Environmental Toxins: Environmental Issues Affect Us All

Many wonder why we should worry about the environment. After all, we are able to get food quickly and easily, fresh water flows from the faucets in our houses, and gasoline is easy to find and buy. From the American lifestyle, there is no immediate reminder of the toll our lifestyle takes on the environment. Society even goes so far as to encourage a wasteful and carefree lifestyle.

Kieler: Environmental Issues Affect Us Today

However, all of this is not reason enough to say that we should not be concerned about the environment. Chemical pollutants in the air can cause dangerous respiratory illnesses. Water toxins can act as carcinogens. A 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that tens of millions of people will be affected by food and water shortages by 2020 because of a lack of rainfall caused by global warming. A national think tank, the CNA Corporation, says that resource shortages caused by global warming likely will cause "civil strife, genocide, and the growth of terrorism."