APPT
6114: Module 2: Societal Trends
Environmental
Pollution
What is environmental pollution? Such question can only be
defined as existence of such matter that is solids, gases or liquid. Energy
which is noise, heat or radiation that comes in contact with the environment
causing damage through means of safety, health, property, animals welfare or
human health. There are however, often two different types of environmental
pollution caused in this world that everyday people, animals and other living
organizes face that are pollution made by humans and natural. Obviously
pollution caused naturally often occurs and therefore will not cause extreme
harm. Reason being is that natural pollution tends to regenerate. Pollutions
made by humans basically made through means of activities which humans produce.
Natural
Pollution
Natural pollution has existed long before the existents of
man. Natural pollution has always been a factor whenever we debate about air
pollution and therefore isn't man made, even though such small scale or percentage impacts the environment.
Although natural pollution cause such small effect this often triggers the
decaying of organic matter, smoke from volcanoes, forest fires which occur due
to extreme heat or through lighting, sand storms, ashes released by volcanoes. One
of the deadest natural pollution would be the eruption of an active volcano.
(Source: Natural
Pollutions. Retrieved: 27th September 2012.
http://arrc.ebscohost.com/ebsco_static/repair-tips/8852CH15_NATURAL_POLLUTANTS.htm)
Take for example a volcanic eruption in New Zealand on the (7th
August 2012, a active volcano erupted at Mt Tongariro hurling rocks up to 1km.
Ash cloud drifting to the east of Tongariro as far as Napier City).
(Source: The New
Zealand Herald. By APNZ and Herald Online. Retrieved:27thSeptember2012.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10825125)
Some of these natural pollutions are:
Volcanoes
Volcanoes are well known to discharge S02 in other teams
known as sulfur dioxide with other gases also smoke when it erupts letting out
smoke into the atmosphere.
Animals
Take for example methane gases that cow often release.
Pollen
Which triggers hay fever.
Windstorm
Which generates when an area has very low pressure in terms
of atmospheric pressure.
Human
Pollution
There are basically six types of pollution we as human do
that makes us suffer our very own action therefore we'll be talking mostly about three water/land, Air and noise pollution which we face regularly.
· Water Pollution.
· Thermal Pollution.
· Air Pollution.
· Radioactive Pollution.
· Land Pollution.
· Noise Pollution.
Pollution whether it’s natural or man-made is therefore
relatively transforms our environment into an undesirable place to live in.
environmental pollution can sometimes come as minor or major and sometimes it
can come as noticeable or unnoticeable. Such pollution can range from oil spills
that damage the coastal lines or its reef or simply factories letting out
excessive smoke into the air, people dumping rubbish into rivers and lakes,
etc.
Water
Pollution & It’s Societal Trends
When we look at water pollution it is basically the unwanted
or in other words the contamination of water into such rivers or lakes that
contains ingredients or matter that are harmful. Water pollution is known to be
the second most deadliest environmental problem in the world where air
pollution is placed first. Water pollution is often caused by industrial,
domestic and agricultural sources.
Domestic Waste
Domestic waste is often referred to as waste water produced
from actives or gatherings from household. Waste water from houses often hold
inorganic or could also hold organic matters like nitrates and also matters
like phosphate in them. There are often times in rural or urban areas where people
tend to through their waste, which they collect into nearby lakes or rivers,
and in return this cause water pollution. Waste like organic products such as
veggies etc. that has the ability to degrade when it comes in contact with
water, this is however can be measured through BOD also known as Biological
Oxygen Demand. With the large sum of oxygen needed, the microorganisms needed
so that decomposing of organic waste is achieved. However, the more BOD the
water will be more contaminated.
Industrial Waste
Chances are relatively high when it comes to industrial or
factories creating pollution. Industrial waste can be deadly due to the fact
that industrial areas often let out chemicals and other highly toxic matters.
To name a few of these chemicals that industries produce and pollute are often
nitrates, lead, mercury and so on.
Agricultural Waste
Agricultural waste is a thing that farmers use such as
manure which helps fertilize plants and also pesticides, etc. When these
chemicals such as pesticides and manure are used there is a high chance of
pollution caused. This is however, caused when heavy rain wash away all these
chemicals away which then finds their way into lakes or streams nearby.
(Source: Buzzle. By:
Ningthoujam Sandhyarani. Retrieved: 1st October 2012. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-is-water-pollution.html).
Impacts
of Water Pollution In a Society
Existence of water on this earth is extremely important to
any living-breathing thing on earth. Every living organism and therefore
animals and plants living in water needs water to survive. When there is water
pollution it often affects the entire water system, therefore affecting we as
human beings, animals, plants or any living thing. The affect on water during
water pollution changes everything from drinking water, etc. with such effect
creates diseases and which are normally transmittable from one person to
another are also fatal.
Here are some of the problems caused by water pollution.
·
The food chain being damaged. Toxins
and chemicals being released into lakes and rivers often absorbed into living
things such as fish etc. in lakes, therefore is passed to human beings or to
larger animals living in the sea.
·
Industry releasing chemicals or
particles such as lead, iron, aluminum, etc. which cause poisoning of lakes.
·
Diseases will emerge therefore creating
wide spread disease such as cholera and also typhoid through means of consuming
contained water.
(Source: Lifestyle
Lounge. Retrieved: 1st October, 2012. http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/effects-of-water-pollution-8879.html).
Air
Pollution & It’s Societal Trends
20,000 liters of fresh air is consumed everyday. However,
there are often doubts whether or not that 20,000 liters of fresh air we
consume or inhale is dangerous or not since air pollution is a very big problem
now days in each and every society. The atmosphere has and therefore contains
massive amount of contaminants whether in particles or gas form. Air pollution
comes in either human made or natural. Due to pollution in the atmosphere, it
has the advantage or the ability to travel or spread to other place depending
on the wind direction. Since the population of people are expending there
amount of cars made and purchased are increasing, therefore a possibility of
more air pollution is likely to emerge. Cities that often use large sum of
corals are the once that produce major air pollution and also cities or
countries that has large amount of vehicles operating do so too.
(The Environment a
Global Challenge. Retrieved: 3rd October 2012. http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution.html).
Automotive Pollution (Emissions)
Pollution from vehicles tend to be the 3rd worlds major source.
Vehicles
such as internal combustion engines tend to be the main source due to its large
amount of emission released into the air. Whenever a vehicle starts its engine
or operating, fuel is needed and within it there is often a combination of
gases and also particles that are produced, which has the ability to damage the
environment. Carbon dioxide is one of the deadest gases to the environment
therefore is a greenhouse gas. The amount of build up of emission from CO2 also known as carbon dioxide and this could cause a change in whether known as globe warming. Vehicle pollution contributes in many ways from
oil leaks to unwanted motor oil being drained to improper draining or storage
containers. This however leaks to the ground and damages the environment
leaving behind dangerous yet deadly fluid being washed to different areas.
Impacts
of Air Pollution in a Society
Health effects are a major problem when it comes to air
pollution. Air pollution every year has caused health problems to people living
in areas which industrial areas release toxic chemicals into the air. Often the
level of sickness a person gets really depends on what type of chemicals they
come in contact with and the length of time they are exposed.
- There is a risk that elderly people have high chances of expose to disease that are caused by air pollution.
- The major concerns are those people who have an existing lung or heart problem would get worst and also infants along with children due to the in haling of toxic chemicals. There are many different types of diseases which air pollution can cause.
- In most cases people who often comes in contact with air pollution would suffer from lung cancer, heart disease or even bronchitis. Such nitrogen oxides, ozone or even sulfur dioxide can cause a major problem to the environments ecosystems, which could lead to destroying trees or plants being killed and eventfully killing animals.
(Source: The
Environment a Global Challenge. Retrieved: 3rd October 2012. http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution.html).
Noise
Pollution & It’s Societal Trends
When looking at noise pollution we can say that it isn’t a
form of pollution. It is just basically noise that has the ability to give bad
effects on people anywhere when faced with noise. The creation of noise
pollution is through any means or source. This could either be from large
industrial machines, through human behavior or even animals. Even though noise
pollution does not pollute the environment like industries polluting streams
and lakes, it has the ability to cause side effects and also be as damaging to
people. Noise pollution can be described as any form of noise that’s often
annoying or it can be irritating in a sense that a person can not bear its
sound or noise. Some form of noise pollution is through house or vehicle
alarms, aircraft engines, and engines from transportation, even contraction and
sound systems during functions where entertainments are being held. People staying in cities or near to airports face noise pollution everyday.
Impacts of Noise Pollution in a Society
As mentioned before the creation of noise pollution is heard
everywhere in the world. The impacts it has upon everyone including animals. This
however creates devastating effects such as mental health problems.
- Noise pollution can therefore not just lead to irritation and being annoyed, but can also create aggression. With aggression being shown this may very well involve violence, not having the right amount of sleep time, stress, hearing loss or hypertension.
- If someone has high blood pressure through stress created by noise pollution it may cause an outcome such as cardiovascular effects, heart attacks or even most effects.
- Building of industrial centers close to habitats where animals live and breed has the ability to interfere with their living life styles. Animals have the same sense of hearing and some may have excellent hearing abilities, which can someday affect them. Through this animals tend to leave scaring them away.
- This however can lead to more deaths of animals and extinction of animals will increase due to the decrease animals mating.
(Source: Wise Geek.
By: Matthew F. Retrieved: 4th October 2012. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-noise-pollution.htm).
Environmental pollution is a very serious issue. A young
girl named Severn Cullis Suzuki, 12 years old made a speech at a UN conference
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 at the Earth Summit addressing the world
leaders on environmental pollution. Her 6-minute speech silenced the world.
(Click video to watch)
Conclusion
Environmental pollution is something everyone’s afraid of, from
diseases to falling sick and even death at some point. The face of pollution
everywhere we go. From what I have learnt after completing this assignment, I
believe that it is not nature’s intent but is the intentions of human beings
that pollute this precious environment, which we humans and other living things
live on. This ranges from people suffering from diseases, which were mentioned
earlier to animals loosing their homes maybe due to construction or even
massive amount of noise. Will there but a stop to such act and think of the
future? This assignment I also had the chance to learn that we sometimes take
things for granted and never know the effects of what the end result will be
until it finally affects us. The amount of impact it has upon us is far greater
then imagined when humans or industrial hubs decided to drain oil, chemical
toxins and so on into river and lacks. Poisons fish being poisoned through
chemicals and so on, smoke from never by factories and noise from machines that
operate during the day do annoy people. On completion of this assignment I had
to ask myself will environmental pollution be the same 15 to 20 years from now
or will we take a stand stop environmental pollution?
Reference
(Source: Wise Geek.
By: Matthew F. Retrieved: 4th October 2012. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-noise-pollution.htm).
(Source: The
Environment a Global Challenge. Retrieved: 3rd October 2012. http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution.html).
(Source: Lifestyle
Lounge. Retrieved: 1st October, 2012. http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/effects-of-water-pollution-8879.html).
(Source: Buzzle. By:
Ningthoujam Sandhyarani. Retrieved: 1st October 2012. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-is-water-pollution.html).
(Source: The New
Zealand Herald. By APNZ and Herald Online. Retrieved:27thSeptember2012.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10825125)
(Source: Natural
Pollutions. Retrieved: 27th September 2012.
http://arrc.ebscohost.com/ebsco_static/repair-tips/8852CH15_NATURAL_POLLUTANTS.htm)
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