Environmental Pollution
What is
environmental pollution?
Environmental Pollution is the introduction of
contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or
discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution
can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or
light energy. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances
or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are
considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. Pollution is often
classed as point source or non point source pollution. The Blacksmith Institute
issues annually a list of the world's worst polluted places. In the 2007 issues
the ten top nominees are located in
Noise
pollution is unwanted human-created sound that disrupts the environment. The dominant form of noise
pollution is from transportation sources, principally motor vehicles, referred to as environmental noise. The word noise
comes from the Latin word nausea meaning seasickness.
The term Global Warming refers to the
observation that the atmosphere near the Earth's surface is warming. This
warming is one of many kinds of climate change that the Earth has gone through
in the past and will continue to go through in the future. It is reasonable to
expect that the Earth should warm as the amount of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere increases. It is known for certain that atmospheric concentrations
of greenhouse gases are rising dramatically due to human activity. It is less
well known exactly how the increases in these greenhouse gases factor in the
observed changes of the Earth's climate and global temperatures
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals,
particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to
humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment, into the
atmosphere.
Radioactive pollution can be defined as the release of
radioactive substances or high-energy particles into the air, water, or earth
as a result of human activity, either by accident or by design. The sources of
such waste include:
₪
Nuclear weapon testing or detonation;
₪
The nuclear fuel cycle, including the
mining, separation, and production of nuclear materials for use in nuclear power
plants or nuclear bombs;
₪
Accidental release of radioactive material from nuclear
power plants. Sometimes natural sources of radioactivity, such as radon
gas emitted from beneath the ground, are considered pollutants when they become
a threat to human health.
Water pollution is the contamination of
water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater caused by human
activities, which can be harmful to organisms and plants that live in these
water bodies.
Effects of population on environment
Environmental
pollution is one of the serious problems faced by the people in the country.
Rapid population growth, industrialization and urbanization in country are
adversely affecting the environment. Though the relationship is complex,
population size and growth tend to expand and accelerate these human impacts on
the environment. All these in turn lead to an increase in the pollution levels.
Marine pollution occurs when harmful
effects, or potentially harmful effects, can result from the entry into the
ocean of chemicals, particles, industrial, agricultural and residential waste,
or the spread of invasive organisms. Most sources of marine pollution are land
based. The pollution often comes from non point sources such as agricultural
runoff and wind blown debris.