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Victor Hugo Duarte do Vale

English 1010-001
Professor Chandra Griffith
12-01-14
Project 4
Environmental Pollution

One of the greatest problems that the world is facing today is that of
environmental pollution, increasing with every passing year and causing grave and
irreparable damage to the earth. But this is not a new issue, since the dawn of man on
earth the pollution had begun.
Studies indicate that the first signs of pollution were in prehistoric times, when
man became sedentary and also created the first fires. The man was destroying the
forests to turn into cropland or pasture for their animals. At that time they had no
knowledge about environmental pollution, so they had no idea that their survival actions
would ultimately harm the environment.
But what is pollution? The term "pollution" refers the introduction
of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can
take the form of chemical substances, as well as energy (light, heat, sound). 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.

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Over time polluters of the environment were increasing and getting more intense.
The search for an energy fuel more efficient than water vapor at the time of the
industrial revolution, resulted in the expansion of the usage of coal that started to be
used as fuel for steam locomotives, on ships and in the industries. At that time we had
not a concern for the environment, although there are already scientist in this area.
Environmental pollution consists of five basic types of pollution, namely, air,
water, soil, noise and light.
Air pollution is formed mainly due the human activity. The combustion of coal, oil
refineries, combustion in power plants, and the smoke emitted by vehicles, launch into
the air substances that alter the natural composition of air and degrade their quality,
thus forming the Air Pollution, which is by far the most harmful form of pollution in our
environment. Evidence of increasing air pollution is seen in lung cancer, asthma,
allergies, and various breathing problems along with severe and irreparable damage to
flora and fauna.
Soil pollution is a result of any changes in their natural characteristics through
deposition, discharge, infiltration or soil accumulation of pollutants. The main sources of
pollution of soil are residues (domestic and industrial waste) lying on the ground without
any treatment, pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture and debris breading.
Noise pollution include aircraft noise, noise of cars, buses, and trucks, vehicle
horns, loudspeakers, and industry noise, as well as high-intensity sonar effects which
are extremely harmful for the environment.

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Light Pollution includes light trespass, over-illumination and astronomical
interference. The human body needs darkness to be able to rest and recover during
sleep, the constant light disrupts the biological system and birds are disoriented by the
light.
Pollution is a problem that affects the entire planet Earth, and that has become
frequent topic of discussion among scientists and the general population. One type of
pollution that has been much discussed, mainly for their impact on various ecosystems
simultaneously, is water pollution. Water pollution is pollution in water. According to
WHO (World Health Organization), is defined as polluted water all water whose
composition has been directly or indirectly altered and partially or completely invalidate
the purposes for which this was originally intended. Water pollution can also indirectly
occur as an offshoot of soil pollution through surface runoff and leaching to
groundwater.
According the European Environment Agency (EEA) The impact of air pollution
from industry on health care costs, absenteeism, damage to buildings, low income in
agriculture and other costs and concluded that the total cost may have been at least 59
billion euros and up to 189 billion euros in 2012. it is possible to realize the dimension of
Environmental Pollution, the range of effects go from endanger the health of human
beings and animals until economic problems for the nation
Development and the environment should work together hand and hand. With
proper legislation has a motivating factor this goal can be achieved. Even though ever
inhabitant in the world has a moral obligation to preserve the world that they were
handed, it is disheartening that some do not feel this responsibility to mankind. That is

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why a monetary reward or penalty should be imposed to those who chose to neglect the
world that we live in.