The Industrial Revolution was a period of fundamental changes in agriculture, textile manufacture, transportation, economic policies and social structure. These occurred mainly in England. The use of machinery and factories led to mass production, which gave solutions to certain problems that the society had to face because of the population growth, but also in turn it led to the development of numerous environmental difficulties.
The way in which people used to perceive environmental problems in the 18th and 19th centuries was completely different to the way in which it is seen nowadays. Back then, there was no need to care about the environment, which in my consideration, might have been a huge mistake because of the consequences that we face now thanks to the unconcern of those facts. One of the most significant impacts that the industrial revolution caused was environmental, a lot of trees had to be cut down in order to construct factories and for machinery. Consequentially, trees could not emit oxygen, whilst the quality of air was heavily affected by the pollution that factories produced, which is why global warming and the problem of CO2 emissions occurred. Water pollution is also concerned with the rise of machinery during the industrial revolution. Chemicals were developed and therefore more pollution was emitted to the air, water and soil thanks to the waste that factories produced. Population growth hasn’t stopped since then. Nowadays we have reached greater levels of productivity, but the problem is that there are no resources to produce what needs to be produced. Conditions are not optimal to generate what the population needs, whilst health problems are more severe because of the pollution from climate change, yet, these aren’t the only consequences that the industrial revolution brought. Sustainable development also includes social responsibility. Regarding this aspect, we have repercussions from televisions or cell phones which have made people’s lives more sedentary, provoking health problems like addictions, or vision difficulties. Even obesity is related to the development of new technologies because of the massive production of food, people have begun to consume more, causing an imbalance in society’s lifestyle. It is important to be concerned about our actions as we are part of a society in constant change, and every change brings with it a consequence, so what needs to be done is to think about implementing preventive measures in order to let future generations take advantage as much as possible of the resources that can still be utilized.
By Patricia Cruz Flores
globalindustrialpollution 
This is an interesting article.
I liked the way you focused on future generations and how industrial revolution is still present in our lives. 🙂 Great job!
I do consider that the measures are imperatively necessary but I would like to know the focus that this issue is taking in Mexico, because the political turmoil caused by the proposal of the energetic reform is something to take into consideration.
I am completeley agree with you Paty. Yes we had a huge industrial and economical development due to indutrialization but how high is the price we will have to pay in the furhter years. Since the industrialization, this non-sutainable mentality has spread all around the world and are very few the persons who are aware about our destructive condition and really do something about it. I think that the material developmnet is good and necessary for our society but we have to achieve a balance between development and sustainability, Otherwise in a few decades we will find ourselves in an irreversible problem and it will be all because of our lack of conscience.
The concept of social responsibility is an interesting one. Should I take personal responsibility for my damage to the environment, through the use of electricity, water and fossil fuels? For me the key factor in this is education. Conserving and limiting our energy use should be taught from an early age, so that it becomes a societal norm, as opposed to something only embraced by those on the left or environmental activists.
I specially liked the future generations approach, but im not sure if they didnt cared about the enviroment, most likely they feeled the nature as something dangerous for man kind that had to be attacked in order for the society to grow, by the industrial revolution yo hitted mother nature on the face and got cheapper better things, it was a win-win
I strongly agree with you Paty, we need to be responsible for the IR impact but as Robert said we need more education in order to prevent the impact, you mentioned something that made me realize that everything regarding the impact is linked such as the overpopulation this is linked to the demand of water and if the population is “oversized” and the water is not enough this leads to “toxic water” spreading. And that’s the point of where new technologies should be developed
Daniela S. G.
I couldn’t agree more with you.
I found interesting your point regarding the mass production of fast food and also the fact that you point out the fact that industrial revolution hasn’t stopped because we are still looking for solutions to our everyday problems.
I also like to wonder what will happen to future generations, in fact, is funny how our social perspective has definately changed. Back in the XX Century and even up to 2002 or 2003, people would fantasize about a fully developed society with state-of-the-art machinery and this was reflected in books, movies, interviews and so on and so fort. Nowadays we all hava an apocalyptic perspective of the earth, and it is specially thanks to us, because we are desperately looking for solutions to health problems and such. Who knows? Maybe in the future water will be way more expensive than it is today, I really don’t know if it’s too late or not. The big question is: How would I like the earth to be for the future generations?
I agree with you in many things, I think that industrail revolution brought a lot of problems that weren’t contemplated. In those problems were the overpopulation and the most important, pollution. Also is important to mention that this industralization would bring a lot of new technologies, as Rob says, we need education because the responsability about how we use this new technologies is our, because finally we have decided with the time a change in lifestyle.
Linett Vite
I loved it, you are really objective really clear. You are perfectly reflecting what is happen in our world in our reality and what we are leaving to the next generation (like your tittle said).
Really nice article, I agree with all the points of your article, specially when you speak about the consequences that a little problem can develop. Also i found interesting your comparison of the population growth and the way you point your ideas and comments in each part that you found interesting.
I enjoyed reading this essay, I totally agree with your point of leaving something to the next generation.
What measures do you think we can apply in order to assure a future for the kids, or even that do you think we are capable of doing it?