Pollution Issues in Human History

Pollution problems are hardly a new phenomenon, unique to the current century. Indeed, the history of every human culture appears to contain stories of the cavalier way we have treated our waste products. Until quite recently, people simply dumped wastes into the nearest river or lake, open pits, or the surrounding air, without thinking about the possible effects of those products on plants, animals, or their own lives. 

One of the earliest records of complaints about pollution—air pollution specifically—dates to about 900 b.c.e., when the Egyptian pharaoh Tukulti wrote about his visit to Babylon. He described the 

Notwithstanding Tukulti s experience, the primary cause of air pollution for most of history has been wood or coal fires, especially in crowded urban communities. The streets of Rome, for example, were notorious for their terrible, smoky character, caused by thousands of wood and coal fires. In 61 c.E. the Roman philosopher Seneca described how this foul air affected his mood As soon as I had gotten out of the heavy air of Rome and from the stink of the smokey chimneys thereof, he once wrote, ... I felt an alteration of my disposition.  

Other developed nations wrestled with the same problems, hut there is little evidence to show that any of the proclamations, laws, or recommendations (such as those of Evelyn) had any long-term effect on the chronic air pollution problems experienced by London and other large cities. Instead, air pollution became even more severe than in previous centuries, largely as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution, a period of rapid industrial growth beginning in the late 18th century. 

Chadwick s report contained 17 conclusions about environmental conditions in Great Britain with 15 recommendations for ways of improving these conditions. 

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