Pollution

The pollution represents the contamination of the environment by some materials which harm the health, the quality of life or the natural functioning of the ecosystems. Although a part of the pollution is the result of the nature (such as volcanic eruptions), the major part is caused by the activity of the mankind.

There are two main categories of pollutants. They can be biodegradable, such as the dirt from the drainage system, which decomposes through natural processes. These pollutants become a bigger problem when they appear into the atmosphere faster than they can decompose. The undegradable pollutants are materials which, either can’t decompose or decompose very slowly. Once with the contamination, it’s very hard to eliminate these pollutants from the environment.

 The effects of the pollution

1) The greenhouse effect:

The gas which already exists into the atmosphere must retain the heat produced by the sun’s rays reflected on the Earth’s surface. Without this gas, the Earth would be so cold that the oceans would freeze and the people, the animals and the plants would die.

But when because of the pollution the proportion of the greenhouse gas rises, then too much heat is retained and the Earth becomes warmer. This is the reason why the medium global temperature raised with half a degree in our century.

The scientists believe that this temperature rising will not stop, and until the middle of the next century will reach the value of 1.5-4.5 degrees Celsius. According to certain estimations, in our days over a billion people inhale a much polluted air, especially containing carbon monoxide and sulphuric dioxide, resulted from the industrial processes. Because of this, the number of the ones which suffer for pulmonary and thoracic affections, mostly children and old people, is still rising. The frequency of the skin cancer is also increasing, reason being the deteriorated ozone layer, which doesn’t retain the harmful ultraviolet radiations anymore.

2) Holes in the ozone layer:

The ozone layer, found in the stratosphere, protects us by retaining the ultraviolet rays. Because, in our days, the using of the chlorinate hydrocarbons and the fluorinate hydrocarbons which are components of the refrigerators and the detergents increased, these gases reached the atmosphere into higher quantities than normal. Once with their ascending they decompose, attacking and destroying the ozone layer.

That kind of effect was firstly noted in 1985 by the scientists working in Antarctica, in the moment when they noticed the formation of a hole in the ozone layer. The scientists were concerned by the fact that the ozone layer could also rarefy in other parts of the globe. Unfortunately, in 1995, it was observed that other holes were formed above the Arctic and above the northern Europe.

3) Acid rains:

The acid rain forms when the sulphuric dioxide or the azoth oxides, both results of industrial pollution, mix with the water vapors in the atmosphere. The acid rain destroys the vegetation and the fauna. Whole forests disappeared because of the acid rains. Worse is if these acid rains reach for lakes or rivers which take them further, killing even the smallest organisms.

Because of the global warming, the level of the seas will raise, the lower regions being entirely covered by water. Cities like London or New York can disappear. The pollution of the water resources involves the explosion of the epidemics and the apparition of serious diseases. Entire regions can be completely dried, fact that leads to the loss of many lives.

Great Britain, 1995: one of seven children under eighteen years old was diagnosed with asthma. The inflammation of the lungs produces breathing difficulties and asphyxiation sensations.

The main responsible for this are the exhaust gases and the gases formed under the effect of the solar radiation. One of the principal solutions through which we can protect the environment is the green energy, in this manner the emissions of dangerous substances being visibly reduced.