El smoke not only negatively affects human health, but has a devastating impact on the the environmentAlthough this aspect is less known, the effects of tobacco on the environment are multiple and range from deforestation to pollution by toxic waste, contributing to global problems such as climate change and air and water pollution.
Air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
Tobacco contributes significantly to air pollution. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including toxins such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and methane, all gases that aggravate Greenhouse. In addition, each cigarette generates up to 14 grams of CO2, which equates to considerable emissions during its production and consumption phase.
A little-discussed aspect is that cigarette manufacturing emits around 84 million metric tons of CO2 annually, which is equivalent to the emissions of 280,000 rockets launched into space. This puts the tobacco industry among the main responsible for the atmospheric pollution, contributing to global warming and the reduction in air quality, both indoors and outdoors.
Deforestation and loss of biodiversity
Tobacco cultivation poses a significant threat to the world's forests. Approximately 100,000 tons of tobacco are cut down each year. 200,000 hectares of land to grow tobacco, causing massive deforestation. This has a direct impact on the loss of biodiversity, as forest ecosystems disappear or are completely degraded. It is estimated that 1,000 million hectares are needed One tree for every 300 cigarettes manufactured.
Deforestation also has to do with the tobacco curing process. To dry the leaves, large amounts of wood have to be burned, which further aggravates the problem. disappearance of trees. Every year they are used 11,4 million tons of wood only to cure tobacco leaves globally. This contributes to both soil erosion and desertification in some regions of the world, particularly affecting developing countries.
Tobacco crops also impoverish the land, as they require a large amount of fertilizers and pesticides. These chemicals, in addition to preventing the soil from becoming fertile for other crops, also contaminate groundwater sources and nearby aquatic ecosystems.
Impact of tobacco waste
One of the most common and dangerous waste for the environment is cigarette butts. Globally, around 1000 people are thrown away. 4,5 billion cigarette butts each year, making them the most collected waste in urban and coastal clean-up activities. Due to their composition, which includes filters, cellulose acetate, these cigarette butts can take up to 10-25 years to completely degrade.
In addition, each cigarette butt can contaminate up to 50 liters of water with toxic substances such as nicotine and tar, affecting both freshwater bodies and oceans. The effects of this pollution are devastating for aquatic ecosystems, as it can cause the death of fish and other forms of marine life.
Much of this waste ends up in the oceans and beaches, which not only harms the environment, but also has a brutal economic cost. According to the WHO, China spends around 2,600 million per year to clean up tobacco product waste, while India allocates about 766 million annually.
Forest fires caused by cigarette butts
Another of the most alarming consequences of the use of tobacco products is their role in forest fires. Badly extinguished cigarette butts are responsible for a large number of fires that ravage large areas of forest. It is estimated that 3,25% of forest fires They are caused by carelessly discarded cigarettes.
In the last 20 years, it is estimated that more than 40,000 hectares of forests due to fires caused by cigarettes, seriously impacting local flora and fauna. The destruction caused by these fires not only affects biodiversity, but also releases large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, further contributing to climate change.
Excessive water consumption
Tobacco cultivation is also a major consumer of water. It is estimated that for each cigarette, an average of 100,000 tons of water is used. 3,7 liters of water. This translates into 263,813 million liters of water used only in Brazil for annual tobacco production. In developing countries, where water is already scarce, this demand for resources is highly unsustainable, affecting the capacity of these regions to produce food and generate drinking water.
The impact of tobacco on water sources is also direct, since when used in agricultural regions close to rivers and lakes, the pesticides and fertilizers used for its cultivation contaminate water sources, affecting both wildlife and people who depend on these waters for their livelihood.
Tobacco is not only a threat to human health, but also to the health of our planet. From air pollution from cigarette smoke to ocean and soil pollution from improperly disposed cigarette butts. If we want to contribute to improving the environment and curbing the effects of climate change, one of the wisest decisions we can make is to reduce or eliminate tobacco consumption, both for our health and for that of the global ecosystem.
a question: a cigarette butt, how many liters of water is it capable of contaminating?
Ni idea
Up to 50 liters or more
it's horribly badly worded.
And swallow mill wheels like this article How much pollutes?
may God have mercy on humanity! the same man is destroying nature
It is impressive how many addicts do not give a damn about my environment since they are transformed and manipulated, they do not care if it harms the other if it generates environmental smoke, nothing and the worst if one is uninformed it does not matter and they take advantage of polluting addicts to toxic poison you have to prohibit and undo
Everything is in the consciousness of each human… .. But obviously it's like trying to give up fast food. This is something that is everywhere and invades the Subconscious of humans.