Robert Glennon provides example after example of the worrying amount of different pollutants in Earth’s waters due to human actions and the harmful effects these pollutants have on human health before ultimately stating his main claim: “Water pollution is an acute national problem that threatens our existing water supply” (76). He supports his argument with various sub-claims; these sub-claims are, in turn, backed up with grounds taken from scientific studies and reports published by research organizations and government entities. With these claims, sub-claims, and grounds, he directs his argument towards those with financial means. Nitrate is the primary pollutant Glennon focuses on in his argument. Nitrate can be found in human waste and fertilizer, both of which play a role in water pollution. Glennon discusses human waste and fertilizer to provide grounds to support the sub-claim that there is significant pollution occurring due to human action.…show more content… Glennon notes the residents of Lake Havasu City, who “rely on septic systems to dispose of their wastes” (65). This waste has “gradually leached into the Colorado River, causing large spikes in nitrate levels” (Glennon 65). He provides stronger evidence of this spike by citing the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s report of “disturbingly high nitrate concentrations in drinking water” (Glennon 65). These grounds demonstrate that humans are causing a noteworthy amount of pollution. By explicitly naming Lake Havasu City as “a microcosm of a national problem,” he expands the scope of the pollution to the nation, as the main claim asserts (Glennon
