到目前为止，我们都知道吸烟对我们的健康有害：比吸烟还严重16 million Americanscurrently have a disease that was caused by smoking, and almost half a million people die every year because of smoking-related diseases and effects.
但是你知道香烟对地球的健康同样有害吗？在烟草种植、香烟烟雾和香烟污染之间，空气、土地和海洋都受到香烟的负面影响。
Keep reading to learn the scary details of how cigarettes can seriously damage the environment, and here are some tips on how to stop it.
香烟对环境的负面影响
正如我们之前所说，这并不是一个简单的“吸烟有害空气”的例子（尽管，这是吸烟污染的一个关键组成部分）。让我们看看香烟危害环境的各种方式。
烟草与森林砍伐
In order to make cigarettes, tobacco must be grown and cured. In order to do this, massive areas of forest are cleared to make room to grow the tobacco. This is a leading cause of deforestation that leads to600 million trees being cut downannually for tobacco growth, which is equal to almost 5% of global deforestation just from tobacco.
Deforestation leads to a number of negative environmental implications, including habitat loss for plants, animals, and people as well as a huge increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
事实上，占所有温室气体排放量的15%来自森林砍伐。
Not only does the tobacco industry lead to masses of trees being cut down, but it also requires wood to be burned for the tobacco curing process. The burning of thousands of trees leads to even more greenhouse gas emissions, which contributes to global warming.
Harms the Natural Soil
Tobacco leeches the soil of naturally occurring nutrients and minerals that are necessary for native plant growth. Without these nutrients and minerals, natural plants fail to survive, which is harmful to the native environment, flora, and fauna.
Not only will tobacco growth take away essential chemicals, but it also adds harmful ones. Almost all tobacco farms use harmful pesticides like methyl bromide. This pesticide not only causes serious人类健康问题, but it also can kill animals, seep into the soil for years, poison nearby water sources, and导致臭氧层的破坏.
空气污染
Here’s the portion you’re probably most familiar with: cigarette smoke. But before we get there, let’s remember that the smoke produced during the curing process of tobacco also leads to air pollution as well.
雪茄ette smoke contains over 6,000 different chemicals, over 60 of those are known carcinogens. Every time you light up, you’re turning清洁空气进入充满有害化学物质和毒素的空气。
雪茄ette smoke is also one of the leading causes of nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane build-up in the atmosphere, all of which contribute to global warming and climate change. Cigarettes lead to2.6 million tonsof carbon dioxide emissions each year.
雪茄ette Pollution: Land
想想你走过的每一条人行道：你可能会看到至少5个被丢弃的烟头。在垃圾桶上面怎么样？在沙滩上的沙滩上？在酒吧的地板上？在街上？
雪茄ette butts are by far the第一项discarded as trash/litter in the world. They’re non-biodegradable and can build-up as trash throughout the world.
雪茄ette waste is worse than other litter because of all the toxins within the butts and cigarettes themselves. When they’re tossed on the ground, in the street, in the forest, etc, the toxins will soak into nearby soil and water, adding dangerous toxins and contaminants to the environment.
雪茄ette Pollution: Oceans
雪茄ette butts are also the number one source of ocean trash. The toxins, chemicals, heavy metals, and pesticides within these cigarette butts essentially poison the water for aquatic life.
One studyshowed that a cigarette can kill half of the fish that are exposed to its toxins. And with7 billion cigarette buttslittered every year, you can only imagine the huge environmental impact they’ll have on our oceans and the life within them.
Fire
雪茄ettes lead to成千上万的家庭和森林火灾every year. Discarded cigarette butts that are still lit can easily cause a huge and devastating fire.
这些火灾导致人类、动物和天然植物和树木大量死亡。
你能做什么
So what can you do to prevent cigarettes from having a lasting impact on the environment?
Switch to More Environmentally Friendly Options
如果你是一个吸烟者或者正在慢慢地放松你的戒烟方式，你应该改用一种更环保的方式来获得你的尼古丁。你可以改用尼古丁贴片或口香糖。
或者你可以改用电子烟。你可以从MistHubor try the Juul, both of which are popular options that are more environmentally friendly than classic cigarettes.
Quit Smoking Altogether
However, even using these smoking alternatives still contributes to the tobacco industry. This won’t limit the impact of tobacco farming that we discussed earlier.
为了防止香烟污染，你能做的最好的事情就是戒烟。这将切断对有害行业的财政支持，减少浪费，更不用说对你的健康有好处了。
雪茄ette Pollution: Final Thoughts
雪茄ettes and the tobacco industry have long been known to be harmful to our health. But cigarette pollution also has a huge impact on the Earth, as you’ve learned in this article.
Maintaining a healthy environment is not only important for the planet, but for our health as well. Climate change and greenhouse gasses can be harmful to our health as well, not to mention for the wildlife that we inhabit this world with.
Want more tips on going green and being as environmentally friendly as possible? Check outour blog.
