An environment is a condition or a surrounding of people, plants, and animals in which they live. There are specific pressing environmental issues today. These issues affect the daily living activities of the inhabitants of a given environment. The problems can be as a result of nature or as a result of human activities. Pollution is a pressing issue in today’s environment. This essay will discuss pollution as a critical environmental issue today.
Pollution is the imposition of dangerous materials or contaminants into the natural surroundings (Balogh et al.2020). Adverse environmental change can be caused by pollution. Pollutants can take any solid states of matter, gas, liquid, or energy like heat, radioactivity, light, and sound. Impurities can occur naturally or be foreign contaminants. The leading cause of pollution is human activities that are anthropogenic sources rather than natural causes. Pollution is a pressing environmental issue because, in 2015, it killed nine million people worldwide.
There are several major forms of pollution. They include water pollution, noise pollution, air pollution, light pollution, soil pollution, plastic pollution, radioactive pollution, thermal pollution, visual pollution, and litter pollution. Using water as coolant in a power plant causes temperature change in water bodies which is thermal pollution. Motorway posters, scarred landforms, trash storage, solid waste, and overhead power lines are examples of visual pollution.
This is an illustration of water pollution. It is The Lachine Canal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The spilling of wastewater from industries, the untreated sewage discharge on the water surface, and chemicals from treated sewage such as chlorine cause water pollution (Brandt et al., 2013). Agricultural runoff chemicals such as pesticides and chemicals and human faces from open defecation also cause pollution. Another water pollution is groundwater pollution from leaching and waste disposal such as septic tanks and pit latrines.
This illustrates air pollution, a smog in Moscow’s center, Russia, in August 2010. The leading cause of air pollution is the release of harmful particulates and chemicals into the atmosphere. Common gaseous pollutants are chlorofluorocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxides produced by motor vehicles and industries (Uldanov et al., 2021).
The abundance of electromagnetic radiation in its non-ionizing form, such as radio waves, is an example of electromagnetic pollution. People are usually exposed to this pollution in large cities. An example of light pollution is the illumination exceeding limits, interference of astronomy, and trespass of light. The criminal throwing of artificial objects is littering.
Ecology can be relatable to the surrounding. The study of the environment can be related to ecology. Pollution is the imposition of dangerous materials or contaminants in the background. Ecology can be relevant to pollution because it studies the relationship between living organisms such as humans and their environment, which is fine. Ecology considers the biosphere, individual, community, population, and ecosystem levels.
Pollution is a pressing issue in the environment today. Pollution can be prevented by recycling used products, use of public transport, treating of sewages, avoiding using a wood stove and fireplace use, avoid burning trash, leaves and other materials, garden equipment and gas-lawn equipment should be avoided, using of filters for chimneys, and use of plastic bags.
References
Balogh, J. C., Gibeault, V. A., Walker, W. J., Kenna, M. P., & Snow, J. T. (2020). Background and overview of environmental issues. In Golf Course Management & Construction (pp. 1-37). CRC Press.
Uldanov, A., Gabriichuk, T., Karateev, D., & Makhmutova, M. (2021). Narratives in an authoritarian environment: Questions about narrative strategies, plots, and characters in Moscow’s public transport reforms. European Policy Analysis, 7(2), 433-450.
Brandt, J. P., Flannigan, M. D., Maynard, D. G., Thompson, I. D., & Volney, W. J. A. (2013). An introduction to Canada’s boreal zone: ecosystem processes, health, sustainability, and environmental issues. Environmental Reviews, 21(4), 207-226.
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