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Environment & Pollution

 Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an
environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or
discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or
living organisms. Pollution can take the form of
chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat,
or light. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be
foreign substances or energies, or naturally
occurring; when naturally occurring, they are
considered contaminants when they exceed natural
levels. Pollution is often classed as point source or
no point source pollution. The Blacksmith Institute
issues annually a list of the world's worst polluted
places. In the 2007 issues the ten top nominees are
located in Azerbaijan, China, India, Peru, Russia,
Ukraine and Zambia.
 Water pollution is a major problem in the global context. It has been
suggested that it is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and
diseases,[1][2] and that it accounts for the deaths of more than 14,000
people daily.[2] An estimated 700 million Indians have no access to a
proper toilet, and 1,000 Indian children die of diarrheal sickness every
day.[3] Some 90% of China's cities suffer from some degree of water
pollution,[4] and nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking
water.[5] In addition to the acute problems of water pollution in
developing countries, industrialized countries continue to struggle with
pollution problems as well. In the most recent national report on water
quality in the United States, 45 percent of assessed stream miles, 47
percent of assessed lake acres, and 32 percent of assessed bay and
estuarine square miles were classified as polluted.[6]
Water is typically referred to as polluted when it is impaired by
anthropogenic contaminants and either does not support a human use,
like serving as drinking water, and/or undergoes a marked shift in its
ability to support its constituent biotic communities, such as fish.
Natural phenomena such as volcanoes, algae blooms, storms, and
earthquakes also cause major changes in water quality and the
ecological status of water.
 An air pollutant is known as a substance in the air that can cause
harm to humans and the environment. Pollutants can be in the
form of solid particles, liquid droplets, or gases. In addition, they
may be natural or man-made.[1]
Pollutants can be classified as either primary or secondary.
Usually, primary pollutants are substances directly emitted from a
process, such as ash from a volcanic eruption, the carbon
monoxide gas from a motor vehicle exhaust or sulfur dioxide
released from factories.
Secondary pollutants are not emitted directly. Rather, they form in
the air when primary pollutants react or interact. An important
example of a secondary pollutant is ground level ozone — one of
the many secondary pollutants that make up photochemical smog.
Note that some pollutants may be both primary and secondary:
that is, they are both emitted directly and formed from other
primary pollutants
 The increase in the concentration of population in cities, along with the internal combustion engine,
led to the increased number of roads and all the infra structure that goes with them. Roads cause
visual, noise, light, air and water pollution, in addition to land pollution. The visual and noise areas
are obvious, however light pollution is becoming more widely recognized as a problem. From outer
space, large cities can be picked out at night by the glow of their lighting, so city dwellers seldom
experience total darkness.
As the demand for food has grown very high, there is an increase in field size and mechanization.
The increase in field size makes it economically viable for the farmer but results in loss of habitat
and shelter for wildlife, as hedgerows and copses disappear. When crops are harvested, the naked
soil is left open to wind after the heavy machinery has compacted it. Another consequence of more
intensive agriculture is the move to monoculture. This is unnatural, it depletes the soil of nutrients,
allows diseases and pests to spread and, in short, brings into play the use of chemical substances
foreign to the environment.
A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest. A pesticide may be a
chemical substance, biological agent (such as a virus or bacteria), antimicrobial, disinfectant or
device used against any pest. Pests include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, mollusks, birds,
mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms) and microbes that compete with humans for food, destroy
property, spread or are a vector for disease or cause a nuisance. Although there are benefits to the
use of pesticides, there are also drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other a
Pesticides are used to control organisms which are considered harmful. For example, they are used
to kill mosquitoes that can transmit potentially deadly diseases like west Nile virus, yellow fever, and
malaria disease. They can also kill bees, wasps or ants that can cause allergic reactions.
Insecticides can protect animals from illnesses that can be caused by parasites such as
fleas.Pesticides can prevent sickness in humans that could be caused by moldy food or diseased
produce.