Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants of air, soil, or water with harmful substances. The undesirable change in the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of the air, water, or land that can harmfully affect the health, survival, or activities of human or other living organisms living in this planet earth is also known as “pollution”.
Pollution occurs because of the unwanted chemicals or other materials found in the air. There are various types of pollution such as noise pollution, water pollution, air pollution.
Here we'll shed light on some of it kinds and comprehend how disastrous it can be.
1.NOISE POLLUTION:
No one on earth can escape the sounds of noise- an unwanted disturbing sound that causes a nuisance in the eye of the beholder. Noise is a disturbance to the human environment that is escalating at such a high rate that it will become a major threat to the quality of human lives in a few years. Slowly, insensibly, we seem to accept noise and the physiological and psychological deterioration that accompanies it as an inevitable part of our lives. Although we attempt to set standards for some of the most major sources of noise, we often are unable to monitor them.
The overarching source of most noise worldwide is generated by the transportation systems. Transportation vehicles are the worst offenders with aircraft, railroad stock, trucks, buses, automobiles all producing excessive noise. Hybrid vehicles are the first innovation within the last 100 years to achieve significant widespread noise source reduction.
Besides transportation noise, other prominent sources of noise pollution are factory machinery, their appliances, power tools and audio systems. Construction equipments like jackhammers and bulldozers also produce substantial noise pollution.
There is evidence that tells that among young Americans, hearing sensitivity is decreasing year by year because of exposure to noise, including excessively amplified music. Apart from hearing loss, such noise can cause lack of sleep, irritability, heartburn, indigestion, ulcers, high blood pressure, and possibly heart diseases. One burst of noise, as from a passing truck, is known to alter endocrine, neurological, and cardiovascular functions in many individuals; prolonged or frequent exposure to such noise tends to make the physiological disturbances chronic. In addition, noise-induced stress creates severe tension in daily living.
Future Aspects and the necessary measures:
There is no doubt that the problem of noise is serious, not only at the place of work but in residential places as well.
According to WHO report to the UN Conference on Environment, of all environmental problems, noise is the easiest to control". But the question that arises here is” HOW"?
First of all, the design and fabrication of silencing devices and their use in aircraft engines, trucks, cars, motorcycles, industrial machines and home appliances would be an effective measure.
Noise pollution can be reduced by prescribing noise limits for vehicular traffic, ban on honking of horns in certain areas and planning main traffic arteries. Creation of silent zones near schools and hospitals would be another vital step.
AIR POLLTUION:
When people think about air pollution, they usually think about smog, acid rain, CFC's, and other forms of outdoor air pollution. But did you know that air pollution could also exist inside homes and other buildings? It can, and every year, large number of people are affected by chemical substances present in the air within buildings.
Air pollution is a chemical particulate matter that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. The atmosphere is a complex, dynamic natural gaseous system that is essential to support life on planet Earth. Stratospheric ozone depletion due to air pollution has long been recognized as a threat to human health as well as to the Earth's ecosystems.
Worldwide air pollution is responsible for large number of deaths and a severe cause for the respiratory diseases. The greatest source of emission is actually mobile sources, mainly automobiles. Gases like carbon dioxide, which contribute to global warming, have recently gained recognition as pollutants by some scientists. Others recognize the gas as being essential to life, and therefore incapable of being classified as a pollutant.
Pollutants can be classified as either Primary or Secondary. Primary pollutants are the substances directly produced by a process, such as ash from a volcanic eruption or the carbon monoxide gas from a motor vehicle exhaust.
Secondary pollutants are not emitted. They form in the air when primary pollutants react. An important example of a secondary pollutant is ground level ozone - one of the many secondary pollutants that make up photochemical smog.
Note that some pollutants may be both primary and secondary: that is, they are both emitted directly and formed from other primary pollutants.
Primary pollutants produced by human activity includes:
Sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, a green house gas, smoke and dust, chlorofluorocarbons (harmful to ozone layer), ammonia, odors from garbage, sewage and industrial processes.
Secondary pollutants includes:
Particulate matter formed from gaseous primary pollutants and compounds in photochemical smog, such as nitrogen dioxide, ground level ozone, peroxyacetyl nitrate.
Necessary Measures:
It’s a responsibility of every citizen to make sure that their areas and the place outside their house is dirt free. They should dump the garbage at the right place rather than throwing it here and there. Secondly, the owners of the factories and industries should not let poisonous gases destroy the whole environment and should take necessary measures to recycle the waste. According to a research, one third of the waste can be recycled.
WATER POLLUTION:
We all know that 70% of earth consist of water and it is undoubtedly the most precious resource that exist on planet and in spite of knowing that we are polluting our rivers, lakes and oceans. We are slowly, but surely harming our planet to the point where organisms are dying at an alarming rate and not only that, our drinking water has become greatly affected. In order to combat water pollution, we must understand what exactly the water pollution is and what are the reasons?
"Water Pollution” is the presence of harmful materials to damage the water's quality. Usually this occurs from soil erosion, poisonous chemicals from industries and spills and introduction of domestic sewage or industrial and agricultural wastes."
There are two types of water pollutants: Point source and Non point source. Point sources of pollution occur when harmful substances are emitted directly into the body of water. A non point source delivers the pollutants indirectly through environmental changes. An example of this type of pollution is when fertilizer from a field is carried into a stream by rain, in the form of run-off which effects aquatic life and water becomes poisonous. Pollution arising from non point sources account for a majority of the contaminants in streams and lakes.
The cause of water pollution includes sewage and fertilizers containing nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. Nitrates and phosphates stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae. Excessive growth of these types of organisms consequently clogs our waterways, decompose, and block light to deeper water. Industries dump their wastes in sea, which becomes poisonous for the aquatic organisms. Pathogens are another type of unsafe pollutant. They can cause many illnesses that range from typhoid and dysentery to minor respiratory and skin diseases. Pathogens include organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoan. These pollutants enter waterways through untreated sewage, storm drains, septic tanks, and particularly boats that dump sewage. Though microscopic, these pollutants have a tremendous effect. It is estimated that currently more than 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide is being released in the atmosphere every year, which is an alarming danger to the sea.
With the facts mentioned above, it is too clear that the problems associated with pollution have the capabilities to disrupt life on our planet to a great extent. But the government alone cannot solve this entire problem. It is up to us, to be informed, responsible and involved when it comes to the problems we face. We must be aware with the resources we have and what importance they behold. Both awareness and education will assuredly continue to be the two most important ways to prevent all kinds of pollution. If the necessary measures are not taken right away and if pollution continues, life on earth will suffer severely. And then in the end, there wouldn’t be any way to get rid of this devastating problem “pollution."