POLLUTION

 

Pollution is the process of making land, water, air, or other parts of the environment dirty and not safe or suitable to use. This can be done through the introduction of a contaminant into a natural environment, but the contaminant does not need to be tangible. Things as simple as light, sound, and temperature can be considered pollutants when introduced artificially into an environment. 

Land Pollution 

Land can become polluted by household garbage and by industrial waste. Commercial or industrial waste is a significant portion of solid waste. Much of it is classified as non-hazardous, such as construction material (wood, concrete, bricks, glass, etc.) and medical waste (bandages, surgical gloves, surgical instruments, discarded needles, etc.). Hazardous waste is any liquid, solid, or sludge waste that contains properties that are dangerous or potentially harmful to human health or the environment. Industries generate hazardous waste from mining, petroleum refining, pesticide manufacturing, and other chemical production. Households generate hazardous waste as well, including paints and solvents, motor oil, fluorescent lights, aerosol cans, and ammunition.

Water Pollution

Water pollution happens when chemicals or dangerous foreign substances are introduced to water, including chemicals, sewage, pesticides, and fertilizers from agricultural runoff, or metals like lead or mercury from industrial runoff. 

According to the United Nations, 783 million people do not have access to clean water and around 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation. Adequate sanitation helps to keep sewage and other contaminants from entering the water supply.

About 80% of pollution in the marine environment comes from the land through sources like runoff. Water pollution can also severely affect marine life. Warming water can also be harmful. The artificial warming of water is called thermal pollution. It can happen when a factory or power plant that is using water to cool its operations ends up discharging hot water. This makes the water hold less oxygen, which can kill fish and wildlife. The sudden change of temperature in the body of water can also kill fish. 

Nutrient pollution, also called eutrophication, is another type of water pollution. It is when nutrients, such as nitrogen are added into bodies of water. The nutrient works like fertilizer and makes algae grow at excessive rates. The algae block light from other plants. The plants die and their decomposition leads to less oxygen in the water. Less oxygen in the water kills aquatic animals.

Air Pollution

The air we breathe has a very exact chemical composition; 99% of it is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and inert gases. Air pollution occurs when things that are not normally there are added to the air. A common type of air pollution happens when people release particles into the air from burning fuels. This pollution looks like soot, containing millions of tiny particles, floating in the air. 

Another common type of air pollution is dangerous gases, such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and chemical vapours. These can take part in further chemical reactions once they are in the atmosphere, creating acid rain and smog. Other sources of air pollution can come from within buildings, such as secondhand smoke. 

Finally, air pollution can take the form of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide, which are warming the planet through the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is when gases absorb the infrared radiation that is released from the Earth, preventing the heat from escaping. This is a natural process that keeps our atmosphere warm. If too many gases are introduced into the atmosphere, though, more heat is trapped and this can make the planet artificially warm.

Air pollution kills millions of people each year. If the pollutant is highly toxic, the effects on health can be widespread and severe. An irritant (e.g., particulates less than 10 micrometers) may cause respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, and increases in asthma. The very young, the old, and those with vulnerable immune systems are most at risk from air pollution. The air pollutant may be carcinogenic (e.g., some volatile organic compounds) or biologically active (e.g., some viruses), or radioactive (e.g., radon). Other air pollutants like carbon dioxide have an indirect impact on human health through climate change.

Noise Pollution

Even though humans cannot see or smell noise pollution, it still affects the environment. Noise pollution happens when the sound coming from planes, industry or other sources reaches harmful levels. Research has shown that there are direct links between noise and health, including stress-related illnesses, high blood pressure, speech interference, and hearing loss.

Underwater noise pollution coming from ships has been shown to upset whales' navigation systems and kill other species that depend on the natural underwater world. Noise also makes wild species communicate louder, which can shorten their lifespan.

Light Pollution 

Most people cannot imagine living without the modern convenience of electric lights. For the natural world, though, lights have changed the way that days and nights work. Some consequences of light pollution are:

• Some birds sing at unnatural hours in the presence of artificial light.
• Scientists have determined that long artificial days can affect migration schedules, as they allow for longer feeding times. 
• Streetlights can confuse newly hatched sea turtles that rely on starlight reflecting off the waves to guide them from the beach to the ocean. They often head in the wrong direction. 
• Light pollution, called sky glow, also makes it difficult for astronomers, both professional and amateur, to properly see the stars.
• Plant flowering and developmental patterns can be entirely disrupted by artificial light.
• Light pollution could also be making smog worse by destroying nitrate radicals that help the dispersion of smog.

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