pollutionis the introduction ofharmfulmaterials in thevicinity. These pollutants are calledpollutants. Impurities can be natural, e.gvolcanic ash. They can also arise from human activities, such as B. garbage orEscapeproduced by factories. Pollutants harm the quality of air, water and land.
Many things useful to humans cause pollution. carsthrowpollutants from yourwearyPipeline. FeuerMoneycreateelectricitypollute the air. commercial and residentialto generategarbage andsewagethat can contaminate land and water.pesticides-chemicalMarriedused to kill weeds and insects—leakinwaterwaysand damageFauna Silvestre.
All living things, from protozoamicrobesBlue whales - dependsTierraair and water supply. if thoseresourcesare contaminated, all life forms are threatened.
Pollution is a global problem. DespiteCity areasare usually more contaminated than the field to which contamination can spreadremote controlPlaces where no people live. For example, pesticides and other chemicals have been found in theAntarctica ice cover. In the middle of the North Pacific is a vast collection ofmicroscopic plastic Particleform what is knownGreat Pacific Garbage Patch.
air and watercurrentscarry pollution. Carry ocean currents and migratory fishmarinapollutants far and wide.Windscan pick upradioactiveMaterial accidentally released from a nuclear reactor and spread around the world.Rauchof aFabricin one country drifts to another country.
Visitor to Big Bend in the pastNationalPark, Texas, could see 290 kilometers (180 miles).gigantic landscape. now burn coalenergy cropsin Texas and the neighboring state of Chihuahua, Mexico, have spewed so much pollutant into the air that visitors to Big Bend can sometimes see as little as 30 miles.
The three main types of pollution areair pollution,water pollution, jsoil pollution.
Air pollution
Sometimes the air pollutionvisible. For example, a person may see dark smoke coming from the exhaust pipes of large trucks or factories. However, air pollution is more commoninvisible.
Polluted air can be dangerous, even if the pollutants are invisible. It can cause burning eyes and difficulty breathing. It can also increase riskLunge Krebs.
Sometimes air pollution kills quickly. In 1984, a deadly gas was released into the air in an accident at a pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. At least 8,000 people died within a few days. hundreds of youPlayawere morepermanenthurt.
natural disastersit can also cause air pollution to rise rapidly. Whenvolcanoes burst, Sheto evictVolcanic ash and gases in thethe atmosphere. Volcanic ash can stain the sky for months. After the eruption of the Indonesian volcanoKrakatoaIn 1883, ash darkened skies around the world. The darker sky caused lessGrainbeingharvestedto Europe and North America. during yearsThe meteorologisttraced the so-called "equatorial smoke".Strom.” In fact, this stream of smoke was aJet-Stream, a strong wind in Earth's atmosphere, visualized by air pollution from Krakatoa.
volcanic gases, such assulfur dioxide, can kill nearby residents and do thatTierra sterileduring years. Mount Vesuvius, a volcano in Italy, erupted in AD 79, killing hundreds of residents of the nearby cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Most of Vesuvius' victims were not killedLavaÖfloor slidescaused by the eruption. were suffocated orsuffocated, by deadly volcanic gases.
1986, apoisonous Cloudsdeveloped onSeeNyos, Cameroon. Lake Nyos is on thecraterof a volcano Although the volcano did not erupt, it spewed volcanic gases into the lake. The hot gases flowed through the lake water and collected there as a clouddismountedthe slopes of the volcano and nearbyValleys. As the toxic cloud moved across the landscape, it killed birds and other organisms in their natural state.habitat. This air pollution also killed thousands of peoplewonand up to 1,700 people.
However, most air pollution is not natural. comes from burningfossil fuels-Money,Petroleum, jnatural gas of course. WhenPetrolburned to power cars and trucks, producedcarbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas. The gas is harmful at high altitudeconcentrations, or amounts. town, villageTrafficproduces highly concentrated carbon monoxide.
Cars and factories produce other common pollutants, includingnitrogen oxides,sulfurdioxide andhydrocarbons. These chemicals react with sunlight to produceSMOG, a fat onefogÖReifof air pollution. The smog is so thick in Linfen, China that people canRaresee the sun Depending on the pollutant content, smog can be brown or blue-grey.
Smog makes breathing difficult, especially for children and the elderly. Some cities suffer from extreme smogcompanyAir pollution warnings. HegovernmentHong Kong, for example, will warn people not to go out or attendstressfulphysical activity (such as running or swimming) when the smog is very thick.
For air pollutants such asnitrogenRust and sulfur dioxide mix with moisture, turning intoacids. Then they fall back as if to the earthacid rain. The wind often carries acidRegenaway from the source of contamination. Pollutants produced by factories and power plants in Spain can fall as acid rain in Norway.
Acid rain can kill anyone.treesin oneBosque. can alsodevastatelakes, streams and other watercourses. When lakes go acidic, fish cannotto survive. In Sweden, acid rain has caused thousands of "tote Seen', where the fish no longer live.
Acid rain also contributesMarbleand other types ofpiedra. Deleted the wordsGrabsteineand many historic buildings damaged andMONUMENTS. IsTaj Mahal, in Agra, India, was onceshimmeringWhite. Years of exposure to acid rain has turned him pale.
Governments have attempted to prevent acid rain by limiting the amount of pollutants released into the air. They've had some success in Europe and North America, but acid rain remains a major problem in the USDeveloping countriesespecially Asia.
greenhouse gasesThey are another source of air pollution. Greenhouse gases likecarbon dioxidejmethaneThey occur naturally in the atmosphere. In fact, they are necessary for life on earth. sheAbsorberSunlight reflecting off the earth and preventing it from escaping into space. By trapping heat in the atmosphere, they keep the earth warm enough for humans to live. This is called thegreenhouse effect.
But human activities like burning fossil fuels and destroying forests have increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This has increased the greenhouse effect and the averagetemperaturesare increasing worldwide. Hedecadebeginning in 2000 was the warmest on record. This increase in global average temperatures, caused in part by human activities, is calledglobal warming.
Global warming is causing ice sheets andglaciermelt. The melting ice causesSea levelare increasing at a rate of two millimeters (0.09 inches) per year. Finally the rising seafloodunderCoastal The region. Whole nations, like thatislandsof the Maldives are threatenedclimate change.
Global warming also contributes to thisFreakvonocean acidification. Ocean acidification is the process by which ocean water absorbs more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Fewer organisms can survive in warmer, less saline waters. The oceanfood webthan plants and animals as threatenedcoralfail atto adjustto more acidic oceans.
Scientists have predicted that global warming will lead to an increasestorms. It will also cause moredroughtsin some regions and more flooding in others.
Changing average temperatures are already shrinking some habitats, the regions where plants and animals naturally live. Polar bears hunt sealsAdditional tripIn the arctis. Melting ice forces polar bears to travel farther to findFood, and their number is declining.
People and governments can respond quickly and effectivelyto reduceair pollution. Chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are a dangerous form of air pollution that governments worked to reduce in the 1980s and 1990sspray cans.
CFCs harm thatozone layer, a region in the Earth's upper atmosphere. The ozone layer protects the earth by absorbing much of the sun's harmful rays.UV radiation. When people are exposed to a greater amount of ultraviolet radiation, they are more likely to develop skin cancer, eye diseases, and other diseases.
In the 1980s, scientists noticed that the ozone layer was thinning over Antarctica. This is often referred to as "ozone hole.” No one lives permanently in Antarctica. But Australia, home to more than 22 million people, stands on the brink of the hole. In the 1990s, the Australian government began warning people about the dangers of too much sun. Many countries, including the United States, are now severely restricting CFC production.
water pollution
Some polluted water bodies look muddy, smell bad, and have garbage floating in them. Some polluted water looks clean but is full of harmful chemicals that you can't see or smell.
Contaminated water is not suitable for drinking and swimming. Some people who drink contaminated water are exposed to itdangerousChemicals that can make them sick years later. Otherconsume bacteriaand other tinywaterdisease-causing organisms. HeUnited Nationsestimates that 4,000 children die every day from drinking dirty water.
Sometimes contaminated water indirectly harms people. They get sick because fish living in polluted water are not edible. They have too many impurities in their flesh.
There are some natural sources of water pollution. For example, oil and natural gas can seep into oceans and lakes from underground natural sources. These pages are called upoil leaks. The biggest in the worldPetroleumseep is thecoal oil pointSeep, off the coast of California, USA. The Coal Oil Point Seep releases so much oil thattar ballswash close upbeaches. Targlobes are small, sticky dirt particles that eventuallydecomposein the ocean.
Human activities also contribute to water pollution. Chemicals and oils from factories are sometimes dumped or seep into waterways. These chemicals are called runoff. Chemicals in the drain can create a toxic environment for aquatic life. Runoff can also help create a fertile environment forcyanobacteria, also calledblue-green alga. Cyanobacteria multiply rapidly and produce aHarmful Algae Bloom (FAN). Harmful algal blooms prevent organisms such as plants and fish from living in the sea. You are connected totote Zonen” in the world's lakes and rivers, places where little life exists beneath the surface of the water.
MiningjDrillit can also contribute to water pollution.mine acid drainage(AMD) is a major contributor to the pollution of rivers and streams near coalminutes. Acid helps miners remove coal from the environmentrock. The acid is washed into streams and rivers where it reacts with rocks and sand. It releases chemical sulfur from rocks and sand, creating a river rich in sulfursulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is toxic to plants, fish and other aquatic organisms. Sulfuric acid is also toxic to humans, so AMD-infested rivers are dangerous drinking and drinking water sources.Hygiene.
oil spillsThey are another source of water pollution. In April 2010 thedeep water horizon oil rigexploded in the Gulf of Mexico, spewing oil from the sea floor. In the months that followed, hundreds of millions of gallons of oil spilled into Gulf waters. The spill produces greatfeathersof oil under the sea and aoil leakcovering an area of up to 24,000 square kilometers (9,100 sq mi). The coated oil stainwetlandsin the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, USA, killingswampPlants and aquatic organisms such as crabs and fish. birds, likePelicans, covered in oil and unable to fly or access food. More than two million animals died as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Buried chemical waste can also contaminate water supplies. For many years folksreadyhandle chemical waste carelessly, unaware of its dangers. In the 1970s, people lived in thelove channelArea in Niagara Falls, New York suffered from extremely high rates of cancer andbirth defect. A chemical dump was found to have poisoned the water in the area. In 1978, 800 families had to live on the Love Canalbandontheir houses.
Radioactive waste from nuclear power plants can be released into the environment if not disposed of properly. Radioactive waste can harm living beings and contaminate water bodies.
Wastewater that has not been properly treated is a common source of water pollution. Many cities around the world have poor sewage systems andwaste water treatmentPlant. delhi, thecapital cityof India, is home to more than 21 million people. More than half of the sewage and other waste produced in the city is discharged into the Yamuna River. This contamination makes the river unsafe as a source of drinking water or sanitation. It also reduces the flow of the river.fishing, which means less food for the local community.
One of the main sources of water pollution isfertilizerused inAgriculture. Fertilizer is a material added to the soil to make plants grow bigger and faster. Fertilizers often contain large amounts of the elements nitrogen andPhosphorthat help plants grow. Rainwater washes the fertilizer into streams and lakes. There, nitrogen and phosphorus encourage cyanobacteria to form harmful algal blooms.
Rain washes other pollutants into streams and lakes. Collect animal waste from livestock farms. Cars drip oil on the road and the rain washes it awayGullys, which lead to watercourses such as rivers and seas. Rain sometimes washes chemical pesticides off plants and dumps them into streams. Pesticides can also escapegroundwater, the water beneath the earth's surface.
The heat can contaminate the water. Power plants, for example, produce a lot of heat. Power plants are often located on rivers to use the water as electricityrefrigerator. Cold waterFlowthrough the plant and absorbs heat. The heated water is then returned to the river. Aquatic creatures are sensitive to temperature changes. For example, some fish can only live in cold water. The warmer river temperatures prevent the fish eggs from hatching. Warmer river water also contributes to harmful algal blooms.
Another type of water pollution is plain trash. In the Citarum River in Indonesia, for example, there is so much garbage floating around that you can't see the water. Floating debris makes fishing in the river difficult. Aquatic animals like fish and turtles mistake litter like plastic bags for food. plastic bags etcruffleIt can kill many sea creatures. Chemical contaminants in trash can also contaminate the water, making it toxic to fish and people who use the river as a source of drinking water. Fish caught in a polluted river often have high levels of chemical toxins in their flesh. Humans absorb these toxins when they eat fish.
Garbage also makes the sea dirty. Many plastic bottles and other waste are thrown overboard from boats. The wind carries the garbage to the sea. Ocean currents carry plastic and other floating debris to certain parts of the world from which they cannot escape. The largest of these areas, dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, lies in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. By some estimates, this patch of garbage is the size of Texas. Garbage is a threat to fish and seabirds, which mistake plastic for food. Many of the plastics are covered in chemical contaminants.
soil pollution
Many of the same pollutants that pollute water also damage land. Mining sometimes leaves the groundcontaminatedwith dangerous chemicals.
Pesticides and fertilizers from agricultural fields are blown away by the wind. They can harm plants, animals and sometimes people. Some fruits and vegetables absorb pesticides that help them grow. When people eat fruits and vegetables, pesticides enter their bodies. Some pesticides can cause cancer and other diseases.
A pesticide calledDDT(Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was once widely used to kill insects, especially mosquitoes. In many parts of the world, mosquitoes carry a disease calledMalaria, which kills a million people every year. Swiss chemistPablo Herman Mullerwas awardedNobel prizefor his understanding of how DDT can control insects and other pests. DDT is responsible for reducing malaria in countries like Taiwan and Sri Lanka.
1962 Americanbiologist Rachel Carsonwrote a book calledsilent source, in which the dangers of DDT were discussed. He argued that it could contribute to cancer in humans. He also explained how it destroyed bird eggs, causing numbers of bald eagles, brown pelicans, and osprey to decline. In 1972, the United States banned the use of DDT. Many other countries have also banned it. But DDT did not completely disappear. Today, many governments encourage the use of DDT because it remains the most potent form of DDTKampfMalaria.
Garbage is another form of pollution of the earth. Around the world, paper, cans, glasses, plastic products and discarded cars and appliancesto damageLandscape. Waste makes it difficult for plants and other producers in the food chain to emergenutrient. Animals can die if they accidentally eat plastic.
Trash often contains dangerous contaminants such as oils, chemicals and ink. These contaminants canSanguijuelain the soil and harm plants, animals and humans.
InefficientGarbage collection systems contribute to soil contamination. Garbage is often collected and taken to a landfilllandfill. Garbage is buried in landfills. Sometimes communities produce so much garbage that their landfills fill up. They are running out of places to dump their trash.
AfestIn 2000, a landfill tragedy occurred near Quezon City, Philippines. Hundreds of people lived on the slopes of the Quezon City landfill. These people made a living by recycling and selling items found at the dump. However, the landfill was not safe. Heavy rains triggered a landslide that killed 218 people.
Sometimes landfills are not completely isolated from the land around them. Pollutants from the landfill seep into the ground in which they are buried. Plants growing in the ground can be contaminated, and theherbivoresthat eat the plants are also contaminated. so do itpredatorseaten by herbivores. This process of accumulating a chemical at each level of the food chain is calledBioakkumulation.
Pollutants that leach from landfills also leach into local groundwater supplies. That's where the aquatic food web (from microscopicstartedfishing for predators such as sharks or eagles) can bioaccumulate from toxic chemicals.
Some parishes don't have onesuitableRubbish collection systems and roadside rubbish lines. Elsewhere, rubbish washes up on beaches. Kamilo Beach, Hawaii, is littered with plastic bags and bottlesthe sea. Garbage is dangerous to marine life and reduceseconomicallyactivity in the area.tourismIt's the largest in HawaiiIndustry. polluted beachesdiscouragetourists outinvestin hotels, restaurants and leisure activities in the area.
some citiesburn, or burn, your garbage. Incineration gets rid of it, but it can release dangerous substancesheavy metalsand chemicals in the air. So while incinerators can help with the soil pollution problem, they sometimes contribute to the air pollution problem.
reducing pollution
All over the world, people and governments are making efforts to combat pollution. Recycling, for example, is becoming increasingly common. When recycling, waste is processed in such a way that its reusable materials can be used again. Glass,AluminiumCans and many types of plastic can melt andreused. Paper can be shredded and made into new paper.
Recycling reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, incinerators and waterways. Austria and Switzerland have the highest recycling rates. these nationsRecycle50 to 60 percent of your garbage. The United States recycles about 30 percent of its garbage.
Governments can combat pollution through permitslawswhich limit the number and types of chemical plants andAgricultureare allowed to use. Smoke from coal-fired power plants can be filtered. These can be individuals and companies that illegally dump pollutants onto land, water, and airfinedfor millions of dollars. Some government programs such assuperfundProgram in the United States that can force polluters to clean up the sites they pollute.
International agreements can also reduce pollution. HeKyoto-Protokoll, a United Nations agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions, has been signed by 191 countries. The United States, the world's second largest producer of greenhouse gases, has not signed the agreement. Other countries like China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, have missed their targets.
Nevertheless, much progress has been made. In 1969, Ohio's Cuyahoga River was so clogged with oil and garbage that it caught fire. The fire helped stimulate themClean Water Actof 1972. This law limits pollutants that could be released into water and sets standards for how clean water must be. Today the Cuyahoga River is much cleaner. The fish have returned to regions of the river where they previously could not survive.
But while some rivers are getting cleaner, others are becoming more polluted. As countries around the world get richer, some forms of pollution are increasing. Countries with growing economies often need more power plants that produce more pollutants.
Reducing pollution requires environmental, political and economic leadership. Developed nations must work to reduce and recycle their materials, while developing countries must work to strengthen their economies without destroying the environment. Developed and developing countries must work towards the common goal of preserving the environment for future use.