We live in technological age which made progress rate grow exponentially but we are destroying nature in the process without knowing.
Surely we are developing fast but the cost is too big that if not checked the problem will be too large to solve in near future. One of the problem that needs our attention is of pollution.
The term "pollution" refers to any substance that negatively impacts the environment or organisms that live within the affected environment.
The five major types of pollution include: air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, light pollution, and noise pollution. Let’s take a brief look at each one.
#1 Air pollution
Air pollution occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of substances including gases (such as ammonia, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane and chlorofluorocarbons), particulates (both organic and inorganic), and biological molecules are introduced into Earth's atmosphere.
It may cause diseases, allergies and even death to humans; it may also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food crops, and may damage the natural or built environment.
Both human activity and natural processes can generate air pollution.
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Indoor air pollution and poor urban air quality are listed as two of the world's worst toxic pollution problems in the 2008 Blacksmith Institute World's Worst Polluted Places report. Outdoor air pollution alone causes 2.1 to 4.21 million premature deaths annually.
According to the 2014 World Health Organization report, air pollution in 2012 caused the deaths of around 7 million people worldwide, an estimate roughly echoed by the International Energy Agency.
An air pollutant is a material in the air that can have adverse effects on humans and the ecosystem. The substance can be solid particles, liquid droplets, or gases.
A pollutant can be of natural origin or man-made. Pollutants are classified as primary or secondary. Primary pollutants are usually produced by processes such as ash from a volcanic eruption.
Other examples include carbon monoxide gas from motor vehicle exhausts or sulfur dioxide released from factories.
Secondary pollutants are not emitted directly. Rather, they form in the air when primary pollutants react or interact. Ground level ozone is a prominent example of secondary pollutants.
Some pollutants may be both primary and secondary: they are both emitted directly and formed from other primary pollutants.
#2 Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities. Water bodies include for example lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater.
Water pollution results when contaminants are introduced into the natural environment.
For example, releasing inadequately treated wastewater into natural water bodies can lead to degradation of aquatic ecosystems.
In turn, this can lead to public health problems for people living downstream. They may use the same polluted river water for drinking or bathing or irrigation.
Water pollution is the leading worldwide cause of death and disease, e.g. due to water-borne diseases.
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Water pollution can be grouped into surface water pollution. Marine pollution and nutrient pollution are subsets of water pollution. Sources of water pollution are either point sources or non-point sources.
Point sources have one identifiable cause of the pollution, such as a storm drain, wastewater treatment plant or stream.
Non-point sources are more diffuse, such as agricultural runoff. Pollution is the result of the cumulative effect over time. All plants and organisms living in or being exposed to polluted water bodies can be impacted.
The effects can damage individual species and impact the natural biological communities they are part of.
The causes of water pollution include a wide range of chemicals and pathogens as well as physical parameters.
Contaminants may include organic and inorganic substances. Elevated temperatures can also lead to polluted water.
A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers. Elevated water temperatures decrease oxygen levels, which can kill fish and alter food chain composition, reduce species biodiversity, and foster invasion by new thermophilic species.
#3 Soil pollution
Soil contamination or soil pollution as part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotics (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment.
It is typically caused by industrial activity, agricultural chemicals or improper disposal of waste. The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, poly nuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (such as naphthalene and benzo (a) pyrene), solvents, pesticides, lead, and other heavy metals.
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Contamination is correlated with the degree of industrialization and intensity of chemical substance.
The concern over soil contamination stems primarily from health risks, from direct contact with the contaminated soil, vapors from the contaminants, or from secondary contamination of water supplies within and underlying the soil.
Mapping of contaminated soil sites and the resulting cleanups are time consuming and expensive tasks, requiring extensive amounts of geology, hydrology, chemistry, computer modeling skills, and GIS in Environmental Contamination, as well as an appreciation of the history of industrial chemistry.
Contaminated or polluted soil directly affects human health through direct contact with soil or via inhalation of soil contaminants which have vaporized; potentially greater threats are posed by the infiltration of soil contamination into groundwater aquifers used for human consumption, sometimes in areas apparently far removed from any apparent source of above ground contamination.
This tends to result in the development of pollution-related diseases.
#4 Noise pollution
Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with harmful impact on the activity of human or animal life.
The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines, transport, and propagation systems.
Poor urban planning may give rise to noise disintegration or pollution, side-by-side industrial and residential buildings can result in noise pollution in the residential areas.
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Some of the main sources of noise in residential areas include loud music, transportation (traffic, rail, airplanes, etc.), lawn care maintenance, construction, electrical generators, explosions, and people.
Documented problems associated with urban environment noise go back as far as ancient Rome. Noise is measured in Decibel (dB).
Noise pollution associated with household electricity generators is an emerging environmental degradation in many developing nations. The average noise level of 97.60 dB obtained exceeded the WHO value of 50 dB allowed for residential areas.
Research suggests that noise pollution is the highest in low-income and racial minority neighborhoods.
High noise levels can contribute to cardiovascular effects in humans and an increased incidence of coronary artery disease.
In animals, noise can increase the risk of death by altering predator or prey detection and avoidance, interfere with reproduction and navigation, and contribute to permanent hearing loss.
While the elderly may have cardiac problems due to noise, according to the World Health Organization, children are especially vulnerable to noise, and the effects that noise has on children may be permanent.
Noise poses a serious threat to a child’s physical and psychological health, and may negatively interfere with a child's learning and behavior.
#5 Light pollution
Light pollution, also known as photo pollution, is the presence of anthropogenic and artificial light in the night environment.
It is exacerbated by excessive, misdirected or obtrusive use of light, but even carefully used light fundamentally alters natural conditions.
As a major side-effect of urbanization, it is blamed for compromising health, disrupting ecosystems and spoiling aesthetic environments.
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Light pollution competes with starlight in the night sky for urban residents, interferes with astronomical observatories, and, like any other form of pollution, disrupts ecosystems and has adverse health effects.
Light pollution is a side-effect of industrial civilization. Its sources include building exterior and interior lighting, advertising, outdoor area lighting (e.g. car parks/parking lots), offices, factories, streetlights, and illuminated sporting venues.
It is most severe in highly industrialized, densely populated areas of North America, Europe, and Japan and in major cities in the Middle East and North Africa like Tehran and Cairo, but even relatively small amounts of light can be noticed and create problems.
Awareness of the deleterious effects of light pollution began early in the 20th century, but efforts to address effects did not begin until the 1950s.
In the 1980s a global dark-sky movement emerged with the founding of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). There are now such educational and advocacy organizations in many countries worldwide.
Since not everyone is irritated by the same lighting sources, it is common for one person's light "pollution" to be light that is desirable for another.
One example of this is found in advertising, when an advertiser wishes for particular lights to be bright and visible, even though others find them annoying. Other types of light pollution are more certain. For instance, light that accidentally crosses a property boundary and annoys a neighbor is generally wasted and pollutive light.
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