Susan Whelan, age 15, of Fargo, N.D., for her question:
WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION?
Environmental pollution is a term that refers to all the ways in which man pollutes his surroundings. Man dirties the air with smoke and gases, poisons the water with chemicals and damages the soil with too many pesticides and fertilizers.
There are a number of kinds of environmental pollution, including air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution and pollution caused by solid i~aastes, noise and radiation.
Because all parts of the environment are closely related to one another, harm to one part of the environment may also effect others. Wind, as an example, can blow pollutants from the land into the air.
Man has caused environmental pollution since prehistoric times. He has always thrown wastes in water and caused smoke by burning fuel.
As cities grew, pollution problems grew with them. They became extremely dangerous in large European cities with widespread industrial development in the late 1700s and early 1800s. And by the early 1900s, smoke and soot from steel mills, power plants, railroads and heating plants caused trouble in a number of American industrial cities.
Recognizing the serious nature of environmental pollution, great efforts have been made through the years to correct the wrongs.
Since the 1950s, air pollution from coal burning has been greatly reduced in most parts of the world. Nearly all railroads and many industries and home heating plants now use cleaner fuels, such as natural gas and oil.
In addition, many industries that still use coal have taken steps to control the pollution from their furnaces.
Public concern over environmental pollution has grown in recent years. Very large numbers of people have objected to air pollution, water pollution and solid wastes that they have seen around them. And they are doings things to correct the problems.
One of the highlights in the anti pollution movement was the establishment in 1970 of Earth Day, an annual event designed to clear the environment.
It was on April 22 in 1970 that the first Earth Day was held. On that day a movement took place in which more than 20 million persons throughout the United States participated in anti pollution demonstrations and other activities.
Since the first Earth Day, the anti pollution movement has continued to grow.
One part of the environmental pollution campaign includes the recycling of waste products. Cans and newspapers, it has been discovered, can be used over and over again for the same purpose. Old newspapers can be turned into pulp and then made into clean newsprint while old cans can be melted down and used to make new cans.
There is also a major recycling movement now of plastic material and glass.