古罗马和古希腊时期的人类活动造成了生态问题。铅最早于公元前5000年左右在安纳托利亚和美索不达米亚开始冶炼，在希腊罗马时期铅的产量急剧增加(最高约为每年8万吨)。事实上，它是罗马人日常生活的中心，他们广泛地使用它，从家庭水管和屋顶到厨房用具和硬币，甚至作为酒的甜味剂(铅砷酸盐)。长期接触铅对健康的不利影响(生育能力受损和神经系统受损)对罗马贵族和上层阶级造成了不成比例的影响，这与帝国的终结有关”(休斯，1997年，第70页)。
铅的开采和其他矿物的冶炼对个人和工人的健康构成严重威胁。在罗马的各种采矿活动中，由于矿山的有害排放物，工人失去了他们的爱。一旦这些活动开始，越来越多的问题正在污染空气。伊比利亚半岛、高卢、希腊和英国的采矿作业留下了一堆堆黑色矿渣，进一步改变了地貌。著名的希腊地理学家和历史学家斯特拉博(约公元前64年-公元前23年)提到了熔炉的有毒金属排放物，以及这些化学物质是如何从高高的烟囱排放到空气中并污染环境的(Hughes, 2014)。在1578年，伊丽莎白女王也反对在该国的采矿作业，因为海豹煤对环境造成了影响。她提到，烟雾正在造成各种各样的肺部死亡，将对市民造成影响。随着时间的推移，城市里的烟雾越来越浓，每一天，当转化为木材和木炭的化石燃料消耗。一些有影响力的人物对空气中的这些排放提出了抗议。约翰·伊夫林(John Evelyn)的小册子中提到了抗议这些云的例子:
“…那地狱般的、阴沉的海煤云……永远逼近她的头顶……她的居民除了呼吸一种不洁净的浓雾和一种污浊的雾气外，什么也不呼吸，这种雾气使他们的肺受到极大的损害，使他们的整个身体的习惯变得紊乱;因此，发泄、肺结核、咳嗽和消费在这个城市比在整个地球上更愤怒”(休斯，1997，第110页)。
关于人类活动加剧生态问题的说法是正确的，但古罗马和希腊的公民不仅要对造成这些问题负责。当时没有合适的工具和设备，人们也不知道化学排放的负面影响。工业革命期间，世界上越来越多的人开始在城市地区兴办工业，破坏环境。这些产业给人们带来了新的机遇，对国家经济产生了积极的影响，但也增加了生态问题。空气污染随着时间的推移而增加，然后汽车和机动车辆出现(鲍尔，200)。运输设备不仅为人类提供了好处，而且还增加了70%的二氧化碳排放污染环境。在规模和影响方面，煤烟的影响开始于19世纪和20世纪后的第二次世界大战。无形的威胁开始以酸雨、臭氧层损耗和光化学烟雾的形式出现。所有这些威胁都是跨国的、全球性的。在世界各地，这些问题开始出现，新的肺部和心脏死亡开始发生。有时需要科学专家的合作，以减少对国界的影响。这些科学家致力于开发工具来识别诸如酸雨等环境威胁。所有这一切都始于罗马人和希腊人引入烧煤和烧木头的时代。当时的影响是有限的，但随着时间的推移，技术进步和工业化有助于给环境带来严重的威胁(Kubasek和Silverman, 2002)。
Human activities at the time of Ancient Rome and Greek causing ecological problems。“First smelted in Anatolia and Mesopotamia around 5000BCE, the production of lead increased sharply during the Greco-Roman period (peaking at around 80,000 tonnes per annum). Indeed, it was central to the Roman’s daily lives, and they used it extensively for everything from domestic water pipes and roofing to kitchen utensils and coinage – and even as a sweetener of wine (lead arsenate). The adverse health effects of long-term exposure to lead (impaired fertility and neurological damage), which disproportionately affected the Roman aristocracy and upper classes, have been linked to the end of empire” (Hughes, 1997, p 70).
Extraction of lead and smelting of other minerals posed a serious threat to the heath of individuals and workers. During various Roman mining operations, labors lost their loves because of the harmful emissions from the mines. Once these activities were started, more and more issues were polluting the air. Mining operations in Iberian Peninsula, Gaul, Greece and England left behind mounds of black slag that was further transformed in the landscape. Famous Greek geographer and Historian Strabo (c. 64BCE-c.23CE) mentioned about the toxic metallic emissions from the furnaces and how these chemicals were discharged in the air from the high chimneys and polluted the environment (Hughes, 2014). During 1578, Queen Elizabeth was also objected towards the mining operations in the country because seal-coal was impacting on the environment. She mentioned that smoke clouds are causing various lung dieses that will impact on the citizens. With the passage of time, smoke clouds in the city grew stronger and stronger every day when transformations were made from wood and charcoal for the fossil fuel consumption. Some influential figures protested about these emissions in the air. Exemplification in the publications by John Evelyn pamphlet mentioned about the protest against these clouds:
“… that Hellish and dismal Cloud of SEA-COAL …perpetually imminent over her head … mixed with the otherwise wholesome and excellent Aer, that her Inhabitants breathe nothing but an impure and thick Mist accompanied with a fuliginous and filthy vapour, which renders them obnoxious to a thousand inconveniences, corrupting the Lungs, and disordering the entire habits of their Bodies; so that Catharrs, Phthisicks, Coughs and Consumptions rage more in this one City than in the whole Earth besides” (Hughes, 1997, p. 110).
Claims about human activities enhancing ecological problems are true but citizens of Ancient Rome and Greek are not only responsible for creating these problems. Proper tools and equipments were not present at that time and people had no idea about the negative impacts of chemical emissions. During the industrial revolution, more and more people started to ruin the environment by starting industries in the urban areas of the world. These industries brought new opportunities for people and impacted positively on the economy of the country but they increased ecological problems. Air pollution increased with the passage of time and then cars and motor vehicles came out (Bauer, 200). Transportation equipments not only helped in providing benefit to humans but they also added 70% for polluting the environment by C02 emissions. In terms of scale and impact, effects of coal smoke started during 19th and 20th century after the Second World War. Invisible threats started to appear in the form of acid rain, ozone layer depletion and photochemical smog. All these threats were transnational and were global. All over the world these issues started to appear and new dieses of lungs and heart started to occur. At times, cooperation of the scientific experts was required for lowering down the impact on national borders. These scientists worked on tools for identifying environmental threats like the acid rain, etc. All of this started at the time of Romans and Greeks when they introduced coal and wood burnings. At that time impact was limited but with the passage of time, technological advancements and industrialization helped in bringing serious threats to the environment (Kubasek and Silverman, 2002).
