Ask A Scientist© Environmental Science Archive

Author:     Marge
Text:       Do you think the pollution will still be on Earth in 100 years?

Response #: 1 of 1
Author:     Don Libby
Text:       Yes, (and some people will still be around on Earth in 100 years 
too: my Grandmother is 90 years old and still going strong!) Some kinds of 
pollution are a necessary part of life, and will be around as long as there 
are living things. Other kinds of pollution happen as a result of human 
industry - the things we make for a more comfortable life sometimes generate 
toxic waste that is harmful to life if it is not destroyed or stored safely. 
For the first 100 years of the Industrial Revolution, people did not always 
handle the waste safely, because there was plenty of room to just "throw it 
away" so it would not bother anyone. More recently we have begun to recognize 
the health problems caused by some kinds of pollution and are more careful 
about how wastes are handled and disposed of. There is a special kind of waste 
that is radioactive and harmful to life, but which does not break down and 
become harmless for a very long time (up to 10,000 years in some cases). This 
nuclear waste must be kept isolated from the environment in a special kind of 
dump, and scientists here at Argonne are working hard to find better ways to 
keep radioactive waste from bothering people.