When history considers the impact civilization has had on planet earth, it is likely to look at all the construction and how that has changed everything from temperature to rainfall. Along with such massive changes, everything has to be carefully considered, because natural processes no longer apply. A normal rainfall, when the rain has no way to seep into the soil, means a massive storm water management system has to work well.
People everywhere have become a great deal more concerned with how mankind is treating the planet, especially where pollution is concerned. The notion that the atmosphere and the oceans are so large that our impact is negligible has been thoroughly debunked. The most direct assaults on the environment have been legislated or self-regulated for the most part.
Major problems have been addressed nationally and internationally, and the practice of simply dumping waste at sea is outlawed everywhere. When it comes to oceangoing vessels and even pleasure craft, the rules are strict and uncompromising. The world is intolerant of errors that dump things, especially fossil fuels, into the sea, and punishment can be severe.
But for all the progress we have made a society, we have not come that far in the arena of individual behavior. The same community that will vote overwhelmingly for legislation designed to prevent pollution from local businesses may well be doing more harm by itself. The arena of personal responsibility for taking care of the earth is much ignored.
Communities are quick to act on legislation designed to keep the environment protected, as long as the target of the laws are big corporations. Rules that inconvenience individuals do not have such an easy time passing. The connection between incremental amounts of hazardous material accumulating into a big concern is not easily made.
The logic disconnect is that by and large once the pollutant is on the ground, whether on the side of the road, a parking area or the nearby sewage drain, forgetting about it is easy. Sadly, these pollutants are now on the fast track to the rivers, lakes and sea; the very bodies all want to protect; we just do not see the material during its journey. Even less dramatic urban activity carries a hefty impact over time, like washing a car or fertilizing the lawn.
When it comes to all the flat surfaces on which we operate our automobiles, each is developed with the notion that large puddles are a hazard which must be reduced. Because the rain can not penetrate and go to ground sources, it must be channeled away from the highways and streets. The volumes can be astounding even for a normal rainy day, and the accumulated runoff is directed to rivers, streams and lakes carrying everything from the surface with it.
If the nations of the world truly intend to address the concern of putting harmful chemicals into the hydrological cycle of this planet, individual responsibility will have to be a part. If each person took care to properly dispose of chemicals instead of just releasing it, there would be a major reduction in pollutants reaching the ocean. Storm water management is a critical piece of the solution, but not the biggest.
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