Heavy industry facts for kids
Heavy industry is a type of industry that deals with very large and heavy products. It uses huge machines and buildings, and often involves many complex steps to make things. Because of this, heavy industry needs a lot of money to get started and keep going. It also often sees big ups and downs in how much money is invested and how many people are employed.
Even though heavy industry is very important for a country's economy and growth, it can also have some serious downsides. For example, people living near these industries and the workers themselves can face health risks. Heavy industries often create waste products that pollute the air and water. Also, getting the raw materials (like through mining) and moving the finished products (through transportation) can cause other environmental problems.
Because of how much energy they use, heavy industries also add a lot to greenhouse gas emissions. These gases cause climate change. Some parts of heavy industry, like making metal or cement, use very high heat and are hard to make cleaner. Mining activities can also release harmful heavy metals into the environment. These metals are dangerous because they don't break down easily.
Contents
What is Heavy Industry?
Heavy industry focuses on making big, strong things that are often used to build other things. Think of it as the backbone of many modern societies.
Examples of Heavy Industry
Throughout history, many different types of businesses have been part of heavy industry:
- Making steel: This is a classic example. Steel is used to build everything from cars to skyscrapers.
- Building trains: Making locomotives (train engines) and train cars requires huge factories and lots of metal.
- Creating large machines: This includes making machine tools that are used to shape metal or other materials.
- Mining: Digging up raw materials like iron ore or coal is a heavy industry activity.
- Shipbuilding: Building large ships, especially since steel replaced wood, is a huge task.
- Making big structures: This includes building skyscrapers, large dams, or even giant wind turbines.
- Aerospace and defense: Making aircraft or rockets and military equipment also falls into this category.
Over time, industries like the chemical industry, electrical industry, and automotive industry also grew to include parts of heavy industry.
Heavy Industry and Countries' Plans
Many countries, especially in East Asia, have used heavy industry as a main part of their plan for economic growth. This often happens because governments decide to invest a lot in these industries.
For example, companies in Japan and Korea that have "heavy industry" in their names often make aerospace products or work as defense contractors for their governments. Examples include Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries.
In the past, some countries with planned economies, like the Soviet Union and China, put a huge focus on heavy industry. They invested a lot of money in factories that made trucks, tanks, artillery, and warships. This was often done to make their military stronger, even if it meant there wasn't enough money left to make everyday items for people. For instance, the Soviet Union's industrialization in the 1930s aimed to become a great power through heavy industry.
China under Mao Zedong tried a similar plan called the Great Leap Forward (1958–1960). It was an attempt to quickly build up industry and farming. However, it failed badly and led to a terrible famine, where many people died. It also hurt farming and didn't produce many useful industrial goods.
Heavy Industry and City Planning
Sometimes, local zoning laws have special rules for heavy industry. These rules help decide where factories with big impacts (on the environment, roads, and jobs) can be built. For example, rules for landfills often consider the heavy truck traffic they will create. This traffic can cause a lot of wear and tear on roads.
Environmental Effects of Heavy Industry
Heavy industry has a significant impact on our planet.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
As of 2019, heavy industry creates about 22% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. The high heat needed for some processes in heavy industry accounts for about 10% of these global emissions. The steel industry alone is responsible for 7% to 9% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. This is because of how iron is made using coal.
To lower these carbon dioxide emissions, scientists are looking at technologies like carbon capture and storage. This technology captures carbon dioxide before it goes into the air. Heavy industries are good places to use these technologies because the pollution comes from one main spot, making it easier and cheaper to capture the carbon.
Pollution
When waste from industrial activities is not handled properly, it can pollute our water, soil, air, and harm wildlife. This includes things like:
- Improperly getting rid of radioactive material.
- Burning coal and fossil fuels.
- Releasing liquid waste into rivers or oceans.
When waste pollutes water, it affects the quality of drinking water and harms ecosystems. It also impacts water used by farms for irrigation, which then affects crops. Heavy metals can also pollute soil, making farmland less fertile and affecting food safety. This happens when these metals sink into the ground and contaminate plants like vegetables or grain.
If heavy metal levels in water or soil get too high, they can be deadly to plants. These metals can then move up the food chain through bioaccumulation. This means that humans and animals can get sick by eating plants or other animals that have absorbed these metals.
Regarding air pollution, breathing in polluted air from industries, even for short periods, can cause health problems for children. These can include cardiovascular diseases (heart problems), respiratory diseases (breathing problems), and even death. Children are more sensitive to air pollution than adults. Heavy metals like lead, chromium, cadmium, and arsenic can become tiny dust particles in the air. These are harmful to the human body, and some, like cadmium and arsenic, can cause cancer. The toxic chemicals released into the air also contribute to global warming by trapping more radiation from the sun.
See also
In Spanish: Industria pesada para niños
