Term paper on environmental studies

Miami

Miami is a city in the state of Florida in the south of the United States. The city is home to about twenty million residents and has over eighty million visitors every year. There are a number of environmental issues facing this city among them the destruction of the everglades wetlands, a high number of invasive species in the area mostly as a result of pets and the disappearance of some native species. However, as with any major city, among the greatest environmental issue of concern is waste management and water pollution.
Among the greatest problems, facing Miami is pollution by petroleum products. On average, the city recorded up to 13, 000 incidences of petroleum cleanups in 2010 in addition to over 3000 cleanups for dry cleaning fluid and hazardous waste. These were as a result of leakages and spillages both on land and in water bodies in the area. The major solution to this problem is to ensure that the infrastructure supporting petroleum industry is well maintained. This will reduce the incidences of leakages and spillages which are the highest contributors to this pollution. In addition, proper infrastructure should be introduced to enable proper disposal of petroleum, dry-cleaning and other hazardous waste. In addition to ensuring there is proper well maintained infrastructure, legislation should be made to ensure punitive measures for offenders. Responsible polluters should be faced with high fines to ensure that there is proper cleanup and compensation of affected people (Jacobson, 2012). Miami’s soil is also high in phosphorous due to its closeness to the sea. Use of fertilizers rich in phosphorous has contributed to increased phosphorous run-off in the city’s water. Regulation of the use of fertilizers is going to help in controlling phosphorous pollution. These measures are going to go a long way in controlling pollution (Kumar, 2006).
Solid waste management is also a major issue in Miami. The city’s residents generate up to thirty million tons of solid waste. This has led to increased pressure on landfill sites. The cost of landfills is very high and it is important to find alternative ways of managing solid waste. Before finding waste management methods, it is important to ensure that people are conservative. This will ensure that people re-use and recycle products before disposing them. People should also be encouraged to use bio-degradable products to ensure that they do not harm the environment after disposal. There have been plants to burn solid waste in a plasma-ion plant to generate energy for use by the city (Kumar, 2006).
People who believe in anthropocentrism are of the view that the human species is the most important species. They are therefore of the view that as long as human beings are well taken care of in matters environment, then everything is okay. On the other hand, egocentrics are unable to take the opinions of others. They are concerned with their own wellbeing. In a way the two school of thoughts are similar. This is where both believe that they are most important and do not look at the environment from the perspective of other species sharing the environment. In a way, these two schools of thought have been responsible for the environmental issues facing the city. The human beings have single handedly been responsible for the pollution because they do not consider the environment when performing their actions (Pepper, Gerba, & Brusseau, 2006).

References

Jacobson, M. Z., & Jacobson, M. Z. (2012). Air pollution and global warming: History, science, and solutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kumar, A. (2006). Industrial pollution: Problems and solutions. Delhi: Daya Publishing House.
Pepper, I. L., Gerba, C. P., & Brusseau, M. L. (2006). Environmental & pollution science. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.