Pollution-The Consequences Of Our Actions

What is Pollution?
Pollution is the introduction of harmful or poisonous substances into the environment, normally into the air or water. (The New Oxford American Dictionary) Pollution can come in 3 main categories: Air pollution e.g. greenhouse gasses affects the air and birdlife, water pollution e.g. dumping of industrial waste affects the water and marine life and land pollution e.g. littering can affect the environment around us. (www.macgregoss.eq.edu.au) The consequences are usually bad for the world and the environment, the main contributors to pollution are: Overuse of resources Greenhouse Gases Air pollution Acid Rain Deforestation Eutrophication

Deforestation
Deforestation is when someone clears an area of forest or trees. (The New Oxford American Dictionary) The four main reasons for deforestation are: Agriculture Logging Urbanisation

A map showing deforestation in the world (Google images [1])

 Strip mining Deforestation if continues can have a worldwide devastating effect on: The Global Carbon cycle The Nitrogen cycle The Water cycle Biodiversity o Loss of habitat o Population decrease which could lead to extinction Forests cover around 1/3 of the Earths land. Forests are home to millions of different plants and animals and are a large part of our ecosystems; they help keep the climate of the planet stable. Many people are cutting down trees for money, wood and land. An estimate for the area of forests and rainforest destroyed in a year is roughly 200,000 square kilometres, which is equal to an area of 40 football pitches being torn down every 2 minutes. If we do not stop deforestation Professor Edward Wilson has calculated that 6000 species of plants and animals can become extinct every year, which is about 1 species every 2 hours. (Dying Forests, Jeremy Leggett) The main area where there has been deforestation is in the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, where forest the size of France has been deforested to date. (The Guardian) Sixty to seventy percent of deforestation in the Amazon is due to cattle ranchers cutting down trees for their ranches and areas for their cattle to graze. The rest of the deforestation is usually for logging and other small scale projects, such as agriculture. (mongabay.com)

Greenhouse Gases and Global warming

The Suns rays pass down to the atmosphere, which is a blanket of air around the Earth, and warm the surface of the

Earth. The surface of the Earth then throws back some of the heat. However most of the heat that is thrown back as it is trapped by gases named greenhouse gases in the air. The main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons, a substance which contains carbon, chlorine and fluorine), methane and Diagram of the nitrogen oxides. Greenhouse Greenhouse Effect gases are normally a natural (Google Images [2]) affect, if did not have the blanket of gas, then the Earth would be 33% colder than it is. However humans have been slowly putting more and more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the artificial greenhouse effect will keep in more heat than needed so the world will slowly warm up. Scientists believe that if there will be nothing done about the greenhouse effect, then the world would overheat and the consequences will be disastrous over the next century. (Dying Forests, Jeremy Leggett)

Eutrophication
Eutrophication is when the water becomes rich with nutrients. This can be a problem in marine habitats such as lakes as it can cause algal blooms. Fertilisers are used extensively in farming but sometimes these fertilisers run-off into nearby water causing an increase in nutrient levels. This causes phytoplankton to grow and reproduce more rapidly, resulting in algal blooms. The algae may use up all the oxygen in the water, leaving none for other marine life. This results in the

death of many aquatic organisms such as fish, which need the oxygen in the water to live. The bloom of algae may also block sunlight from photosynthetic marine plants on the sea/lake bed. Some algae even produce toxins that are harmful to higher forms of life. This can cause problems along the food chain and affect any animal that feeds on them. (waterpollution.org.uk)

Air Pollution
Air is what we breathe. Air supplies us with oxygen which we need to live. Air is 99% nitrogen, oxygen, water vapour and noble gases. Human activities can release substances into the air, some of which can cause problems for humans, plants, and animals. This process is called air pollution. (www.lbl.gov) The main air pollutants are: Ground-Level Ozone (smog) Particulate Matter Sulphur Dioxide Nitrogen Oxides Lead Carbon Monoxide

(Google images [3])

(www.grinningplanet.com) Each year in the USA, air pollution is presumed to cause up to 50000 deaths. The air pollution is very bad sometimes in large cities. In Mexico City, there are few limits on emissions from vehicles power plants and factories. The air can give some people sore throats within minutes of going outside. Sometimes in Mexico City the smog is so bad the city cannot be seen from the air. Polluted air can be very bad for people with breathing problems and chest complaints. In Greece deaths in Athens are six times more on heavily polluted days than on days when there is less pollution. (Dying Forests, Jeremy Leggett)

Human activity and its contribution to pollution

Human activity often has a lot to do with pollution; it is normally through humans that harmful gases and substances get into the air and water. Some few examples of these are: Exhaust emissions from vehicles Oil spills Dumping of industrial waste Overuse of pesticides, fertilisers e.t.c. Improper disposal of solid wastes (www.sambal.co.uk)

Population size also has a lot to do with pollution, generally the more people in an area the more polluted it is due to the amount of people using resources and wasting e.g. dumping litter. However the two main problems with human activity and pollution are due to urbanization and overuse of resources. A very good example of the overuse of resources is overfishing in the North Sea. In 1971 the stock of cod in the North Sea was about 277000 tonnes; this number has fallen down to 59000 tonnes stock is 218000 tonnes!

Detailed diagram of human emissions (visual.merriamwebster.com)

in 2001. This change of

Acid rain
Chemicals such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are present in industrial smoke, car exhaust fumes and fossil fuelled power stations. These chemicals then mix with water in the atmosphere to produce acid rain. The acid rain then falls onto the land killing trees and plants and harming animals as well as humans. The normal pH for acid rain is 4, but sometimes the rain can increase acidity to measure 3-2 on the pH scale.
Detailed diagram on acid rain. (www.myecoproject.org)

Acid rain can also be carried across the atmosphere, not only from country to country, but sometimes from continent to continent. The acid is not always rain but it can take the form of snow and mists as well. The acid rain can fall many miles from the source of pollution but wherever it falls it can have a serious effect on soil, trees, buildings and water. In the 1970s the effects of acid rain were at their worst. Acid rain can affect trees in several different ways. It may: Wash away the nutrients and minerals in the soil so the trees are starved of potassium, magnesium and calcium Release harmful substances such as aluminium into the soil and waterways which affects more wildlife. Wear away the waxy cuticle, damaging the leaves and preventing them from being able to photosynthesise

The effect of acid rain on trees. (ourscotland.myfreeforum.org )

properly. In lakes and rivers acid rain runs off the land and ends up in the water. The rain also falls directly on these areas. This makes the water more acidic and the number of fish and plants decline, as they are suited to living in 1 pH. The fish young and eggs are the most affected, it can cause deformity in young fish and can prevent eggs from hatching properly Every type of material will be eroded at some point, by the elements but the acid in the rain, snow or mist helps erode the material as well, quickening the process of erosion.

Eroded statue due to acid rain.

The worst affected are things made from limestone or sandstone. (www.ytpe.org.uk)

Word Count
1,372 words

Bibliography
The New Oxford American Dictionary, published in August 2010, edited by Angus Stevenson and Christine A. Lindberg. http://www.macgregoss.eq.edu.au/qldwebchall/pollution2/ind ex.htm Dying Forests, Jeremy Leggett, published by Heinemann Childrens reference, 1991

Google images [1]: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres? imgurl=http://nksandeep.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/sdmgene-02deforestation.jpg&imgrefurl=http://nksandeep.wordpress.co m/2009/03/28/deforestation/sdm-gene-02deforestation/&usg=__mjLypuo_LEd94qtUVCKfFoLSEvA=&h= 837&w=1541&sz=168&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=fLC Q-DtqPMHq4M:&tbnh=105&tbnw=193&prev=/images%3Fq %3Ddeforestation%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1592%26bih %3D914%26gbv%3D2%26tbs %3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=440&ei=S0PQTM3YGtvNjAf

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