Pollution

Pollution occurs when pollutants contaminate the natural surroundings. This contamination brings about changes that affect our normal lifestyles adversely. Pollution disturbs our ecosystem and the balance in the environment. With modernization and development in our lives, pollution has reached its peak, giving rise to global warming and human illness. Pollution occurs in different forms, including air, water, soil, and radioactive.

Air Pollution is the most prominent and dangerous form of pollution. Excessive burning of fuel, which is a necessity of our daily lives for cooking, driving, and other industrial activities, releases a huge amount of chemical substances in the air everyday. Smoke from chimneys, factories, vehicles, or burning of wood releases sulphur dioxide into the air, making it toxic. Sulphur dioxide and hazardous gases released into the air causes global warming and acid rain which in turn have increased temperatures, erratic rains, and droughts worldwide, as well as resulting in an increase of asthma and cancer in the lungs.

Water Pollution has affected all species on the earth, 60% of which live in water bodies. Industrial waste dumped into the rivers and other water bodies cause an imbalance in the water leading to its severe contamination and death of local aquatic species. Spraying insecticides or pesticides pollutes the ground water system, and oil spills in the oceans cause irreparable damage. Daily activities like washing clothes or utensils near lakes, ponds or rivers forces detergents to go into water. Water pollution contaminates the entire food chain, and water-borne diseases like cholera and diarrhoea also increase as a result.

Soil pollution makes the ground unfit for plants to derive nutrition from. Aside from not being able to grow, plants are weakened and can’t grow properly, thus the soil erodes.

Radioactive pollution can occur due to nuclear plant malfunctions, improper nuclear waste disposal, or accidents. It causes cancer, infertility, blindness, defects at the time of birth, sterilized soil, and poisoned air and water.