Water Pollution

Rivers, well, lake and underground water are the sources of water. Some of the people’s activities pollute air. These are the discharge of solid wastes from industries and factories, improper use of chemical fertilizer, pesticides and insecticides and release of wastes and other harmful residues through drainage. They pollute water sources and change in water quality. Foreign elements when change quality of water is water pollution. In other word, when pollutants change physical and chemical property of water its quality is different from original one. Such water is called polluted and it is not useful. Thus, the change of the state of water in such a way that it is not useful to use by living beings is called water pollution.

a. Causes of Water Pollution
People use water for different purposes such as drinking, irrigation and cleanliness. These activities affect the water sources in one or another way. It means there are different reasons of water pollution. Some of them are as follows:
· In city areas both pipes of drinking water and drainage are placed side by side. Drinking water gets polluted when dirty water and wastes leakage from the pipe.
· Washing clothes and utensils nearby the well, tape, pond and rivers are common. People also take bath in or nearby water sources. Cattle go to water sources to drink water. These types of activities pollute water sources.
· Wastes of hospital, laboratory, industry and workshop contain harmful chemical and wastes. If they are mixed with water sources they pollute water sources.
· It is common that farmers used different types of chemicals such as fertilizer, pesticide and insecticide in their farm.

b. Effects of Water Pollution
Water pollution produces several harmful effects. Some of them are given below:
· Polluted water causes several diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid. People suffer from these diseases. Other diseases due to polluted water affect even other living beings.
· Polluted water of river, pond and lake harm the health of living-beings including human beings.
· Polluted water generates bad smell to its surroundings. It pollutes the settlement area and even the environment.
· Polluted water if irrigated to agricultural land it affects young plants, seedlings and living-beings. It slows down their normal growth. Some of the useful insects and plants die due to the affect of polluted water.

c. Methods of Water Pollution Control
We can adopt different methods of water pollution control depending upon the place and situation. Some methods are given below:
· It is necessary to reduce household wastes. Such wastes should not throw to river, rivulet, pond, lake well and their surroundings.
· Wastes water of industries and factories should be properly treated before discharge to outside either land or water sources. Similarly, solid and waste, dirty water of hospital, laboratory and industries should be processed properly for controlling water pollution.
· Water pollution control programmes should be launched at central and local levels.
· Some of the natural calamities such as soil erosion, landslides and floods pollute water sources and even they damage them. If we take precaution for their control contributes in controlling of water pollution.

Pollution

Pollution, contamination of Earth’s environment with materials that interfere with human health, the quality of life, or the natural functioning of ecosystems (living organisms and their physical surroundings). Although some environmental pollution is a result of natural causes such as volcanic eruptions, most is caused by human activities.
There are two main categories of polluting materials, or pollutants. Biodegradable pollutants are materials, such as sewage, that rapidly decompose by natural processes. These pollutants become a problem when added to the environment faster than they can decompose (see Sewage Disposal). Nondegradable pollutants are materials that either do not decompose or decompose slowly in the natural environment. Once contamination occurs, it is difficult or impossible to remove these pollutants from the environment.
Nondegradable compounds such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls and radioactive materials can reach dangerous levels of accumulation as they are passed up the food chain into the bodies of progressively larger animals. For example, molecules of toxic compounds may collect on the surface of aquatic plants without doing much damage to the plants. A small fish that grazes on these plants accumulates a high concentration of the toxin. Larger fish or other carnivores that eat the small fish will accumulate even greater, and possibly life-threatening, concentrations of the compound. This process is known as bioaccumulation.

Types of Pollution
· Air Pollution
· Water Pollution
· Soil Pollution
· Noise Pollution

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is unwanted sound. Crowd of people, radio, mike, means of transportation and machines and other instruments are the source of sound. Industrial area, market area and heavy construction also produce sound. If much sound, which is unwanted is produced from these sources it is called noise pollution.

a. Causes of Noise Pollution
We will study of the main causes of noise pollution:
· Market area, densely populated settlement, industrial areas produce much sound that makes noise pollution.
· Cement industry, furniture factory and mills also produce much sound that makes noise pollution in that area.
· Musical instruments produce pleasant sound but if they are used improperly and produced much sound that makes noise. Similarly, if radio and television is kept on high volume it makes noise pollution.
· In city area there is publicity of different news through mike and gathering of people at the side of the road and corners produce much sound and causes noise pollution.

b. Effects of Noise Pollution
Noise pollution affects us different ways. Some of the main effects are given below:
· In the noisy place we should speak loudly. It affects our health that causes blood pressure too. It makes differences in human behaviour and dealing to other persons.
· Noise affects our mind, which in turn harms our physical part of the body.
· Noise pollution disturbs our digestive system, sleeping habit that causes several diseases. It makes us lazy and disturbs our normal life.
· Exposure to noise for a longer period affects on our hearing power. If this affect is continued it damages eardrum. It results in the loss our hearing power permanently.

c. Methods of Noise Pollution Control
There are different methods of noise pollution control. Some of them are given below:
· Tree plantation in open area will help to control of transmission of sound produced from crowd of people, industries, market area and means of transportation. It protects the transmission of sound from there to another place.
· Manufacturing industries produce different things through processing the raw materials. I produce much sound in that area. If such industries use the equipment or machines that produce less sound that helps to control noise pollution. Another way of controlling noise pollution is to build walls around the industries that protect sound of that area.
· Means of transportation is of the sources of noise pollution. Plantation of trees on either side of road protects the sound to transmit from there to another place.

Land Pollution

All types of land have their own value in the environment. People throw out wastes such as broken glasses, dirty things and other materials that are not useful to them. Some of these waste materials that are biodegradable decay after sometime and mixed with soil. Such waste materials do not pollute the environment. The other materials such as plastic, broken glasses, vehicles and machines are not degradable and remain on the land for longer period that pollutes the land. It reduces the fertility of land and also destroys physical and chemical properties of the land. Thus, deterioration of land due to accumulation of waste materials on it is called land pollution.

a. Causes of Land Pollution
Several factors pollute land. Some of the main factors are given below:
· Land is polluted due to the accumulation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste materials. Waste materials such as glasses, papers, plants and agricultural residues are degradable. They do not deteriorate land. However, accumulation of huge amount of degradable materials pollutes land.
· Non-degradable materials such as plastic, broken glasses and metals if they are thrown on the land they pollute it.
· Farmers use chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides in their farm to increase production. However, it affects adversely land and water sources in and around there.

b. Effects of land Pollution
Among the several effects of land pollution some of the main ones are given below:
· Polluted land is the source of bad smell. Bad smell from there spread to the surroundings. It makes the settlement area unhealthy. Various types of diseases spread from such place.
· Land polluted due to chemical fertilliser and poisons like pesticide is harmful to plants, animals and other living-beings. In accordance to food cycle, such poisons are transferred to human being through the food they eat.
· Land pollution affects natural setting of land and cultural heritage such as religious place, monastery and other heritage sites.

c. Methods of Land Pollution Control
They are different types of methods to control land pollution. Some of them are given below:
· It is necessary to control solid and wastes to throw to open place and road. The use of plastic bag and other materials made from plastic should be reduced. Such materials should be re-used.
· Biodegradable materials such as residue of plants, vegetables and other wastes of plants should be used to make compost.
· Solid wastes and harmful chemicals released from industries, hospital and laboratories should be purified to some extent before discharging them to land and water sources.
· Legal provision should be made on the management of solid wastes. It forces the people to manage solid wastes properly that control land pollution.

Global Warming

Global Warming or Climate Change, measurable increases in the average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and landmasses. Scientists believe Earth is currently facing a period of rapid warming brought on by rising levels of heat-trapping gases, known as greenhouse gases, in the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases retain the radiant energy (heat) provided to Earth by the Sun in a process known as the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases occur naturally, and without them the planet would be too cold to sustain life as we know it. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1700s, however, human activities have added more and more of these gases into the atmosphere. For example, levels of carbon dioxide, a powerful greenhouse gas, have risen by 35 percent since 1750, largely from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. With more greenhouse gases in the mix, the atmosphere acts like a thickening blanket and traps more heat.

Effects of Global Warming
· Weather
· Sea Level
· Agriculture
· Plants & Animals
· Human Health


Efforts to Control Global Warming
· Carbon Capture
· Energy Sources
· International Agreements
· Programs in the United States

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels, energy-rich substances that have formed from long-buried plants and microorganisms. Fossil fuels, which include petroleum, coal, and natural gas, provide most of the energy that powers modern industrial society. The gasoline that fuels our cars, the coal that powers many electrical plants, and the natural gas that heats our homes are all fossil fuels.
Chemically, fossil fuels consist largely of hydrocarbons, which are compounds composed of hydrogen and carbon. Some fossil fuels also contain smaller amounts of other compounds. Hydrocarbons form from ancient living organisms that were buried under layers of sediment millions of years ago. As accumulating sediment layers exerted increasing heat and pressure, the remains of the organisms gradually transformed into hydrocarbons. The most commonly used fossil fuels are petroleum, coal, and natural gas. These substances are extracted from the earth’s crust and, if necessary, refined into suitable fuel products, such as gasoline, heating oil, and kerosene. Some of these hydrocarbons may also be processed into plastics, chemicals, lubricants, and other nonfuel products. Geologists have identified other types of hydrocarbon-rich deposits that can serve as fuels. Such deposits, which include oil shale, tar sands, and gas hydrates, are not widely used because they are too costly to extract and refine. See also Energy Supply, World.
The majority of fossil fuels are used in the transportation, manufacturing, residential heating, and electric-power generation industries. Crude petroleum is refined into gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel, which power the world’s transportation system. Coal is the fuel most commonly burned to generate electric power, and natural gas is used primarily in commercial and residential buildings for heating water and air, for air conditioning, and as fuel for stoves and other heating appliances.

Environmental Effects of Using Fossil Fuels
· Acid Rain
· Global Warming
· Petroleum Recovery and Transportation
· Coal Mining

Atmosphere

Atmosphere, mixture of gases surrounding any celestial object that has a gravitational field strong enough to prevent the gases from escaping; especially the gaseous envelope of Earth. The principal constituents of the atmosphere of Earth are nitrogen (78 percent) and oxygen (21 percent). The atmospheric gases in the remaining 1 percent are argon (0.9 percent), carbon dioxide (0.03 percent), varying amounts of water vapor, and trace amounts of hydrogen, ozone, methane, carbon monoxide, helium, neon, krypton, and xenon.
The mixture of gases in the air today has had 4.5 billion years in which to evolve. The earliest atmosphere must have consisted of volcanic emanations alone. Gases that erupt from volcanoes today, however, are mostly a mixture of water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen, with almost no oxygen. If this is the same mixture that existed in the early atmosphere, then various processes would have had to operate to produce the mixture we have today. One of these processes was condensation. As it cooled, much of the volcanic water vapor condensed to fill the earliest oceans. Chemical reactions would also have occurred. Some carbon dioxide would have reacted with the rocks of Earth’s crust to form carbonate minerals, and some would have become dissolved in the new oceans. Later, as primitive life capable of photosynthesis evolved in the oceans, new marine organisms began producing oxygen. Almost all the free oxygen in the air today is believed to have formed by photosynthetic combination of carbon dioxide with water. About 570 million years ago, the oxygen content of the atmosphere and oceans became high enough to permit marine life capable of respiration. Later, some 400 million years ago, the atmosphere contained enough oxygen for the evolution of air-breathing land animals.
The water-vapor content of the air varies considerably, depending on the temperature and relative humidity. With 100 percent relative humidity, the water-vapor content of air varies from 190 parts per million (ppm) at -40°C (-40°F) to 42,000 ppm at 30°C (86°F). Minute quantities of other gases, such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, are temporary constituents of the atmosphere in the vicinity of volcanoes and are washed out of the air by rain or snow. Oxides and other pollutants added to the atmosphere by industrial plants and motor vehicles have become a major concern, however, because of their damaging effects in the form of acid rain. In addition, the strong possibility exists that the steady increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, mainly as the result of the burning of fossil fuels since the mid-1800s, may affect Earth’s climate.
Similar concerns are posed by the sharp increase in atmospheric methane. Methane levels have risen 11 percent since 1978. About 80 percent of the gas is produced by decomposition in rice paddies, swamps, and the intestines of grazing animals, and by tropical termites. Human activities that tend to accelerate these processes include raising more livestock and growing more rice. Besides adding to the greenhouse effect, methane reduces the volume of atmospheric hydroxyl ions, thereby curtailing the atmosphere’s ability to cleanse itself of pollutants.

Air Pollution

Air Pollution, addition of harmful substances to the atmosphere resulting in damage to the environment, human health, and quality of life. One of many forms of pollution, air pollution occurs inside homes, schools, and offices; in cities; across continents; and even globally. Air pollution makes people sick—it causes breathing problems and promotes cancer—and it harms plants, animals, and the ecosystems in which they live. Some air pollutants return to Earth in the form of acid rain and snow, which corrode statues and buildings, damage crops and forests, and make lakes and streams unsuitable for fish and other plant and animal life.
Pollution is changing Earth’s atmosphere so that it lets in more harmful radiation from the Sun. At the same time, our polluted atmosphere is becoming a better insulator, preventing heat from escaping back into space and leading to a rise in global average temperatures. Scientists predict that the temperature increase, referred to as global warming, will affect world food supply, alter sea level, make weather more extreme, and increase the spread of tropical diseases.
a. Causes of Air Pollution
There are different factors that pollute air. Some of the main factors are given below:
· Pollutants like smoke, dusts and solid wastes pollute air. The polluted air contains sulpher dioxide, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. If these pollutants are mixed with air it gets polluted.
· The pollutants are smokes, dust and solid wastes that pollute air. Due to the heavy traffic in city area it is getting polluted.
b. Effects of Air Pollution
Polluted air affects living and non-living beings. Some of the main effects are given below:
· Polluted air contains sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide that affect physical and cultural aspects of the environment. It deteriorates temples made of metals, buildings and monuments.
· Different types of industries and factories like stone quarry, cement factory, marble factory emit smoke, dust and other harmful particles that pollute air. Some of the effects are lack of blood I body, damage of kidney and abortion.
· A thick layer of sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide is formed at the atmosphere due to air pollution. This layer does not protect sunlight to come to the earth but it stopped to refract light from the earth. It increases the temperature of the earth surface. The increment of the temperature of the earth is harmful to all living-beings.

c. Methods of Air Pollution Control
Some methods are given below:
· Old vehicles emit more smoke compare to new ones. It is necessary to inspect them from time to time. New ones should replace old vehicles.
· It is necessary to control dust and smoke that emitted from stone quarry, industries and brick factory.
· Tree plantation and increase of forest area help to control air pollution.
· Sources of alternative energy should be developed to replace wood fuel, cow dung and buffalo dung. Solar energy, electricity and biogas contribute in controlling air pollution.

Acid Rain

Acid Rain, form of air pollution in which airborne acids produced by electric utility plants and other sources fall to Earth in distant regions. The corrosive nature of acid rain causes widespread damage to the environment. The problem begins with the production of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and oil, and from certain kinds of manufacturing. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water and other chemicals in the air to form sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and other pollutants. These acid pollutants reach high into the atmosphere, travel with the wind for hundreds of miles, and eventually return to the ground by way of rain, snow, or fog, and as invisible “dry” forms.
Damage from acid rain has been widespread in eastern North America and throughout Europe, and in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Acid rain leaches nutrients from soils, slows the growth of trees, and makes lakes uninhabitable for fish and other wildlife. In cities, acid pollutants corrode almost everything they touch, accelerating natural wear and tear on structures such as buildings and statues. Acids combine with other chemicals to form urban smog, which attacks the lungs, causing illness and premature deaths.

Effects of Acid Rain

· Soil
· Trees
· Agriculture
· Human Health
· Plants & Animals
· Surface Water

Concept of Environment

- The natural environment, alt living and non-living things that occur naturally on earth.
- Built environment, constructed surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging from the large-scale civic surroundings to the personal places.
Environment, all of the external factors affecting an organism. These factors may be other living organisms (biotic factors) or nonliving variables (abiotic factors), such as temperature, rainfall, day length, wind, and ocean currents. The interactions of organisms with biotic and abiotic factors form an ecosystem. Even minute changes in any one factor in an ecosystem can influence whether or not a particular plant or animal species will be successful in its environment.
Organisms and their environment constantly interact, and both are changed by this interaction. Like all other living creatures, humans have clearly changed their environment, but they have done so generally on a grander scale than have all other species. Some of these human-induced changes—such as the destruction of the world’s tropical rain forests to create farms or grazing land for cattle—have led to altered climate patterns. In turn, altered climate patterns have changed the way animals and plants are distributed in different ecosystems.
Scientists study the long-term consequences of human actions on the environment, while environmentalists—professionals in various fields, as well as concerned citizens—advocate ways to lessen the impact of human activity on the natural world.

Factors the Environment
· Population Growth
· Global Warming
· Depletion of the Ozone Layer
· Air Pollution
· Water Pollution
· Land Pollution
· Noise Pollution
· Chemical Risks