Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Environmental Pollution - Essay

Environmental Pollution

Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems the world faces today. It is an issue that troubles us economically, physically and everyday of our lives. The contamination of the environment is also being linked to some of the diseases that are around currently. Yet, most people do not know about this problem. This shows that environmental pollution is becoming an increasingly worse problem that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible, not only for the good of the environment but also for the people that live in it. Many factors are present for why environmental pollution has become such a large issue in the world. However, if the people of the world were to address the issue it would definitely help both the environment and it’s people. There are many activities that can be done by both the common citizen to the governments of the world, which could severally improve the world’s environmental problem. On the other hand, if the current way the world’s environmental problem is being handled continues, catastrophic consequences can follow for the future population.

Over the years, environmental pollution has become more of a problem for a number of reasons.

Addressing environmental pollution in the world will not only do good for the environment but also for the people that live in it. One of the biggest challenges of today’s world is the decrease in jobs. However, by trying to solve the problem of environmental pollution one would be creating more jobs. “For example, it takes an average of 116 people to run a coal fired plant, which obviously produce a great deal of pollution”(Renner). On the other hand, it would take 248 workers to run a solar thermal facility or 542 on a wind farm. Both of these solutions to the world’s energy problem not only produce energy, but also do it by methods which do not pollute the environment when compared to a coal-fired plan. They also in turn produce up to 4 times as many jobs for anyone looking for a job. By helping the environment in this way, one is not only helping the environment but, also himself. As pollution has increased so has the damage it can cause. This is shown by acid rain which is a product of pollution. Acid rain is powerful enough to cause corrosive damage to buildings, statues, and other structures. Since the damage must be repaired taxpayer’s money must be spent to repair the damage. This leads to billions of dollars of taxpayer’s money being spent to repair the statues, buildings, and monuments damaged by acid rain, which could have been spent on schools and other things in the community. This is how bad the issue of environmental pollution has gotten, a point where the people are loosing there hard earned money to pollution people create. But one of the more obvious and best reasons for trying to help solve the world’s pollution problem is for promoting better health for humans. With all of the pollution that exist the health of humans slowly decrease as seen by many people throughout the world developing respiratory problem such as asthma and possibly even the new disease SARS. With pollution being a probable cause for such diseases and ailments it can clearly be seen how serious environmental pollution is. All these are very significant reasons for concern in the area of environmental pollution. Yet, it can easily be solved with the help of a few considerate people who want to help the environment and themselves in the process. However there are some activities that can be done everyday which not only help the environment and if done by a multitude of people can severally help the environment.

But, in two extreme cases further pollution of the environment can go as far as to cause an ice age or even the complete melting of the polar ice caps, which would flood many coastal areas around the world. Both of these instances will have apocalyptic consequences if they were to happen, but scientist have reason to believe that both are possible if pollution continues to grow and does not receive any attention. In either case this shows how serious it has become when it comes to the contamination of the environment, a possible end to the world all because of the lack of consideration of the environment.

References

1. Ministry of Environment. & forest
     http://moef.nic.in/index.php
2. United Nations Environment Programme
     http://www.unep-wcmc.org/
3.Asian Brown cloud
   http://web.archive.org/web/20071009231830/http://archives.cnn.com/
2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/12/asia.haze/
4. Pollution and Society
    http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/pollution.htm
5, Carbon dioxide Charts
   
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/09-carbon_emissions.htm

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Environmental Pollution Effects

General Environmental Pollution Effects
A a very important aspect of the effect of pollution is its dose (or concentration) required to cause environmental damage.
One can define pollution response as “the change in the effect of a pollutant in response to a change in its concentration”.
In this respect,  it identifies 3 different types of response evoked by the environment to different pollution concentrations: 
  • Linear effect
  • Greater-than-linear effect
  • Threshold effect
In the linear effect, environmental damage increases linearly with pollution concentrations. In other words, “ the total damage or risk is directly proportional to the accumulated exposure”.
This effect occurs with radioactive substances as well as mercury, lead, cadmium and asbestos.
In the greater-than-linear effect, environmental damage increases with an increase in pollution concentrations but at a decreasing rate. This means that, as pollution concentrations continue to increase the environmental damage will continue to decrease. (14)
This is the case with thermal pollution.
In the threshold effect, pollution produces no effect until a certain threshold in pollution concentrations is achieved. In other words, “so long as a given threshold is not exceeded, the damage from pollution would be completely repaired as quickly as it is produced”. (15)
This effect is found with biodegradable pollutants.
It is also important to mention synergistic effects of pollutants on the environment. While interacting with each other, pollutants can produce greater impacts than when acting individually. (16)
A good example of that is a synergy between asbestos exposure and smoking in causing lung cancer.

Sources of environmental Pollution

Sources of Environmental Pollution

Fossil Fuel Sources of Environmental Pollution

Fossil Fuel Pollution
Fossil Fuel Pollution
Photo: Rachel Scopes
In modern industrialized societies, fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) transcended virtually all imaginable barriers and firmly established themselves in our everyday lives.
Not only do we use fossil fuels for our obvious everyday needs (such as filling a car), as well as in the power-generating industry, they (specifically oil) are also present in such products as all sorts of plastics, solvents, detergents, asphalt, lubricating oils, a wide range of chemicals for industrial use, etc. (8)
Combustion of fossil fuels produces extremely high levels of air pollution and is widely recognized as one of the most important “target” areas for reduction and control of environmental pollution.
Fossil fuels also contribute to soil contamination and water pollution. For example, when oil is transported from the point of its production to further destinations by pipelines, an oil leak from the pipeline may occur and pollute soil and subsequently groundwater. When oil is transported by tankers by ocean, an oil spill may occur and pollute ocean water.
Of course, there are other natural resources whose exploitation is a cause of serious pollution; for example, the use of uranium for nuclear power generation produces extremely dangerous waste that would take thousands of years to neutralize.
But there is no reasonable doubt that fossil fuels are among the most serious sources of environmental pollution.
Power-generating plants and transport are probably the biggest sources of fossil fuel pollution.
Common sources of fossil fuel pollution are: (9)
Industry:
  • Power-generating plants
  • Petroleum refineries
  • Petrochemical plants
  • Production and distribution of fossil fuels
  • Other manufacturing facilities
Transport:
  • Road transport (motor vehicles)
  • Shipping industry
  • Aircraft

Fossil fuel combustion is also a major source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and perhaps the most important cause of global warming. Learn more about the causes and effects of global warming here.

Other (Non-Fossil Fuel) Sources of Environmental Pollution

Among other pollution sources, agriculture (livestock farming) is worth mentioning as the largest generator of ammonia emissions resulting in air pollution. Chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers are also widely used in agriculture, which may lead water pollution and soil contamination as well.
Trading activities may be another source of pollution.
For example, it’s been recently noted that packaging of products sold in supermarkets and other retail outlets is far too excessive and generates large quantities of solid waste that ends up either in landfills or municipal incinerators leading to soil contamination and air pollution.
Residential sector is another significant source of pollution generating solid municipal waste that may end up in landfills or incinerators leading to soil contamination and air pollution.

Types of Environmental pollution

Types of Environmental Pollution

There are three major types of environmental pollution:
  • Air pollution
  • Water pollution
  • Soil pollution (contamination)
For a list of other pollution types, please see the Types of Pollution article.
Some of the most important air pollutants are sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and airborne particles, with radioactive pollutants probably among the most destructive ones (specifically when produced by nuclear explosions).
Please refer to the Summary of Air Pollutants article for a brief overview of sources and effects of air pollutants.
Water pollutants include insecticides and herbicides, food processing waste, pollutants from livestock operations, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, chemical waste and others.
Some soil pollutants are: hydrocarbons, solvents and heavy metals.

Environmental Pollution - Definitions

Definitions:
Environmental pollution is “the contamination of the physical and biological components of the earth/atmosphere system to such an extent that normal environmental processes are adversely affected”. (1)
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the environment that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or that damage the environment” which can come “in the form of chemical substances, or energy such as noise, heat or light”. “Pollutants can be naturally occurring substances or energies, but are considered contaminants when in excess of natural levels.” (2)
Pollution is “the addition of any substance or form of energy (e.g., heat, sound, radioactivity) to the environment at a rate faster than the environment can accommodate it by dispersion, breakdown, recycling, or storage in some harmless form”. (3)
Pollution is a special case of habitat destruction; it is chemical destruction rather than the more obvious physical destruction. Pollution occurs in all habitats—land, sea, and fresh water—and in the atmosphere.” (4)
“Much of what we have come to call pollution is in reality the nonrecoverable matter resources and waste heat.” (5)
“Any use of natural resources at a rate higher than nature's capacity to restore itself can result in pollution of air, water, and land.” (6)
Pollution is habitat contamination”. (7)