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What is Pollution??

Introduction
Environmental pollution is a multi-disciplinary science involving chemistry, physics,
life science, agriculture, medical science, public health, sanitary engineering etc. In
broader sense, it is the study of the sources, reactions, transport, effect and fate of
chemical species in the air, water and soil and the effect of human activity upon
these.
Pollutant: A substance present in nature, in greater than natural abundance due to
human activity, which ultimately has a detrimental effect on the environment and
therefrom on living organisms and mankind. Examples are- lead, mercury, sulphur
dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc.
Contaminant: A material which does not occur in nature, but is introduced by
human activity into the environment, affecting its composition. A contaminant is
classified as a pollutant when it exerts a detrimental effect. Example- chlorine gas
Types of Pollution
Air
Causes of air pollution:
motor vehicle exhaust
power stations
car manufacturing
fertilizer factories
demolishing buildings
solvent evaporation
volcanic eruption
building roads
forest fires
Effect of air pollution:
Global warming, acid rain, smog, ozone depletion are some effects of air pollution
pollution
Water

Causes of water pollution:


man-made chemicals used in farming
heavy metals
waste from factories
sediment from the river bed
air pollution
thermal (heat) pollution
soil pollution from rubbish dumps
Effects of water pollution:
The water in the earths biosphere is used and reused again and again by all living
things
water pollution
Soil
Causes of soil pollution:
farming
mining and quarrying
household waste
demolition and putting up buildings
factory waste
Effects of soil pollution:
Experts say that lots of land each year becomes unusable for humans or animals.
soil pollution
Noise
Causes of noise pollution:
noisy roads and traffic
air traffic
rail traffic

household noise
industrial noise
Effects of noise pollution:
We hear and make sounds nearly all the time but too much noise can make us feel
angry or depressed. The time of day that noises are heard is very important.
noice pollution
Radiation
Pollution from radiation can be caused by:
nuclear power plants
making nuclear weapons
disposal of nuclear waste
mining for uranium
radiation
What can happen?
Radiation occurs naturally at low levels and is a useful source of power when
concentrated.
It can also be very harmful to all living things if they are exposed to too much of it.
Light
Light pollution happens when outside lights, such as a streetlight or a security light,
points light upwards into the night sky.
This light gets scattered in the sky and makes an orange foggy glow to appear
above a town.
What can happen?
It is likely that we wont be able to see the stars in the night sky if the amount of
light pollution isnt closely controlled.
bio
CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT
It is imperative that we carefully utilise our renewable resources of soil, water, plant
and animal life to sustain our economic development. Over exploitation of these is

reflected in soil erosion, siltation, floods, and rapid destruction of our forest, floral
and wildlife resources. The depletion of these resources often tends to be
irreversible and since the bulk of our population depends on these natural resources
to meet the basic needs, it has meant a deterioration in their quality of life.
Global petroleum deposits are likely to be exhausted within this century. Research is
going on for alternatives to fossil fuel (petroleum) based on biomass (green energy).
Controlled nuclear fusion holds the prospect of abundant energyif the relatively
difficult deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction can be utilised for energy production.
This energy source will become unlimited.
Solar energy is both renewable and non-polluting and provides ideal energy source.
On a global scale, tapping of only a small fraction of solar energy the earth can
supply the entire energy requirement.
In any new development project, due consideration must be given to the
environmental, social and cultural impacts. For this purpose, environmental experts
must be involved in project planning.
DISASTERS
NATURAL AND MANMADE DISASTERS
Sometimes there are drastic changes in environment due to natural disasters, e.g.
cyclone, typhoon, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, volcanic eruption etc. within a
short time.
Bush fires, are another type of natural disasters, are of common occurrence in some
regions of the world due to hot summer and lightning. During the hot summer
months bush fires are common in Australia and in the Pacific coast arid areas in
USA.
Man developed science and technology but over the years since the Industrial
Revolution (1780- todate) he continued to plunder natural resources thereby
polluting the environment. He degraded lands, destroyed forests, threw toxic wastes
into rivers and seas and also harmful gases into the atmosphere. This continuous
load of manmade pollutants into environment brought about adverse changes,
which ultimately back-fired into series of disasters from time to time.
Some examples of manmade disasters are: London smog, Minamata disease,
nuclear explosions, Bhopal disaster, Chernobyl disaster and Gulf War Hazards.
Nuclear Explosions. Two bombs were dropped by USA during World War II (Aug 6
and 9, 1945) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. These instantly killed about 6
lakhs people, wiped out the two cities and unleashed radioactive fallout which has
caused generations to suffer from various diseases including genetic disorder.
Radiation continues to damage plants, soil and biosphere* in the region.

*the environment consists of four segments- atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere


and bioshphere.
Global Warming or Green House Effect
Among the constituents of the atmosphere, only carbon dioxide and water vapour
strongly absorb infrared radiation (14000 to 25000 nm) and effectively block a large
fraction of the earths emitted radiation. The radiation thus absorbed by carbon
dioxide and water vapour is partly re-emitted to the earths surface. The net result
is that the earths surface gets heated up by a phenomenon called the greenhouse
effect.
The current global trend in deforestation along with increased combustion of fossil
fuels have a cumulative effect on the net increase in carbon dioxide content
(present 356 ppm, 50%). Carbon dioxide has the potential to rival nuclear wars in
terms of massive irreversible damage to the environment. It is the major
greenhouse gas but there are other greenhouse gases- methane (CH4, 19%),
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC, 17%), nitrous oxide (N2O, 4%) and water vapour (2%).
Ozone Hole
In september, 1980 scientists reported a large hole in the ozone layer over
Antarctica. CFC was the prime suspect for causing ozone depletion. It was
established that one molecule of CFC is capable of destroying one lakh O3 molecule
in the stratosphere. The extreme chemical stability and nontoxicity of CFCs enable
them to persist for years in the atmosphere and to enter the stratosphere. Depletion
of ozone layer above the earth surface helps to penetrate harmful rays from the sun
to the earth.

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