Fossil fuels were first used in coal fired steam engines in the 1700s. The first modern gasoline powered motorboats and cars were introduced in the 1880’s to 1890’s, and in the 20th Century they became major contributors to air pollution.
In the 1890’s, EGW wrote, “already sprinklings from the vials of God’s wrath have been let fall upon land and sea, affecting elements of the air… God has not restrained the powers of darkness from carrying forward their deadly work of vitiating [to spoil or impair the quality of something] the air, one of the sources of life and nutrition, with a deadly miasma [an unwholesome or polluted atmosphere]. Not only is vegetable life affected, but man suffers from pestilences.” Letters and Manuscripts- Volume 7 (1891-1892).
People think of a pestilence as being caused by infectious organisms, but it really refers to a widespread disease that causes a high rate of destruction and death.
Air pollution is the 4th leading cause of global death, and every year 7 million people die because of it. It causes strokes, heart diseases, lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases. It damages a plant’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide and so contributes to global warming by damaging crops and trees. It contributes to the premature death and extinction of animals.
She saw, before anyone else, that burning of fossil fuel would cause the widespread pollution of our environment that exists today.