Smoking

INTRO

In 2004, global cigarette production was 5.5 trillion units, or 868 cigarettes per person. There are around 1.2 billion smokers in the world. These statistics were made 7 years ago. How much more now?

All smokers think that by smoking they are only damaging their health. They are ignorant about the fact that their smoking is one of the biggest contributors to environment degradation. Smoking is harmful to the environment because it causes pollution, damages the ozone layer and harms wildlife.

POLLUTION: WATER, LAND

Millions of cigarette butts are discarded onto to the ground every day. At least 4.5 trillion filter-tipped cigarettes are deposited annually. Some end up in the rivers and lakes contaminating our water and are sometimes mistaken for food by animals which leads to their death. The rest are left on the ground to decompose which will take an average of 25-26 years while all the chemicals and additives leach into the ground and contaminate the soil.

In addition, tobacco is potassium-hungry, absorbing 6 times more than other crops, leaving soil in poor condition for essential food and cash crops.

During dry seasons cigarette butts can even cause major fire which can be very damaging to our surroundings and environment.

OZONE LAYER: GLOBAL WARMING, INHOSPITABLE ENVIRONMENT

Cigarettes contain over 4000 chemicals which are exhaled and released into the air. Smoking can emit an estimated 5-10 grams of carbon dioxide per stick. Since there are billions of smokers, this indicates an enormous amount of toxic release into our atmosphere every single day.

Furthermore, Tobacco is a fragile plant that is likely to pick up disease. So tobacco crops are often sprayed with a lot of harmful pesticides and chemicals to maintain their proper growth. This also contributes significantly to ozone depletion.

Also, these chemicals, such as carbon dioxide, destroy our ozone layer and contribute to climate change. Our ozone layer acts as the shield...