Alongside natural and supernatural terrors, the danger of poisoning by human agency was recognized early (Ross); pollution, although unwillingly, is an example. Pollution is clearly evident in areas around the world and it is affecting not only the nature and animals around the polluted area, but it is also affecting humans. For example, air pollution is extremely strong in China, causing a number of health problems, such as damaging changes to the respiratory system. Another major type of pollution is water pollution, which by definition, is the contamination of large and small bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, and oceans. Pollutants come from a number of places, from factories, to sewage systems, to oil tankers. However, oil tankers …show more content…
To help prevent serious damages to the aquatic ecosystem and to inform others of the severity of water pollution, possible solutions and explanations of how water pollution occurs will be provided. When water is polluted, the pollutant affects one of two water resources, which consists of the surface waters and the groundwater. Surface water pollution, such as oil spills, are much more noticeable on bodies of water. Groundwater pollution, such as weed killers that drain into the ground and into the sewers, affect the supply of most of our drinking water. There are many types of water pollution; point-source pollution, nonpoint-source pollution, and transboundary pollution. Point-source pollution comes from a single location, such as oil tankers, and factories, while nonpoint-source pollution comes from multiple sources, such as farm pesticides and car emissions. Transboundary pollution is when the pollutants come from hundreds to thousands of miles away, such as from one country to another. Water pollution has a multitude of causes, which is why it is difficult to find a surefire solution. For example, considering the fact that there are a few billion people living in …show more content…
One essential solution is the government, who are a big part of regulating water pollution and enforcing the laws against the dumping of pollutants. For example, in the 1970s, the US implemented the Clean Water Act, which provides the basic structure for regulating the release of pollutants into waters (Ross). According to Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the “EPA implemented pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry” under the Communications Workers of America (McCarthy). One other act is the Safe Drinking Water Act, which limits the amount of certain contaminants in drinking water. Some contaminants are necessary in order to disinfect water and control bacterias; however, in large quantities, it can potentially cause negative health effects, such as diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, or an increased risk of cancer (McCarthy). The way chemicals were determined to be toxic was through research at either the laboratories of scientists or at chemical plants. However, some
Water pollution is a very serious problem as it affects one of the most essential ingredients to our very livelihood. The earth is covered in water, in fact about 70% of the Earth is covered in water, only
'Water pollution is any chemical, physical or biological change in the quality of water that has a harmful effect on any living thing that drinks or uses or lives(in) it. ' (Azeem 1). In Canada, most people live in the southern part along with many agricultural and industrial activities causing the worst cases of water pollution. Water pollution is caused by population growth and industrialization, but can be prevented if proper controls are taken into consideration to help reduce the discharge of waste materials. Water pollution has been a huge disadvantaging concern for humans as well as wildlife for over many decades, but can actually be prevented if attempted. Preventing waste materials from being dumped into lakes and rivers, controlling
There are many causes of water pollution, and the effects on the environment are directly related to the primary cause of the pollution. Therefore, each cause has to be examined for harmful effects. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration states nutrient pollution, "can lead to more serious problems such as low levels of oxygen dissolved in the water" (3). The dissolved oxygen levels being low lead to aquatic life dying. Nutrient pollution also can cause algae blooms which cause serious environmental problems affecting aquatic ecosystems, and which can cause dangerous health issues for animals and humans. Water pollution caused by sewage is an environmental problem. When sewage pollutes water it can be dangerous especially if it enters people 's source of drinking water as author Woodford states, "It is possible to catch illnesses such as hepatitis, typhoid, and cholera from river and sea water" (4). Chemical and radioactive runoff can be dangerous to humans as well. When water that is contaminated by chemicals is consumed by humans it can lead to sickness, paralysis or even death depending on the kind of chemical polluting the water and the concentration of the pollutant in the water. The Flint Crisis is an example of the damaging effect of chemical runoff, as the Flint communities ' water was contaminated by the lead pipes that carried the water resulting people in the affected communities ending up with lead poisoning. The environment and the animals are also impacted by chemical and radioactive runoff, increasing the death of organisms and decreasing biodiversity(3). Oil runoff water pollution is yet another example of water pollution. The effects oil runoff has on the environment are especially debilitating. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico for example, hurt not only aquatic life, but also land animals. The oil would get on to anything that touched the
The Earth’s surface is covered by over two-thirds of water. With half of the world being covered by water; pollution in the water is a very big crisis that can actually be reduced to some extent. Water pollution is a human problem because it seems to be a recent development that started round the end of the 19th century. Scientists say that “humans have limits with an estimated 7 billion people on the planet, and pollution is a sign of exceeded pollution. According to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) pollution is a serious problem. “Pollution from toxic chemicals threatens life on this planet. Every ocean and every continent, from the tropics to the once-pristine polar regions, is contaminated." Now that we know how serious it is, let’s talk about what pollution is, what causes it, the effects, and how we can help.
The population of our planet is increasing continuously. Unfortunately, the population growth has many unfavorable consequences, one of which is the pollution problem. Pollution is a process of spoiling the environment in a way that it becomes dangerous to use. Although pollution had been known to exist for a very long time (basically since people started using fire thousands of years ago), it took global proportions only since the beginning of the industrial revolution during the 19th century. With time, pollution has become one of the leading threats to our planet. Air, water, soil and sound pollution are the most prominent and dangerous types of pollution and they are known to have various destructive effects
Water Pollution is a current issue that has serious consequences; it progresses everyday in our lakes, oceans, rivers and other bodies of water.
Water pollution has been an increasing problem over the last few years. Pollution itself is when a substance or energy is introduced into the soil, air, or water in a concentrate. Pollution comes in many forms; agricultural, urban runoff, industrial, sedimentary, animal wastes, and leeching from landfills/septic systems just to name a few. These pollutants are very detrimental to the environment. Whether they are alone or combined with another form of pollution they are very harmful. Over the last hundred years the problems with pollution have been increasing with time. This is due to both the increase in human population, and the increases in technology we have made as a society. If we plan on having our resources here for many years to come we are going to have to make some drastic changes in the way we treat the earth, and these changes will have to start with our pollutants. (Jones,1993,pp.4-15)
Transportation is a big issue with pollution. Vehicles create smog, catalysts for ozone, and components for acid rain. Smog contains a chemical called ozone. Ozone can seriously affect a human’s health. It reacts with the molecules in the lining of our airways. This then causes inflammation. Acid rain has many ecological effects, but none is as bad as its impact on lakes, streams, wetlands and other bodies of water. Acid rain makes waters acidic, which causes them to absorb the aluminium that goes from soil into water. When bodies of water become more acidic, the numbers and species of fish and other organisms living in the water begin to decrease. There are many examples of water pollution. Raw sewage running into water, industrial waste spills, and exhaust fumes from vehicles. A big problem with raw sewage is that Bacteria use up oxygen in the water, as they decompose the organic material in the water. The lack of oxygen kills animals and other organisms that live in the water. Many harmful chemicals are in industrial waste. These can become drinking water pollutants if not well managed. Car exhaust creates a wide range of gases and solid matter. This causes global warming, acid rain, and it harms the environment and human health. Engine noise and oil spills also cause pollution. Since most oils float, the marine creatures most affected by oil spills are animals like sea otters, and seabirds that are found on the shore or in
Today's waters are constantly being treated like sewage dumps or trash cans. We use them as garbage cans every day polluting the water more and more. "Pollution is often by way of rivers, drains and outflow pipes." Causing an outflow of sewage into our ocean waters. This is not only affecting the community but also the marine life and other sea creatures living in the ocean." This pollution includes human sewage and domestic waste water, factory outflows of acids and poisonous metals, engine oil from roadside drains and garages, farm chemicals washed off the land by rain, building-site rubble, nuclear waste from power plants, and oil from wells, refineries, and tankers." Stating that most of today's waste is from factory or factory ran products that shouldn't be polluting the water
Contamination of water – Thermal pollution also results in contamination of water because various chemicals and other wastes get mixed up with the water that is disposed off back to rivers, ponds, lakes, etc., by various factories. If this contamination of water keeps on increasing, humans can suffer from shortage of
Around 40 percent deaths worldwide are caused by pollution, according to Lang (2007) “Water, air and soil pollution causes 40 percent of deaths worldwide, Cornell research survey finds” Polluting causes disturbance to the ecosystem, which affects the normal lifestyle. Pollution appears when toxins infect the natural surroundings of the environment. Different forms of pollution are air, water, soil, radioactive, noise, heat, and light. Environment degradation, human health, and global warming are three main effects of pollution.
Environmental Pollution “is the undesired spread of toxic chemicals into the aquatic and terrestrial habitats of the world” (Reference). Pollution poses a threat to the health of civilians, harms our environment, and is the number one threat that we are faced upon. There are multiple types of pollution that affect our environment daily which include air, land, water, thermal, noise, and light. These various types of pollution all contribute to the overall factor of how detrimental pollution is. Not only does pollution have an affect on society, but it also takes a huge toll on our environment.
All of these types of water have been polluted bye us. Water pollution is when a chemical is poured into a water source the water may look fine depending on the amount of chemical and the amount of water it was poured into but the chemicals are still there floating in the water. Just because it looks like the water might be cleaned afte pouring oil into it the water has indeed disipated the oil but the chemicals found in that oil are now floating around cause they are harder to get rid of. The chemicals may be hard to get out of the water but that does not mean that it is imposible to get rid of the pollution. Water happens to be one of the only things that can be polluted and yet still be cleaned. Surface Pollution would include a oil tanker out at sea has spilled oil into the sourrounding water contaminating it. Not only is this a problem for the water itself but it also harms the animals that live in it. A year ago more than 100,000 gallons of oil was spilled onto the coast of santa barbara it took many months to finally clean not only the contaminated water but also the land. During this oil spill three Pelicans and a dolphin were found dead on the beach from the oil spill. Its not just Oil that can pollute the water but also many other things such as sewage and plastic. Sewage should be able to break down and disperse however
Water pollution is also a major thing in the world because almost 60% of it is fishes. It occurs due to several factors; the industrial waste dumped into the rivers and other water body’s cause am imbalance in the water leading to its severe contamination and deaths. And the infamous Global warming is the emission of greenhouse gases particularly CO2 is leading to global warming.
One of the greatest problems that the world is facing today is that of environmental pollution, increasing with every passing year and causing grave and irreparable damage to the earth. There are several types of pollution, and while they may come from different sources and have different consequences, understanding the basics about pollution can help environmentally conscious individuals minimize their contribution to these dangers. In total, there are seven recognized sources of pollution in the modern world. These sources of pollution don 't simply have a negative impact on the natural world, but they can have a measurable effect on the health of human beings as well.