed here, domestic waste and industrial affluent are the leading causes of water pollution.

Domestic sewerage is the waste water coming from household activities. The release of sewerage into water causes various pollution problems. Because sewerage may carry disease causing organisms, water polluted with sewerage results in public health issues. It also results into two serious environmental problems which are enrichment and oxygen demand. Enrichment occurs as a result of high level of plants and nutrients from algae such as nitrogen and phosphorus which comes from the sewerage. When aquatic ecosystem has high amounts of sewerage or other organic materials, the decomposing material consumes oxygen present in water thereby depriving fishes and other aquatic organisms (Heath, 1995).

Most people are not aware that soaps and detergents enrich the water bodies with phosphates. The phosphates which result from soap and detergents lead to algal bloom and eutrophication which is usually observed in stagnant water bodies like ponds and lakes. Algal bloom requires a lot of oxygen thereby depriving fishes and other aquatic animals dissolved oxygen therefore suffocation results (Rubin, 2009).

The amount of sewerage and organic waste present in water is measured in terms of biochemical oxygen demand. High levels of sewerage in water leads to high BOD which denies the water dissolved oxygen. Without oxygen, anaerobic reactions occur and the micro organisms release compounds which smell badly and this further lowers the water quality.

Eutrophication is an enrichment problem (Rubin, 2009). Lakes, estuaries, and slow flowing water bodies that have low levels of nutrients are said to be unenriched. Unenriched water body has clear water and harbors a small population of aquatic organisms. Eutrophication on the other hand is the enrinchment of water bodies by inorganic plants and algal nutrients like phosphorus and this kind of water is referred to as being eutrophic. Enrinchment results in elevated photosynthetic activity. The water appears cloudy because of the presence of numerous algae and cyanobacteria. Although the process of enrichment occurs naturally over a long period of time, it can also result from human activities like agricultural activities and sewerage products (Krantz,  Kifferstein, 2010).

Industrial effluents waste waters coming from manufacturing and processing industries are the second major cause of water pollution. The effluents from the factories contain organic materials and other toxic pollutants. Pollutants which come from industries include lead, mercury, asbestos, nitrates, phosphates, oils among others (Helmer,  Hespanhol, 1997).

 Waste water which is originating from food and chemical processing industries are the major source of industrial pollution as compared to that which comes from other industries like distilleries, leather processing, and thermal power plants. Water color is mainly produced by waste water from dye industries. Change in the color of water affects the light penetration thereby disturbing aquatic life. Because of increased public concern over water pollution, most industries have come up with waste water treatment plants however, small industries are yet to take these measures. Treating industrial water waste is a quite daunting task (Krantz,  Kifferstein, 2010).

Minamata disease resulted from discharge of methyl mercury into the waters. More than 1,784 people succumbed due to consumption of fish from the water source. Fishes in that water bioaccumulated the chemical in their body. The methyl mercury was released from Chisso Corporation chemical company. The effects of the disease persisted in the environment and it affected humans and animals for a period of 30 years (Heath, 1995).

In America, most industries treat their waste water using technically advanced treatment methods. Electronics industries for instance produce waste water which contains high levels of heavy metals like lead, mercury, and manganese. The industries use advanced methods such as ions exchange and electrolytes recovery to take back the heavy metals in the water (Rubin, 2009).  

Agricultural waste water these include manure, slurries, and runoffs. Most of the agricultural farms apply chemical fertilizers and pesticides in their crops and plants. The runoff from these farms pollutes the water bodies which are found around these farms such as ponds, rivers, streams, and lakes. Leaking of fertilizers and pesticides pollutes the ground water and the process is referred to as leaching. Although the amount of agricultural waste may be low, the impacts resulting from these chemicals are great (Rubin, 2009). The pollution from such chemicals affects soil and water. Nutrient pollution results in elevated levels of nitrates and phosphates in the water bodies which results in eutrophication (Helmer,  Hespanhol, 1997).

In America, almost half of the population derives their domestic water from the ground. The water is also used for irrigation and industrial wastes. In the past few years, people became concerned with the quality of ground water. The most common pollutants of ground water are pesticides, fertilizers, and organic compounds which are absorbed from the municipal sanitary fills, underground storage tanks, backyards, golf courses, and intensive agricultural activities (Krantz,  Kifferstein, 2010).

As at the moment, most of the groundwater supplies in America are of good quality and meet the standards established to protect human health. On the contrary, ground water from areas which are still experiencing groundwater pollution are faced with a lot of challenge. Clearing ground water pollution is quite expensive and in some situations not technically possible (Helmer,  Hespanhol, 1997).

Evaluation of Current Sustainability Strategies and Solutions
Currently there are various measures which have been put in place to control the increasing tendencies of water pollution such as industrial waste and sewerage treatments the government needs to support the initiatives fully and openly. The new mitigation plan put in place involves conserving water and cleaning up water which is already polluted from human activities. The challenging part of the plan is its prohibitive cost making it is not easy to apply in third world countries. Although the program appears costly, the effects are equally costly therefore these plans should be put in place to prevent water pollution through treatment of waste waters and pollutants.

The biggest problem facing this plan in the implementation because it lacks regulation plans. Technical feasibility and economic reasonableness of obeying and implementing this plan seems to be the major challenge. However with proper motivation and government support, this plan can really work out and lower the rates at which our waters get polluted. Adoption of the plans by industries and farms will lower the level of water pollution from these sources (Heath, 1995).

Plan to reach sustainability
Before rolling down the initiative, there is need to form a committee which should consist of environmental conscious leaders who would run the program and seek for the permission from the government whenever anything is to be done. The funds which will be needed to roll down the program should be sourced in advance (Helmer,  Hespanhol, 1997).

There is also need to present a short report on the matter to the community members. Evaluation of the plan should be done in terms long and short term effects in preventing water pollution. During briefing the community should be educated on the sources of water pollution and what simple measures they can carry at home. Measures should include proper disposal of wastes, proper use of agricultural chemicals, and avoiding discharge of sewerage water in the rivers and so on (Krantz,  Kifferstein, 2010).

Required Government, Societal, and Global Support
Since the major sources of water pollutions are industrial wastes, industrial and business owners have the ability to prevent water pollution. The government needs to come in and take action by instructing all the industries to treat their wastes. The little money spent on treatment plants can help a great deal in lowering the effects of water pollution (Rubin, 2009).

Treatment plants should be made mandatory in all the industries. The government can ensure compliance by carrying out regular inspections on the functionality of the plants and their efficiencies. The inspection should be done without notice. The society should be made aware of the effects of the actions which they can take lightly like washing in the rivers, discharging raw sewerage.

Food safety is a scientific discipline that describes the handling, preparation and storage of food in ways that prevent food borne illness. This includes a number of routines that need to be followed to avoid potentially severe health risks. Food can transmit diseases from person to person as well as serve as a growth medium for bacteria that causes food poisoning. There are currently debates on genetic food safety on issues such as the impact of genetically modified food on health of future generations as well as the genetic pollution of tee environment which can destroy biodiversity.

Recent trends in global food production, processing and preparation are creating an increasing demand for food safety research in order to ensure a safer global food supply with further emphasis being placed on nutritional value of certain food components and the causal effects of chronic illnesses (Hillers, 1997, pp.5-11).

Food Safety Regulation in the United States
Food safety is a problem that has become a major focus in the world today mostly due to high frequencies in food accidents. In the United States, Food safety regulation is covered by The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protective Agency (EPA). The FDA is responsible for most of the food safety supervision under the authority of FFDCA and other laws the USDA is responsible for inspecting the safety of meat, eggs, animal and plant pest control, including the inspection of pest and animal quarantine. The EPA on the other hand is responsible for pesticide management. These institutions play a very important role on the food safety of different types and stages.

The United States also has a number of laws and regulation relating to food safety which consist of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act the Federal Meat Inspection Act Poultry Products Inspection Act Egg Products Inspection Act Food Quality Protection Act and Public Health Service Act. In addition, the features of U.S Food Quality and safety system are the Government (President), Congress, and the court. The system follows the principles that only healthy and safe food can be sold in the market decisions on food quality and safety are made on a scientific basis the government has a mandatory duty to require manufacturers, distributors, importers and others to comply with food laws and regulations the coordination process is transparent and the public can participate ((Trienekens  Zuurbier, 2008, pp. 107-122)).

Food Safety Regulation in the Europe Union
The European Union has gradually developed a General Food Law, Food Sanitation and twenty other food safety regulations to coordinate the food safety regulatory system in EU countries. A series of food safety regulatory requirements, including animal and plant disease control, the control of drug residues, food production hygienic practices, access to imported food control, official monitoring among others. It formally established the European Food Quality and Safety Authority. Presently, the EU food quality and safety control policy is based primarily on EU Food Law. The EU White Paper on Food Safety points out that the main objective of the Food Law is food quality safety. The law is based on controlling the whole process from farm to table, including the general animal husbandry methods, animal health care, contaminants and pesticide residues, new food, additives, flavor, packaging, radiation, feed production, responsibility of farmers and food producer, as well as various agricultural measures.

Food Safety Management Systems in the Developing Countries
People residing in developing countries face a higher level of exposure to contaminated foodstuffs than those living in First World countries since the tropical climate favors the proliferation of pests and naturally occurring toxins, the water supplies used to clean and process food are frequently unsafe and regulatory standards are either lower or less well enforced. The reason for an increase in food safety management stems in part from a rash prominent of food scares due to outbreaks of Salmonella, E. Coli, and Bovine spongiform Encephalopathy (Otsuki, Wison  Sewadeh, 2001, pp.495-514). Other issues affecting Developing countries in matters relating to food safety management include

A tightening of standards in the North, this is in response to increasing consumer concerns about food safety. Europe, US and Japan have therefore continuously raised the bar that food supplies need to meet stipulated standards so as to be sold in their markets a reorientation of quality assurance methods. The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, and the farm to fork strategies lie in this category (Unnevehr  Jensen, 1996, pp.765-767).These control microbial contamination of food and quality management in the supply chain respectively a shift from end product to process based regulatory standards. Increasingly, regulatory bodies are shifting from measures targeting outcomes to process based measures (Jongwanich, 2009, pp.447-457) an increase in the role of the civil society greater scrutiny of scientific methods and risk assessment. This involves the identification and characterization of hazards, the assessment of populations exposure to these hazards tougher requirements for laboratory analysis (Ropkins  Beck, 2000, p.12).

The SPS measures are not protectionist in intent however, they pose clear, specific difficulties for poorer countries. In particular, poorer countries are handicapped by more limited access to scientific and technical expertise and information needed to meet new requirements. Moreover, the prevailing production and marketing conditions in developing countries are incompatible with SPS requirements (Tjaart, 2005. pp. 492-494).

Quality assurance systems provide an account of the transformation of private sector approaches to quality management. The International Standards Organization helps to accredit quality assurance in Total Quality Management, Good Practices and HACCP especially in the supply chains. Developing countries however lag behind such options to improve the quality of standards in their home countries (Burlingame  Pineiro, 2007, pp.139-146).

From the above information, it can be ascertained that poor countries are faced with far much greater challenges while attempting to address food safety management both locally and internationally. Factors such as lack of expertise, lack of knowledge and incapacitation resulting in lack of funds as well as stringent measures put in place by the developed world are continuously crippling such efforts.

Several developing countries, in efforts of meeting international food safety management, stepped up their regulatory systems to incorporate such mechanisms. The Arab Gulf Cooperation Council has for example established food control systems based on stipulated guidelines for evaluation of food control practices (Al-Kandari  Jukes, pp.1112-1118). The other is Taiwan, Jeng  Fang (2003) expound on this by explaining that regulation of food safety system on country level particularly for factories that export agricultural products has been stepped up in this country (pp.317-322).

Through the last 40 years, concern about the spread of infectious disease has progressed due to the public becoming more concerned about infectious diseases major public health threats. Despite the fact that everything these days is hygienic, hypoallergenic, sterilized, and individually wrapped for your protection, over 30 infectious diseases have cropped up over the last twenty-five years (Patz  Confalonieri, 2004). Even with all these precautions, Infectious diseases have become the leading cause of death in the world and the third in the United States.

Legionnaires disease has transpired along with Lyme disease, Nipah virus, HIVAIDS, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), Ebola virus, West Nile fever, and human Mad Cow disease. In the last few years we have been revisited by diseases that were thought to be extinct such as Tuberculosis, Cholera, Dengue fever, and Malaria (Patz  Confalonieri, 2004) .

The research for this paper will research six modern day factors that are suspects in the spread of disease in the 21st century.  These factors are
Human mobility
Over reliance on antibiotics
Urbanization
Importing and exporting of goods
Sexual promiscuity and drug use
Global warming

Qualitative Research methods will be used in the data collection and analysis processes in order to prove or disprove the authors theory, barring any limitations, that modern day factors greatly increase the spread of infectious diseases. This paper will conclude with a short summary and some information on what the future of infectious diseases could look like.

Human Mobility
Modern air travel greatly improves the chances of spreading infectious diseases to various regions of the world. People are traveling to locations where they will be able to become contaminated and transport new diseases back to their country. With over half a billion travelers flying all over the world every year, one lethal strain of influenza could kill millions of people worldwide (Taubenberger  Morens 2006).

In 1918, a lethal Spanish strain of the influenza virus swept the world, killing an estimated 50 million people. This was prior to the invention of the passenger airplane in 1935. It is difficult to fathom how many lives it could claim today with over half a billion people flying to destinations all over the world every year. The speed of travel in the 21st century enables a person carrying a, such as Ebola virus, to travel 12,000 miles, go by unobserved through customs and immigration prior to having any symptoms until a few days afterward, consequently infecting countless other people ahead of becoming ill. (Taubenberger  Morens 2006).

Over reliance on antibiotics
Antibiotics were presented following WWII and were amply successful at curing bacterial infections. Because of the achievement of antibiotics, people were lead to believe that any infectious disease might undoubtedly be cured. Antibiotics and the development of vaccines served to heal or inhibit some exceptionally scary illnesses. Although scores of viral diseases remained uncured, people nonetheless felt triumphant and assumed that heart disease and cancer had been the only major diseases that remained to be conquered (Gould 2009).

Since the introduction of antibiotics, there have been over 30 new infectious diseases plus a few past diseases have returned to action. HIVAIDS has emerged. Tuberculosis and malaria are making a comeback. Diseases such as rabies and pneumonia are becoming immune to vaccines and medications that have previously been useful (Gould, 2009).

Urbanization
Mainly as a result of advancements in medical technology, people are living for a longer time than they ever used to. Even in undeveloped countries the population density has become more intense. Third world countries do not have sufficient sewage systems, pure drinking water, ample housing, or proper medical facilities to handle the rising population. Because of the increasing population, people are packed into congested megacities, many of which are in humid regions where the environment is ideal for infectious diseases to flourish in (Hay et al. 2005).

Today, in the 21st century, there are over 24 megacities in the world, the majority of them in under developed nations. It is predicted that before the year 2010, half of the worlds inhabitants will be residing in congested urban locations (Hay et al. 2005).

The existing economic situation is surely causing numerous rural people to relocate to cities to attain work. Various contagious illnesses that were formerly localized in rural areas are now capable of reaching larger populations by way of rural urbanization. The number of people that dwell in poverty inside large metropolitan areas has grown at an alarming rate. Urban impoverished areas are breeding grounds for diseases comparable to tuberculosis (Hay et al. 2005).

Data compilations, completed in 1990, estimated that there were, 20 million refugees and 30 million displaced people in the world.  (Patz  Confaloniere, 2004) Entire population movements were largely due to political, economic or catastrophic events such as flooding, earthquakes and drought are crucial elements in disease development. Such crises lead to temporary living arrangements, such as refugee camps and short-term shelters, which become the perfect environment for the spread of infections. Short-term living spaces frequently share similarities with impoverished city areas. Some of those similarities are overcrowding, inadequate sanitation, restricted access to medical attention, lack of uncontaminated water and food, displacement, and ineffective barriers for disease-carrying agents. An example is the movement of 500,000 - 800,000 Rwandan refugees into Zaire in 1994. Almost 50,000 refugees died during the first month from cholera. (Patz  Confaloniere, 2004)

Importing and Exporting of goods
We dine on foods from the worlds gardens, except not all imported foods are healthy. Raspberries from Guatemala made a great many Americans sick on account of a parasite known as Cyclosporine, which was in the water that was used to spray and water the raspberries. Potential disease-ridden bugs and tainted foods, vegetation, and other goods cross U.S. borders on daily basis. Ever since the 1980s, the quantity of imported food to the U.S. has doubled. Increases in food imports have endangered the nations food protection procedure. Despite the fact that we depend on the FDA, USDA and additional government organizations to safeguard our food supply, the number of inspections have reduced by 50 of what they had been a few years back (Garrett, 1996).

Due to the worlds countries steadily become more entwined, inter-reliant, and extremely competitive, will the other nations of the world adjust their values to become more akin to those of the U.S. or will the U.S., regardless of elevated principles, turn out to be more susceptible to the rest of the worlds germs (Garrett, 1996)

Sexual Promiscuity and Drug Use
The most recent epidemic on a worldwide scale is HIVAids. HIVAids appeared in 1979 but it was until the mid 1980s that the disease was given a name. Thirty years later there is still no cure for this disease. HIVAids are spread through body fluids with the main ways of becoming effected are through sexual contact and intravenous drug use. In 1997 it was estimated by UNAIDS (United Nations special program on the AIDS epidemic, that over 16,000 people worldwide were being infected with the HIV virus every day. This epidemic has shown the world that we are continually defending ourselves from an army of microscopic organisms that can emerge or mutate at any time (Eberstadt, 2002).

Intravenous drug use continues to spread the disease far beyond those who inject drugs. Anyone who has sex with an intravenous drug user is at great risk of contracting the disease. Then to make matters worse, children born to HIV infected mothers may also become infected. Since the beginning of the HIVAids, intravenous drug use has either directly or indirectly accounted for over 36 of all Aids cases in the U.S. Racial and ethnic minority people in the U.S. are at the greatest risk. It is not only intravenous drug users that are at risk because studies have shown that crack smokers are three times more likely to contract Aids than those who do not smoke crack. Sixty-one percent of all women infected with the HIV virus had contracted it through sexual contact (Eberstadt, 2002).

It is predicted that in the 21st century, the group with the highest risk will be children under the age of 15. In 1997, over half a million children, worldwide, under 15 years old had contracted HIV through birth by infected mothers, sexual contact, and drug use. HIVAids is the second leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 25 and 44. HIVAids is the leading cause of death for African American men and women between 25 and 44 years of age. Over half of the reported Aids cases in 1997 were among young homosexual men and 49 of infected women were infected heterosexually (Eberstadt, 2002).

The HIVAids epidemic has also been the cause of another epidemic Millions of children are being orphaned by HIVAids infected parents, quoted by Eberstadt, (2002).

Changes in climate due to Global Warming
Numerous transmittable diseases are extremely receptive to climatic shifts, mainly in temperature, surface water, and moisture. It is evident that climatic shifts are taking place as a result of increased emissions of green house gases. The main causes of climatic shifts are caused by human influences. The typical global surface temperature since AD 1000 began to increase around 1975. From 1975 to 2001, the worlds typical surface temperature has increased by .4 degrees Celsius. It is estimated that over the next century, the typical surface temperature will increase 2-3 degrees Celsius (IPCC 2001). According to Karl and Trenberth (2003), This change in temperature will soon exceed the bounds of natural variability.

The frequency and geographical span of selected plant and animal infectious diseases has apparently altered, to some extent in reaction to climate shifts over recent years. Many infectious diseases are greatly influenced by the altering of local, regional, and global ecosystems that is being done by humans. In tropical regions, dams that were created by humans to store water for irrigation and hydroelectric power have made it possible for water borne diseases to expand in populated areas where they were previously nonexistent. (Harvell et al. 2002).

Human transferable diseases are attributed to an intricate range of conditions making it hard to know precisely what the effects are as a result of climate variation alone. Even so, some data exists regarding an influence of recent climate change on Cholera in Bangladesh, tick-borne Encephalitis in Sweden, and Malaria in regions of eastern Africa (Lindgren  Gustafson, 2001).

There has been extensive research done to establish how human diseases such as malaria
and dengue fever will react to the scope of worldwide climate shifts that are projected to take place over the next century. A great deal more research needs to be completed to conclude how climatic variations will effect microbial mutation and how the recent increase in severe weather events and natural disasters will affect the dispersion of communicable diseases (Kuno, 1995).

Dengue fever is affected by urbanization, travel, trade, and weather conditions. Dengue is by far the most notable vector-borne viral disease of humans. This disease is extremely likely to become affected by worldwide climate alteration. Approx. 80 million cases of Dengue fever are reported each year, of which 20,000 die. Dengue is primarily a tropical disease and has expanded in recent decades to nations with moderate climates. The increase in the number of cases is also attributed to an increase in human mobility via air travel (Monath, 1994).

The Dengue virus breeds in stagnate water locations that are commonly found in the urban environment. This virus strain has accomplished extraordinary evolutionary adjustment to coexist with humans, having originated in the tropical forests of Africa. It has been determined by scientific research, that Dengue is one of the main communicable diseases most expected to be affected by international climate shifts all the way through the 21st century and farther into the future (Monath, 1994).

Many infectious diseases are greatly influenced by the altering of local, regional, and global ecosystems that is being done by humans. In tropical regions, dams that were created by humans to store water for irrigation and hydroelectric power have made it possible for water borne diseases to expand in populated areas where they were previously nonexistent (Kuno, 1995).

Methodology
The research for this article is qualitative in nature. Qualitative research is a method of used by many academic subjects, such as social sciences and marketing research. Qualitative researchers have a goal of learning about human behavior (e.g. why and how people do what they do).  This types of research focuses on researching specific items of a topic instead of the whole topic and all of its variables.

The research conducted for this paper was focused on six human influenced factors that may or may not be the cause of increased spreading of infectious diseases.  A small sampling of specific infectious diseases is discussed in relation to the factors that were researched.

Data Collection Method
The grounded theory data collection method was used for this paper. Grounded theory is used to form a theory or to prove or disprove a current theory from the data retrieved during the process of conducting research.

Analysis of data Interpretive techniques
The most common analysis of qualitative data is observer impression. That is, expert or bystander observers examine the existing documented data, interpret it via forming an impression and report their impression in a structured and sometimes quantitative form.

Limitations
The research for this paper has determined that not all infectious diseases have been positively linked to modern day factors. Research in this field is in progress. In order for scientists to determine the factors causing the spread or mutation of a disease, they must first determine the cause of each factor. For example it has been only recently, that the main cause of climate changes was human influence, had been discovered.

Summary
Research on all six factors was conducted by reading and compiling recorded data on factors and the diseases. It was determined that several very serious infectious diseases can be linked to one or more the researched factors. In the last 40 years over thirty new, renewed, or mutated diseases have plagued the world. It was also discovered that all of the factors were influenced by humans. It is my opinion that there is only one main factor that causes the spread of infectious disease, and that factor is humans.

Conclusion
Many of the past diseases that cause worldwide pandemics are still alive and mutating today. One of the biggest threats for the 21st century is the influenza virus. The flu virus constantly mutates and becomes immune to vaccines very quickly. The most recent deadly strain is H1N1 (Nipah virus) also known as the swine flu, and also recently the bird flu (Fong, 2008).

According the St. Johns Providence Health System, In the first 10 years of this century, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) have noticed a disturbing trend. The number of people diagnosed with diseases such as West Nile, Monkey Pox, and Hantavirus has risen greatly. Diseases that had once been nearly wiped out, such as measles, mumps, pertussis, and malaria, have reappeared. And to top it all off, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases like tuberculosis and Aids appear to be accelerating again.

St. Johns Providence Health System feels that the reason for the escalation is the way humans live. A few of those reasons are (2010)
Weakened immune systems caused by genetics, other diseases, and malnutrition.
Clearing forests and wetlands increases humans exposure to rats.
Giving antibiotics to farm animals.
The increase in worldwide natural disasters.
War and biological weapons.

Authors note It will certainly take global efforts to control the spread of infectious disease. It seems that humans have been messing with Mother Nature and she is not very happy about it.

Species are termed extinct when they survive in a few numbers that cannot reproduce more species or the species does not survive any more. Death, poor health and lack of the opposite sex from the preceding species can make certain specie to be extinct.

Factors that bring about specie extinction
Human beings practices such as, farming, housing development and mining have resulted to species extinction. Cutting down of trees hinders with the habitat of some species and the interference of the water catchments have resulted to the loss of endangered  aquatic species due to the  economic practices carried out by human being  (Rogers, Wilkinson, 2000). Certain species develop and become competitors to other species. They ascertain themselves to the environment and nourish on what the other species feed on. Consequently, competition is developed between the endangered species which become less resistant to the competitors making the endangered species extinctive

Chemicals are pollutants to the environment emission of chemicals from industries for example the smoke from industries has lead to the provision of acidic rain which leads to death of the marine life making some aquatic species extinct. The production of the fertilizers and the usage of chemicals on plant have lead to a high rise of some species which feed on the plants to die due to the chemicals being used on them (Levin, 2000). Chemicals released on the water catchments areas by industries bring about water pollution hence leading to death of some endangered aquatic species.
 
Us laws and policy on specie extinction
Laws have been defined on specie extinction the Endangered Species Acts (ESA) is responsible for the protection of species that are in jeopardy in extinction by protecting its ecosystem. This act is managed on two groups the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They enact the policies of protecting the land and the aquatic life in US from any threat (David, 1996). They deal with the protection of the marine life from any threat. Recognition of an endangered species and protection of the ecosystem is there main role.

In section 4 of the law, it establishes critical habitat. This section has a responsibity of ascertaining critical habitat meaning that the endangered species have a right to protection and its habitation regardless the economic growth of a place. The critical habitat section contains the ecosystems that the species inhabit need protection from any threat (Winston, 1999).

Discrepancies in current laws and policies in handling the problem
The endangered species have increased in the protection list because the current laws and policies are going contrary to their role hence not being able to control the specie extinction. Despite the fact that Endangered Specie Act (ESA) responsibity is to conserve the ecosystems where the endangered specie inhabit, it can be divisive where economic growth is termed (Green, 1999). The economic growth in US is rapid. For example, mining, construction of dams and construction of companies are economic practices which are beneficial but they exceedingly alter the ecosystem which inhabits some species because they require land clearance (Wheeler, Meier, 2000). Some projects carried out in the field lead to loss of some species especially if they need to interfere with the habitats of the species. Therefore, Endangered Species Act becomes divisive in such situation which affects the ecosystem.