ISSUES OF THE ENVIRONMENT:

POLLUTION

Pollution is an offensive change in the physical, chemical or biological characteristic of air, land and water that may harmfully affect lives of human and other species, natural and cultural assets etc. and has become a threat to the delicate and vulnerable life support systems of the Earth.

Pollution may be classified as air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, noise pollution and radiation pollution depending on the component getting polluted or kind of pollutant.

1.    AIR POLLUTION: It is caused due to disturbance in composition of compounds in atmosphere either due to some natural or human activity. Apart from health disorders, global warming, smog, acid rain, ozone depletion etc. are some other effects of air pollution.

        

       SOURCES: Automobile exhaust, fuel production, industrial     processes, auto manufacturing, solid waste disposal, heat and power generation facilities, chemical fertilizer plants, mining, solvent evaporation, forest fires, volcanic eruptions, dust storm etc

2.    WATER POLLUTION: Contamination of water caused by undesirable matters that worsen the quality of water can be termed as water pollution. It includes release of toxic substances that require much oxygen to decompose, that interfere with aquatic systems etc.

SOURCES: Plant nutrients which deplete the dissolved oxygen and produce disagreeable odors, exotic organic chemicals, petroleum specifically from oil spills, inorganic minerals and chemical compounds, radioactive substances etc.

3.    SOIL POLLUTION:  Soil pollution can be defined as alteration in the chemical composition of soil, caused by deposition of solid mass, accumulation of non biodegradable materials, mining etc.

      

SOURCES: Industrial activities, solid waste dumping, constructional activities, domestic and commercial wastes, food scraps, food residues, broken gadgets, worn out furniture, power plants, pulp mills, fertilizers, pesticides etc

4.    RADIATION POLLUTION: There is no doubt that nuclear energy is one of the most appreciable area of work of technology but waste resulted from nuclear reaction, which is a form of pollution is the biggest concern. Radiation pollution can be defined as the increase in natural background radiation emerging from the activities of man involving the use of naturally occurring or artificially produced radioactive material.

                          

SOURCES: Nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons, disposal of nuclear waste, uranium, mining, nuclear accidents, radio-tracers etc.

5.    NOISE POLLUTION: This type of pollution refers to unwanted sound, annoying, interfering with speech, communication, leisure etc. It may result in hearing loss by causing damage to the hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear. It is ever increasing due to rise in heavy duty machineries, industrial facilities, vehicles etc.

SOURCES: All the equipments or others producing noise of greater than 85 decibels.