Types of pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem. Pollution is usually contributed by human actions, but can also be a result of a natural disaster (eg. volcanic eruption). Pollution can affect the source of food, disrupt the ecosystem in the environment, making it impossible to sustain life.
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[edit] Type of Pollution
[edit] Water Pollution
- Main Article: Water Pollution
Is contamination of water by foreign matter that deteriorates the quality of the water. Water pollution covers pollutions in liquid forms like ocean pollution and river pollution. As the term applies, liquid pollution occurs in the oceans, lakes, streams, rivers, underground water and bays, in short liquid-containing areas. It involves the release of toxic substances, pathogenic germs, substances that require much oxygen to decompose, easy-soluble substances, radioactivity, etc. that become deposited upon the bottom and their accumulations will interfere with the condition of aquatic ecosystems.
[edit] Air Pollution
- Main Article: Air Pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment, into the Atmosphere.
[edit] Marine pollution
- Main Article: Marine Pollution
Marine pollution occurs when harmful effects, or potentially harmful effects,can result from the entry into the ocean of chemicals, particles, industrial, agricultural and residential waste, noise, or the spread of invasive organisms. Most sources of marine pollution are land based. The pollution often comes from nonpoint sources such as agricultural runoff and wind blown debris.
[edit] Land Pollution
Land pollution basically is about contaminating the land surface of the Earth through dumping urban waste matter indiscriminately, dumping of industrial waste, mineral exploitation, and misusing the soil by harmful agricultural practices. Land pollution includes visible litter and waste along with the soil itself being polluted. The soil gets polluted by the chemicals in pesticides and herbicides used for agricultural purposes along with waste matter being littered in urban areas such as roads, parks, and streets.
[edit] Solid Waste
Semisolid or solid matter that are created by human or animal activities, and which are disposed because they are hazardous or useless are known as solid waste. Most of the solid wastes, like paper, plastic containers, bottles, cans, and even used cars and electronic goods are not biodegradable, which means they do not get broken down through inorganic or organic processes. Thus, when they accumulate they pose a health threat to people, plus, decaying wastes also attract household pests and result in urban areas becoming unhealthy, dirty, and unsightly places to reside in. Moreover, it also causes damage to terrestrial organisms, while also reducing the uses of the land for other, more useful purposes. Some of the sources of solid waste that cause land pollution are:
- Wastes from Agriculture - waste matter produced by crop, animal manure, and farm residues.
- Wastes from Mining - Piles of coal refuse and heaps of slag.
- Wastes from Industries - Industrial waste matter can include paints, chemicals, and unused electronic equipments.
- Solids from Sewage Treatment - Wastes that are left over after sewage has been treated, biomass sludge, and settled solids.
- Ashes - residual matter that remains after solid fuels are burned.
- Garbage - comprises of waste matter from food that are decomposable and other waste matter that are not decomposable such as glass, metal, cloth, plastic, wood, paper, and so on.
[edit] Soil Pollution
Soil pollution is chiefly caused by chemicals in pesticides, such as poisons that are used to kill agricultural pests like insects and herbicides that are used to get rid of weeds. Hence, soil pollution results from:
- Unhealthy methods of soil management.
- Harmful practices of irrigation methods.
- Land pollution is caused by farms because they allow manure to collect, which leaches into the nearby land areas. Chemicals that are used for purposes like sheep dipping also cause serious land pollution as do diesel oil spillages.
[edit] Consequences of Land Pollution
[edit] Effects on wildlife, ecosystem and to humans
- Cause problems in the respiratory system
- Cause problems on the skin
- Lead to birth defects
- Cause various kinds of cancers
[edit] Pollutants can get into the Human Body by
- Coming into contact with the skin
- Being washed into water sources like reservoirs and rivers
- Eating fruits and vegetables that have been grown in polluted soil
- Breathing in polluted dust or particles
[edit] Land Pollution Prevention
- People should be educated and made aware about the harmful effects of littering
- Items used for domestic purposes ought to be reused or recycled
- Personal litter should be disposed properly
- Organic waste matter should be disposed in areas that are far away from residential places
- Inorganic matter such as paper, plastic, glass and metals should be reclaimed and then recycled
[edit] Noise Pollution
Noise pollution is aggravated due to the rise in the utilization of heavy duty machineries of industrial facilities and vehicles, synonymous to the increase in the standard of living in most countries. We make sounds practically every seconds of our day, but to the extend it has reached an unfavorable high intensity which had cause many disturbances and irritation to others emotionally that has adverse effects on our daily activities.
[edit] Causes Of Noise Pollution
- Traffic noise is the main source of noise pollution caused in urban areas. With the ever-increasing number of vehicles on road, the sound caused by the cars and exhaust system of autos, trucks, buses and motorcycles is the chief reason for noise pollution.
- With the low flying military aircrafts soaring over the national parks, wasteland and other vacant areas, the level of noise pollution has drastically increased in these previously unaffected zones.
- People living beside railway stations put up with a lot of noise from locomotive engines, horns and whistles and switching and shunting operation in rail yards. This is one of the major sources of noise pollution.
- To meet the demands of the basic necessity of living, the construction of buildings, highways and city streets causes a lot of noise. Pneumatic hammers, air compressors, bulldozers, loaders, dump trucks and pavement breakers are the major sources of noise pollution in construction sites.
- Though not a prime reason, industrial noise adds to the noise pollution. Machinery, motors and compressors used in the industries create a lot of noise which adds to the already detrimental state of noise pollution.
- Plumbing, boilers, generators, air conditioners and fans create a lot of noise in the buildings and add to the prevailing noise pollution.
- Household equipments, such as vacuum cleaners, mixers and some kitchen appliances are noisemakers of the house. Though they do not cause too much of problem, their effect cannot be neglected.
[edit] Effects Of Noise Pollution
- Deafness, temporary or permanent, is one of the most prevalent effects of noise pollution. Mechanics, locomotive drivers, telephone operators etc all have their hearing impairment.
- The first and foremost effect of noise is a decrease in the efficiency in working. Research has proved the fact that human efficiency increases with noise reduction.
- Too much of noise disturbs the rhythms of working, thereby affecting the concentration required for doing a work. Noise of traffic or the loud speakers or different types of horns divert the attention, thus causing harm in the working standard.
- Fatigue caused is another effect of noise. Due to lack of concentration, people need to devote more time to complete their task, which leads to tiredness and fatigue.
- Noise pollution acts as a Stress invigorator, increasing the stress levels among people.
- Sometimes, being surrounded by too much of noise, people can be victims of certain diseases like blood pressure, mental illness, etc.
- Noise pollution indirectly affects the vegetation. Plants require cool & peaceful Environment to grow. Noise pollution causes poor quality of crops.
- Animals are susceptible to noise pollution as well. It damages the nervous system of the animals.
- Noise indirectly weakens the edifice of buildings, bridges and monuments. It creates waves, which can be very dangerous and harmful and put the building in danger condition.
[edit] Light Pollution
Light Pollution is excessive artificial light into the sky that it greatly reduces the visibility of the night stars.
It is an unfortunate fact of today's life that most people are growing up unable to see the stars that our grandparents knew so well. The prime night sky exists only in pictures or at a planetarium. This is true not only in cities but also in suburbs and in rural areas where street lamps and other sources of "light pollution" have obscured our view of constellations, meteor showers, and even the planets. Indeed, many children and adults say after viewing the night sky for the first time in a really dark area away from a city that "it looks just like this in the planetarium." We have lost our view of the stars, and we have mucked up our night time environment as well.
Such a loss might be acceptable if light pollution were the inevitable price of progress, but it is not. Most sky glow is unnecessary. The light that obscures our view of the night sky comes mainly from inefficient lighting sources that do little to increase nighttime safety, security, or utility. They produce only glare and clutter, costing more than one billion dollars annually in the U.S. alone.
For astronomy and science, the impact has been even more dramatic. Astronomers require observations of extremely faint objects that can be made only with large telescopes at sites free of air pollution and urban sky glow. For example, scientists interested in how the universe was formed may study the light of galaxies and quasars at enormous distances from Earth. These images offer information about faraway corners of the universe, helping us understand how our own world was formed. Yet, after traveling countless lightyears, the light from these objects can be lost at the very end of its journey in the glare of our own sky.
Space-based telescopes, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, offer one way around the problem. However, large telescopes on the ground will always be used, if only because they are accessible and cost much less to build and operate. Our experience over the past decades has shown that rather than decreasing, our need for ground-based telescopes, even in an age of telescopes in space, has greatly increased. But only if they can be protected from the encroaching light pollution.
Reducing light pollution is not difficult. It just makes sense, but it does require that we understand the issues and that public officials and citizens be aware of the problem and act to counter it. On an individual level, people can help reduce much sky glow by using lighting only when necessary and by choosing well shielded lighting fixtures.
Curing light pollution saves money while reducing glare and sky glow. Unlike other pollution issues, it presents us with a rare case where we should strive to be kept in the dark. The stars above us are a priceless heritage - not only for astronomers but for all humans. More of our children should be able to look up at night and see that the Milky Way is not just a candy bar.
[edit] Radioactive Pollution
The 1940's was the era where the first nuclear bomb is being developed, and that's why it's called the nuclear era. However, nuclear energy has already researched back since 1900. Nuclear era reached its greatest peak in the world war, by showing its massive ability of destroying things.
Nuclear energy is a form of energy that’s released by the splitting of atoms. Since scientists have found a way to make use of the energy, it has also been used to generate electricity. Nuclear energy has been recognized as a clean energy because it doesn’t release pollutants such as CO2 to the atmosphere after its reaction that could damage our environment. It's also known that nuclear energy has reduced the amount of greenhouse gas emission, reducing emissions of CO2 for about 500 million metric tons of carbon.
Despite the advantage of nuclear as a clean energy, the big concern is the waste resulted from nuclear reaction, which is a form of pollution, called radioactivity. Radioactivity is a form of radiation (a form of energy that travels through space). Some elements in this world are naturally radioactive while some others are made to be. Radioactivity is emitted when a radioactive element become unstable and begin to decay in the attempt to regain their molecular stability. When an element decays, it emits energy and small particles. If it’s still radioactive, it will repeat the process, until it finally regains its molecular stability and stop decaying. The time that it takes for half way of decaying process is called half-life, and this differs for each radioactive element. It possibly takes up to 4.5 billion years (Uranium 238) and as short as 8 days (Iodine 131).
This process constantly remains, not considering external factors such as pressure or temperature. This process is expressed in units called becquerels. One becquerel is equal to one disintegration of nuclei per second.
[edit] Three Type of Radiation
- Alpha particles, can be blocked by a piece of paper and human skin.
- Beta particles can penetrate through skin, while can be blocked by some pieces of glass and metal.
- Gamma rays can penetrate easily to human skin and damage cells on its way through, reaching far, and can only be blocked by a very thick, strong, massive piece of concrete.
[edit] Sources and Methods of Radioactive Pollution
We can classify major sources that lead to radioactive pollution to the following categories:
- Nuclear power plants
- Nuclear weapon
- Transportation
- Disposal of nuclear waste
- Uranium mining
[edit] Thermal Pollution
This has become an increasing and the most current pollution, owing to the increasing call of globalization everywhere. Heat produced from industries is a major contribution to the pollution, much to the operation of the heavy industries which produces high amount of heat energy. As we will show a summary to the event of this pollution happening:
- Raw materials for productivity (organic and inorganic products)
- Undergo different chemical reactions with several process
- Excess heat energy is produced as a waste product
- Heat is released through into Atmosphere (vapor) and riverine system (liquid).
- Increase of temperature of environmental system view of the pollution, global temperature had increased significantly.
- Measurements of atmospheric temperature are done by meteorological center of the weather forecast annually, and the graph to detect the temperature trend from a period of 10 years will be compared with the previous batch of period. Thus we may be able to know the rate of temperature increase overall and make reference to the standard level of heat that should be maintain in the atmosphere to avoid large deviation of Heat in the system.
[edit] Sources and Methods of Thermal Pollution
We can classify major sources that lead to thermal pollution to the following categories:
- Power plants generatingElectricity from Fossil fuels
- Water as a cooling agent in industrial facilities
- Deforestation of the shoreline
- Soil erosion
