Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light. Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants. Pollution is often classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution. The Blacksmith Institute issues an annual list of the world's worst polluted places. In the 2007 issues the ten top nominees are located in Azerbaijan, China, India, Peru, Russia, Ukraine and Zambia

Types of pollution

just like hazards of pollution, the types of pollution are also many but we can divide them into three broad categories which may further be divided into several sub-categories. The three categories of pollution are:

Air Pollution Water Pollution Land Pollution Noise Pollution Radioactive Pollution Thermal Pollution

Pollutants

Who amongst us is fully aware of devastation of pollutants. We all directly or indirectly keep falling prey to pollutants in one way or another. Unfortunately most of us are not aware of them and simply know about pollution and not about the pollutants. The root cause of every type of pollution is its pollutants which usually are more than many and keep damaging our environment and eventually make our lives more miserable. The pollutants are all types of substances which cause any kind of pollution. Various gases are pollutants of air pollution, so many poisonous chemicals create land pollution and many elements and compounds bring on water pollution. They may be physical, chemical or both. These may be in all the three forms of matter; gas, liquid and solid. All the products of waste or their by-products are pollutants. Most of the times a balanced quantity of various substance is good for nature but their excess or shortage may convert them into pollutants. Like soil needs a good balance of phosphate and nitrates to maintain fertility but their excess is harmful for its fertility and also cause water pollution especially in ground water.

Ancient cultures
Air pollution has always accompanied civilizations. Pollution started from the prehistoric times when man created the first fires. According to a 1983 article in the journal Science, "soot found on ceilings of prehistoric caves provides ample evidence of the high levels of pollution that was associated with inadequate ventilation of open fires." The forging of metals appears to be a key turning point in the creation of significant air pollution levels outside the home. Core samples of

glaciers in Greenland indicate increases in pollution associated with Greek, Roman and Chinese metal production, but at that time the pollution was comparatively less and could be handled by nature.

Noise pollution

Noise pollution is created due to sounds above the tolerable limits. Usually it happens when pressure horns are installed and used in vehicles, vehicles and trains are not properly maintained and emit huge noise, machineries of factories exceeds allowable noise limits while operating and undue domestic noise due to high volumes of entertainment based electronic appliances like television, music player etc. In densely populated areas there are more chances of this menace while the areas where population is sparse people can enjoy relatively a silent and peaceful life style. Noise pollution is made when guidelines to emit noise are violated. World Health Organization has set the limit of tolerable noise up to 85 decibel which means either it is a factory or vehicle or house or office it is allowed to emit noise up to 85 decibel (a unit of measuring noise) because up to that level it is not irksome for the people while hearing system and nerves of human beings can also sustain that level without any problem.

Air Pollution

Smoke-emitting vehicles plying on roads, chimneys of factories marring the air quality, heaps of garbage being openly burnt on road sides in backward countries, unrestrained burning of fossil fuels and indoor air exhaust owing to badly planned structure of homes has deprived us of the clean air to breath. According to a latest survey nearly 140 million people all around the world are forced to breathe polluted air because of living in an atmosphere below the minimum level of air quality standards. We may be part of this hapless lot of the people.

What is air pollution?

Air pollution is contamination of air by the excess of various gases in the atmosphere. Usually air should have a moderate quantity of various gases and some of them are very essential to support the life like oxygen but the excess quantity of few of them is bad and in some cases worst for both the air quality of the environment and for the life of humans, animals and plants. It is generally said that many types of pollutions can be avoided for the time being or one can save oneself from their hazards but if there is pollution in the air you dont have any other option but to inhale it for your very survival. If we dont breathe the polluted air obviously we wont have this much resources and a luxurious lifestyle to keep an oxygen bag on our back all the time full of clean air to inhaled clean air.

water pollution

What is water pollution? Its answer is so simple. When water loses its natural composition owing to encroachment of any unwanted compound into it then it does not remain as pure water and called the polluted water. This situation in the water is widely termed as the water pollution which literally means the poor quality of water.

Types of water pollution

Technically speaking there are two main types of the water pollution.

Surface water pollution

The surface water is the entire amount of the water found in oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, stream etc. It may be further bifurcated into various categories according to its various other features like taste, place of storage etc. So wherever there is any sort of the contamination in the surface water it is called the surface water pollution which further be called individually as marine pollution, sea pollution, river pollution, lake pollution etc. On the basis of taste it may be divided into two categories one is drinking water pollution and the second one is salt water pollution..

Groundwater pollution
The groundwater means the water available under the ground in aquifers. It is polluted by the human activities disperse all around the world which first contaminate the soil then its harms are shifted into the water at its bottom. Use of the chemical fertilizer and pesticide is the main source of soil contamination apart from dumping of the hazardous and chemical waste into the trench which flows into the groundwater. Similarly every polluting activity on land causes the ground water pollution. Most interestingly the industrial and vehicular emissions when suspend into the air, the rainfall takes them with water-flow into the various water bodies and its effects also persist in soil which ultimately add the pollution load on the groundwater.

Causes of water pollution

There are multiple causes of water pollution which are in bulk all across the world and hold various harmful affects to disturb the original composition of the

water. It is possible that some of these causes are less sever in an area but may be so intense in another area which offset its lesser effects somewhere else and equally mar the water to hold its natural characteristics.

Sewage and wastewater

Entire civic affluent is called sewage. Its amount can be judged by the living beings on the world. If we take only humans as living beings then nearly six to seven billion people live on this planet. They consume water and then dispose it in various forms. That sewage and wastewater must be treated before its final disposal into the water bodies for its eventual reuse. But more than half of the domestic sewage and wastewater in the sixty percent countries of this world is directly dumped into the various water bodies more particularly into the seas. Disposal of the untreated sewage and wastewater into the sea has entirely changed the natural composition of marine environment resulting worst hit to the marine life and its ecosystem.

Thermal pollution

When water quality is degraded due to change in ambient water temperature it is called thermal pollution which affects the overall water quality and such water termed misfit for consumption especially for drinking purpose. The main cause of thermal pollution is usage of water as cooling agent by power plants and industrial manufacturers. After usage as cooling agent water returns in water bodies with higher temperature and affects the overall quality of entire water which eventually mars the composition of ecosystem. Agriculture runoff and storm water discharged into surface waters from residential and agricultural areas also adds water temperature.

In case of any change in regular water temperature all water species are badly affected and in some cases are killed due to sudden changes in temperature; it is called thermal shock. It usually happens due to scheduled shutdowns or repair and maintenance of power plants owing to that warmer water which releases from them stop for a slight span of time. . Moreover for the effective control of thermal pollution, while producing power mechanical friction in rotating parts should be reduced, energy should be consumed to minimum of need level and use of civil nuclear energy should be promoted as it releases less carbon dioxide.

River pollution

When industrial effluent, civic wastewater, chemical waste, civic waste, hospital waste, nuclear waste, industrial waste, hazardous waste and agricultural runoff is thrown or dumped directly into the river advertently or inadvertently it causes river pollution affecting the quality of the river water and aquatic environment including fisheries, silt, flora and fauna and other living and non-living beings related to river.

Usage of river water

River water is used fro drinking purpose as it flows from river to lake and then canals and ponds. Thereafter, civic agencies either supply it directly to residential and industrial areas for consumption or in advanced countries it goes through a scientific process of cleansing and thereafter it is supplied to households, offices and factories. The wastewater is also treated by civic agencies and it is supplied again to end users to avoid water shortage if fresh water from various water bodies is not sufficient enough to fulfill entire water needs.

Who cares river?

Water is available in river without any outer protection therefore it is exposed to various forms of polluting agents and in one way or the other it gets polluted. However, aware communities harm all types of environment including

river lesser as compare to those who dont know the importance of natural resources for the survival of human life on planet Earth.

Who does not care river?

Mostly less aware or unaware communities play a significant role to pollute the river. They without any hesitation throw used items directly into the river and without any unease flow the waste water into the river while living adjoining to a river. Likewise industries unaware of significance of river environment directly flow their effluents and waste into the river just to avoid cost of treating and safely disposing them. Civic agencies just to avoid lengthy process of disposing of garbage and waste into designated landfill sites sometimes pile up them at places nearby river which flow into the river with wind pressure and causes river pollution. Farming communities flow the agricultural runoff including refuse of pesticide and chemical fertilizer directly into water bodies including river.

Effects of pollution

What is the worlds deadliest slow poison? Is it a drug, herb or any chemical? No, not all of them! The menace of pollution is the worlds deadliest and massive slow poison that is killing human beings, animals and plants by and by even it is not noticed by the saner elements. Pollution the unwanted introduction of various contaminants in to the various types of environment has played havoc with life and environment both. It is not an exaggeration when we listen or read somewhere that millions of deaths occur all around the world due to various types of pollution. Under very conservative estimates nearly fifty percent deaths per year world over occur due to the harmful effects of pollution which take the life very slowly.

Biological effects of the pollution

It is widely said that environment is life and pollution is death. It is absolutely right. Wherever there is modicum of pollution the spread of diseases are obvious there. Some of the pollution-caused diseases are so fatal which ultimately lead to the human beings to the deep trench of the death.

Effects of the air pollution on human life

It weakens the lungs to function well It causes irritation of eyes, nose, mouth and throat

It brings on asthma attacks It causes respiratory symptoms such as coughing and wheezing It increases the chances of respiratory diseases such as bronchitis It reduces the energy levels It is the main reason of headaches and dizziness It causes disruption of endocrine, reproductive and immune systems It is the cause of neuro behavioral disorders It creates cardiovascular problems It may cause cancer due to presence of carcinogenic contents in it It causes premature death

Pollution Controls
There is general agreement that we must control pollution of our air, water, and land, but there is considerable dispute over how controls should be designed and how much control is enough. The pollution control mechanisms adopted in the United States have tended toward detailed REGULATION of technology, leaving polluters little choice in how to achieve the environmental goals. This commandand-control strategy needlessly increases the cost of pollution controls and may even slow our progress toward a cleaner environment. In 1970, popular concern about environmental degradation coalesced into a major political force, resulting in President Richard Nixons creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the first of the major federal attempts to regulate pollution directlythe Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970. Since then, the federal role in regulating pollution has grown immensely, unleashing many regulatory responsibilities on the EPA and a cascade of regulations on local governments and the business community. But that has begun to change somewhat as environmentalists have increasingly realized that markets can work to allocate pollution reduction responsibilities efficiently among firms and across industries. THANKING YOU KAVINBHARATHI.S 2ND YEAR,CIVIL-A.