Pollution and Its Types

Pollution an undesirable human activity to mother nature
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Earth

What is pollution ?
— When Harmful Substances Contaminate the Environment it is Called Pollution.

— Pollution refers to the very bad condition of environment in terms of quantity and quality .

Types of Pollution
— Air Pollution — Water Pollution — Land Pollution — Noise Pollution — Radio Active Pollution

Causes of Air Pollution
Major sources of Air Pollution - Industries -Automobiles and Domestic fuels -High Proportion of undesirable gases, such as sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide

Major primary pollutants
— Sulphur oxides (Sox) — Nitrogen oxides (NOx) — Carbon monoxide — Carbon di oxide (CO2) — Volatile organic compounds — Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) — Ammonia (NH3)

Some air pollution diasters…
Kuwaiti oil fires — caused by Iraqi military forces setting fire to 700 oil wells in kuwait — fires started in January and February 1991 and the last one was extinguished by November 1991 — 6 million barrels (950,000 m3) of oil were lost each day — dramatic decrease in air quality, causing respiratory problems for many Kuwaitis

Contd..,
Bhopal disaster — night of December 2–3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh — leak of methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals

Contd..,
Great Smog of '52 — lasted from Friday 5 to Tuesday 9 December 1952 — medical services found that the fog had killed 4,000 people

Contd.,

How to avoid air pollution ???

Sources
— Point sources
— Source is from a single point — Easily identifiable

— Non – point sources
— small amounts of contaminants gathered from a large area

Contd.,
— Problems with Fertilisers — However, if too much fertiliser is added and it then rains, the fertiliser finds its way into rivers and lakes — This causes the water plants to grow and as there is competition for light, some will die

— Bacteria decay the dead plants and in so doing use up oxygen from the water — This means the fish suffocate and die — This process is called Eutrophication — Raw sewage pumped into rivers has the same effect

Pesticides
— Pesticides kill insects that will damage crops — They also kill harmless insects or can get washed into rivers and pollute the water — They may even end up in the food chain

Contd.,
— In the 1960s, DDT in the food chain threatened bird populations. Many birds of prey came close to extinction

Contd.,
— Deep water oil spill — 3 months in 2010 — 4.9 million barrels (780,000 m3) of crude oil

Effects
— Accounts for the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily — In India, 1000 children dies daily — Diseases like Cholera — Malaria — Typhoid (spread during the rainy season )‫‏‬ — Aquatic life gets destroyed

Contd..,
— India 's rivers - most polluted in the entire world — 80 % of urban waste in India ends up in its rivers. — The pollution of Ganges, India 's holy river, where in some areas researchers found the level of pollution 3,000 percent higher than what is considered safe for bathing.

How to Avoid Water Pollution

Main sources
— Acid Rain — Garbage dumping — Industrial wastes — Mining — Fertilisers

Transformation of air pollution to water pollution

Garbage dumping — Methane gas generated by decaying of organic gases — Contamination of ground water — Degradation in soil quality

Mining — affects ground and surface waters — Acid mine drainage kills aquatic life — toxic chemicals

Chemical fertilizers and pesticides — pollute the soil — Causes serious health problems to human

Few control measures…
— Reduce the usage of chemicals as much as possible — Afforestation — covering the soil with numerous layers of wet newspapers or a plastic sheet for several weeks before cultivation — Designated pits — Industrial waste should be treated and shoulh below the permissible level

Facts….
— Road dust due to vehicles also contributing up to 33% of air pollution — In cities like Bangalore, around 50% of children suffer from asthma — 40% of America’s rivers and 46% of America’s lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life. — The Mississippi River – which drains the lands of nearly 40% of the continental United Sates – carries an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico each year. The resulting dead zone in the Gulf each summer is about the size of New Jersey. — 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, storm water, and industrial waste are discharged into US waters annually. — Polluted drinking waters are a problem for about half of the world’s population. Each year there are about 250 million cases of water-based diseases, resulting in roughly 5 to 10 million deaths.

Contd..,
— Vehicle exhaust contributes roughly 60% of all carbon monoxide emissions nationwide, and up to 95% in cities. — Large hog farms emit hydrogen sulfide, a gas that most often causes flu-like symptoms in humans, but at high concentrations can lead to brain damage. — Each year, U.S. factories spew 3 million tons of toxic chemicals into the air, land, and water. — In the U.S. 41% of all insecticides are used on corn. Of these, 80% are used to treat a pest that could be controlled simply by rotating a different crop for just one year.

Contd..,
— Every year, one American produces over 3,285 pounds of hazardous waste. — Over 80% of items in landfills can be recycled, but they’re not. — Americans generate 30 billion foam cups, 220 million tires, and 1.8 billion disposable diapers every year.

Contd..,
— Of the 186 billion tons of carbon from CO2 that enter earth 's atmosphere each year from all sources, only 6 billion tons are from human activity. Approximately 90 billion tons come from biologic activity in earth 's oceans and another 90 billion tons from such sources as volcanoes and decaying land plants. — At 380 parts per million CO2 is a minor constituent of earth 's atmosphere-- less than 4/100ths of 1% of all gases present. Compared to former geologic times, earth 's current atmosphere is

Bibliography
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Land_pollution#Causes_of_soil_pollution 2. http://toxics.usgs.gov/photo_gallery/photos/ hmcr/CementCreek_AnimasRiver_MixingZone1_l 3. www.worldofteaching.com 4. http://en.wikipedia.org 5. http://www.epa.gov/solidwaste/ 6. http://images.google.com

Bibliography: 1.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Land_pollution#Causes_of_soil_pollution 2.  http://toxics.usgs.gov/photo_gallery/photos/ hmcr/CementCreek_AnimasRiver_MixingZone1_l 3.  www.worldofteaching.com 4.  http://en.wikipedia.org 5.  http://www.epa.gov/solidwaste/ 6.  http://images.google.com