INTRODUCTION

Pollution is caused by industrial and commercial waste, agriculture practices, human activities
and transportation. It is created by human actions and by natural disasters. For example,
earthquake is a natural disasters. The consequences of pollution, for man, are asthma, cancer and
allergies, illnesses and diseases.

MAIN BODY

Environmental Pollution

Environmental pollution is one of the most serious problems facing humanity and other life
forms on our planet today. “Environmental pollution is defined as “the contamination of the
physical and biological components of the earth/atmosphere system to such an extent that normal
environmental processes are adversely affected.” Pollutants can be naturally occurring
substances or energies, but they are considered contaminants when in excess of natural levels.
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. Environmental pollution is of different types namely air, water,
soil, noise and light-weight. These cause damage to the living system. How pollution interacts
with public health, environmental medicine and the environment has undergone dramatic
change.

Causes of Environmental Pollution

Causes of air pollution:

The burning of fossil fuels Sulfur dioxide emitted from the combustion of fossil fuels like coal,
petroleum and other factory combustibles are one the major cause of air pollution. But, their
overuse is killing our environment as dangerous gases are polluting the environment

- Burning of Fossil Fuels: The combustion of fossil fuels emits a large amount of sulphur
dioxide. Carbon monoxide released by incomplete combustion of fossil fuels also results
in air pollution.
- Automobiles: The gases emitted from vehicles such as jeeps, trucks, cars, buses, etc.
pollute the environment. These are the major sources of greenhouse gases and also result
in diseases among individuals.

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Agricultural Activities: Ammonia is one of the most hazardous gases emitted during
agricultural activities. The insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers emit harmful chemicals in the
atmosphere and contaminate it.

Factories and Industries: Factories and industries are the main source of carbon monoxide,
organic compounds, hydrocarbons, and chemicals. These are released into the air degrading its
quality.

Mining Activities: In the mining process, the minerals below the earth are extracted using large
pieces of equipment. The dust and chemicals released during the process not only pollute the air
but also deteriorate the health of the workers and people living in the nearby areas.

Domestic Sources: The household cleaning products and paints contain toxic chemicals that are
released in the air. The smell from the newly painted walls is the smell of the chemicals present in the
paints. It not only pollutes the air but also affects breathing.

Consequences of Environmental Pollution

The hazardous effects of air pollution on the environment include:

Diseases: Air pollution has resulted in several respiratory disorders and heart diseases among
humans. The cases of lung cancer have increased in the last few decades. Children living near
polluted areas are more prone to pneumonia and asthma.

Global Warming: Due to the emission of greenhouse gases, there is an imbalance in the gaseous
composition of the air. This has led to an increase in the temperature of the earth. This increase
in earth’s temperature is known as global warming.

Acid Rain: The burning of fossil fuels releases harmful gases such as nitrogen oxides and
sulphur oxides in the air. The water droplets combine with these pollutants, become acidic, and
fall as acid rain which damages human, animal and plant life.

Ozone Layer Depletion: The release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), halons, and

hydrochlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere is the major cause of depletion of the ozone layer.
The depleting ozone layer does not prevent the harmful ultraviolet rays coming from the sun and
causes skin diseases and eye problems among individuals.

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Effect on Animals: The air pollutants suspend on the water bodies and affect the aquatic life.
Pollution also compels the animals to leave their habitat and shift to a new place.

Causes of Water Pollution:

The causes of water pollution vary and may be both natural and anthropogenic. However, the
most common causes of water pollution are the anthropogenic ones, including:
Agrochemicals: Agrochemicals like fertilizers (containing nitrates and phosphates) and
pesticides (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides etc.) washed by rain-water and surface runoff
pollute water.

Storm water runoff: Carrying various oils, petroleum products, and other contaminants from
urban and rural areas (ditches). These usually forms sheens on the water surface.

Sewage: Emptying the drains and sewers in fresh water bodies causes water pollution. The
problem is severe in cities.

Mining activities: Mining activities involve crushing rocks that usually contain many trace
metals and sulfides. The leftover material from mining activities may easily generate sulfuric
acid in the presence of precipitation water.

Industrial Effluents: Industrial wastes containing toxic chemicals, acids, alkalis, metallic salts,
phenols, cyanides, ammonia, radioactive substances, etc., are sources of water pollution. They
also cause thermal (heat) pollution of water.

Burning of fossil fuels: the emitted ash particles usually contain toxic metals (such as As or Pb).
Burning will also add a series of oxides including carbon dioxide to air and, respectively, water
bodies.

Leaking landfills: May pollute the groundwater below the landfill with a large variety of
contaminants (whatever is stored by the landfill).

Animal waste:

Contribute to the biological pollution of water streams. Think of it this way: anything that can
cause air pollution or soil pollution may also affect water bodies and cause innumerable
ecological and human health issues.

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Consequences of Water Pollution

The effects of water pollution are varied. They include poisonous drinking water, poisonous food
animals (due to these organisms having bioaccumulated toxins from the environment over their
life spans), unbalanced river and lake ecosystems that can no longer support full biological
diversity, deforestation from acid rain, and many other effects. These effects are, of course,
specific to the various contaminants.

1.Water bodies in the vicinity of urban areas are extremely polluted. This is the result of
dumping garbage and toxic chemicals by industrial and commercial establishments.

2.Water pollution drastically affects aquatic life. It affects their metabolism, behavior, causes
illness and eventual death. Dioxin is a chemical that causes a lot of problems from reproduction
to uncontrolled cell growth or cancer. This chemical is bioaccumulated in fish, chicken and meat.
Chemicals such as this travel up the food chain before entering the human body.

3.The effect of water pollution can have a huge impact on the food chain. It disrupts the
foodchain. Cadmium and lead are some toxic substances, these pollutants upon entering the food
chain through animals (fish when consumed by animals, humans) can continue to disrupt at
higher levels.

4.Humans are affected by pollution and can contract diseases such as hepatitis through faucal
matter in water sources. Poor drinking water treatment and unfit water can always cause an
outbreak of infectious diseases such as cholera etc.

5.The ecosystem can be critically affected, modified and destructured because of water pollution.
Causes of Soil Pollution:

Soil pollution can be natural or due to human activity. However, it mostly boils down to the
activities of the human that causes the majority of soil pollution such as heavy industries, or
pesticides in agriculture.

Industrial activities including mining, smelting and manufacturing; domestic, livestock and
municipal wastes; pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers used in agriculture; petroleum-derived
products that are released into or break-down in the environment; fumes generated by
transportation all contribute to the problem. These include pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors,

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hormones and biological pollutants; "e-waste" from old electronics; and the plastics that are
nowadays used in almost every human endeavor.

Consequences of Soil Pollution

Soil pollution affects plants, animals and humans a like. While anyone is susceptible to soil
pollution, soil pollution effects may vary based on age, general health status and other factors,
such as the type of pollutant or contaminant inhaled or ingested. However, children are usually
more susceptible to exposure to contaminants, because they come in close contact with the soil
by playing in the ground; combined with lower thresholds for disease,( headaches, nausea, and
vomiting, coughing, pain in the chest, and wheezing) this triggers higher risks than for adults.
Therefore, it is always important to test the soil before allowing your kids to play there,
especially if you live in a highly industrialized area.

Cause of Thermal Pollution:

Many human and natural factors contribute to the problem of thermal pollution. The single
biggest cause of thermal pollution is probably cooling for industrial machinery and power plants.
Water is an excellent, and free, cooling agent. This is why many industrial operations pull in
relatively cool water to cool their machinery and let the relatively warm water flow back into the
river or lake or sea.

Thermal pollution also has some natural causes. Geothermal vents and hot springs introduce
excess heat into bodies of water. Soil erosion, deforestation, and runoff from paved areas are
other artificial sources of hot water. Deforestation eliminates shade, which exposes the water to
sunlight. Water on hot paved surfaces gets hot, then runs off into nearby bodies of water, raising
the water temperature. Retention ponds can also be a source of thermal shock because the
relatively small and shallow bodies of water can absorb quite a bit of heat energy from the sun.
Pumping that water directly into a river, lake, or bay causes a significant temperature increase,
just like pouring a hot pitcher of water into a bathtub full of water causes the water to jump a few
degrees Fahrenheit.

Effects of Thermal Pollution:

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The effects of thermal pollution are diverse, but in short, thermal pollution damages water
ecosystems and reduces animal populations. Plant species, algae, bacteria, and multi-celled
animals all respond differently to significant temperature changes. Organisms that cannot adapt
can die of various causes or can be forced out of the area. Reproductive problems can further
reduce the diversity of life in the polluted area.

The Effects of Thermal Pollution: The effects of thermal pollution are diverse, but in short,
thermal pollution damages water ecosystems and reduces animal populations.

1. Decreased Dissolved Oxygen: Warm water holds less oxygen than cool water. If the oxygen
level drops animals that cannot move to another area may begin to die. In deeper bodies of water,
the injection of warm water can keep oxygen from dispersing into deep water, which is
potentially good for bacteria but dangerous for aquatic animals. The decreased oxygen can cause
algae blooms that pose a threat to aquatic plants and animals. This algae bloom problem is
probably the most common and best-known side effect of thermal pollution.

2. Loss of Biodiversity: The sudden heating can kill off vulnerable organisms or drive them
away. This is one of many serious issues for threatened and endangered animal species. This loss
can come from organisms dying from the hot water, being unable to reproduce as effectively as
before, or simply leaving the area. We usually think of animals as casualties of water pollution,
but multicelled aquatic plants are also at risk when thermal pollution changes the local aquatic
ecosystem.

3. Ecological Impacts: The local aquatic ecosystem can be damaged by thermal pollution,
especially if it is dramatic, as in copious amounts of warm water being dumped into a chilly pond
or bay or river. “Thermal shock” can kill off insects, fish, and amphibians.

4. Migration: Fish and amphibians may move away from the warm water to a more-suitable
location, disrupting the ecosystem for animals that remain. Birds may also be forced to leave in
search of areas with more food.

5. Increased Toxins: Toxins in the water are more a side effect of dumping waste water than a
direct effect of thermal pollution. Chemical pollution is an almost inevitable side effect of using
water for cooling. Solvents, fuel oil, and dissolved heavy metals end up in the lake or river where
the cooling water gets dumped.

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CONCLUSION

Human activities directly or indirectly affect the environment adversely. A stone crusher adds a
lot of suspended particulate matter and noise into the atmosphere. Automobiles emit from their
tail pipes oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and a complex
mixture of unburnt hydrocarbons and black soot which pollute the atmosphere. Domestic sewage
and run off from agricultural fields, laden with pesticides and fertilizers, pollute water bodies.
Effluents from tanneries contain many harmful chemicals and emit foul smell. These are only a
few examples which show how human activities pollute the environment. Pollution may be
defined as addition of undesirable material into the environment as a result of human activities.
The agents which because environmental pollution are called pollutants. A pollutants may be
defined as a physical, chemical or biological substance unintentionally released into the
environment which is directly or indirectly harmful to humans and other living organisms.
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Scipeeps, (2009). Effects of Water Pollution. Retrieved from http://scipeeps.com/effects-of-

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