According to Adebobola, “the spread of democratic government brings more support for spreading resources to address environmental problems, in the remote rural areas.” These efforts to reverse the trend in environmental degradation have not gone without having positive impacts on environmental trends. There are trends at both local and global levels that demonstrate improvement in the world environment today. This has been shown through the analysis of air, water, and land qualities. The quality of air has recorded improvement because of a reduction in the levels of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and a decrease in particulate matter.
These trends demonstrate that regulations aimed at protecting the environment at both local and global levels are showing effectiveness. According to OhioEPA, “carbon monoxide levels have been reduced by more than 61 percent and there was an average decrease of more than 52 percent in sulfur dioxide levels.” In addition to the above, OhioEPA proceeds to demonstrate improvement in environmental trends today by succinctly stating that “Nitrogen oxide pollution levels have been reduced an average of more than 15 percent and particulate matter 10 microns in diameter dropped 22 percent from 1989 to 2000.” Furthermore, reduction in the use of chlorofluorocarbons in industries and regulations that strictly ban the use of air pollutants has led to the general improvement of the quality of air today.
In addition to the above, the trends in the quality of the water tested at different parts of the world demonstrate levels of improvement. This is based on reduced dumping of industrial wastes in rivers and water sources. In the United States, several initiatives that have been instituted in the recent past have shown an increase in the quality of water. According to Environmental News Network, “Ohio’s water quality also has improved greatly since Ohio EPA was created and Lake Erie water quality has improved considerably, largely from steep reductions in phosphorus loading and reductions in point source discharges.” Such initiatives that involve the creation of Environmental Protection Agencies in the whole world have led to a paradigm shift from the traditional modes of dumping industrial wastes.
Some initiatives that have paid rewards include the subjection of industrial wastes to pre-treatment procedures aimed at reducing the levels of toxicity of wastes before discharging them for dumping. “In addition, 54.6 percent of the Ohio river miles monitored since 1988 now fully meet aquatic life uses, up from just 34 percent prior to 1988.” It can be started from the above discussions that strict measures on the handling of both domestic and industrial wastes can greatly improve the status of the environment today and protect the future. However, this calls for the involvement of each and everyone for the efforts to not only bear fruits but also remain sustainable for the long-term effects.