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What is Environmental Pollution?

Environmental pollution has existed for centuries but only
started to be significant following the industrial revolution
in the 19th century. Pollution occurs when the natural
environment cannot destroy an element without creating
harm or damage to itself.

The elements involved are not produced by nature, and the

destroying process can vary from a few days to thousands
of years (that is, for instance, the case for radioactive
pollutants). 

Stop Committing Environmental …

Source: Canva

In other words, pollution takes place when nature does not

know how to decompose an element that has been brought
to it in an unnatural way.

Pollution must be taken seriously, as it has a negative

effect on natural elements that are an absolute need for life
to exist on earth, such as water and air. Indeed, without it,
or if they were present in different quantities, animals –
including humans – and plants could not survive. We can
identify several types of pollution on Earth: air
pollution, water pollution and soil pollution.
“ Environmental pollution is an incurable disease. It can
only be prevented.

~ Barry Commoner

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Contents [hide]

Causes of Environmental Pollution Effects of Environmental Pollution

1. Industries 1. Effects on Humans
2. Transportation 2. Effects on Animals
3. Agricultural Activities 3. Effects on Plants
4. Trading Activities 4. Effects on the Ecosystem
5. Residences
 20+ Wonderful Solutions to
Environmental Pollution

Causes of Environmental Pollution

Let us first take a look at the causes of environmental

pollution:

1. Industries
Industries have been polluting our environment, especially
since the beginning of the industrial revolution, as
mentioned above, notably due to the increasing use
of fossil fuels. In the 19th century and for a significant part
of the 20th century, coal has been used to make machines
work faster, replacing human force. 

Though pollution by industries mainly causes air pollution,

soil and water contamination can also occur. This is
particularly the case for power-generating industries, such
as plants producing electricity (May they be a dam, a
nuclear reactor or some other type of plant).

Also, the transportation of this energy can be harmful to

the environment. We can take as an example of the
transportation of petrol through pipelines; if there is a leak
in the pipeline, the soil will automatically be polluted.
At the same time, if the tanker transporting petrol from its
production plant to the place where it will be consumed
leaks or sinks, the water will get contaminated.

2. Transportation
Ever since men abandoned animal power to travel, pollution
of the environment has become higher and higher. Its
levels have only been increasing until now. Similarly to
industries, pollution caused by transport can mainly
be attributed to fossil fuels. 

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Indeed, humans came across a long way from horse

carriages to cars, trains (which, before electricity, used to
be propelled by coal), and airplanes. As traffic is increasing
every day, pollution follows that evolution.

3. Agricultural Activities
Agriculture is mainly responsible for the contamination of
water and soil. This is caused by the increased use of
pesticides, as well as by the intensive character of its
production. Almost all pesticides are made from chemical
substances and are meant to keep diseases and
threatening animals away from the crops. 
However, by keeping these forms of life away, the harm is
almost always made to the surrounding environment as
well.

Furthermore, as agriculture gets more and more intensive

to feed the increasing world population, more environments
and ecosystems are destroyed to make space for the
crops. Some of them, like rapeseed –used to make oil –
demand a lot of space for a relatively small output.

4. Trading Activities
Trading activities include the production and exchange of
goods and services. As regards goods, pollution can be
caused by packaging (which often involves the use of
plastic, which is made from fossil fuels) or transport,
mainly.

5. Residences
Finally, residential areas provide their fair share of pollution
as well. First, to be able to build homes, the natural
environment has to be destroyed in one way or another.

Wildlife and plants are driven away and replaced by human

constructions. As it requires the work of industries,
construction itself is also a source of contamination of the
environment. 
Following that, when people settle in, they will produce
waste every day, including a part that cannot be processed
by the environment without any harm yet.

Effects of Environmental Pollution

Now that we have identified the main causes of

environmental pollution, let us study the negative effects it
has:

1. Effects on Humans
The effects of environmental pollution on humans are
mainly physical, but can also turn into neuro-affections in
the long term. The best-known troubles to us are
respiratory, in the form of allergies, asthma, irritation of the
eyes and nasal passages, or other forms of respiratory
infections. Notably, these well-spread affections can be
observed when air pollution is high in cities, when the
weather gets hot, for instance.

On top of that, environmental pollution has been proven to

be a major factor in the development of cancer. This can
happen, for example, when we eat reminiscences of
pollutants used in the production of processed foods or
pesticides from the crops. Other rarer diseases include
hepatitis, typhoid affections, diarrhea, and hormonal
disruptions.
2. Effects on Animals
Environmental pollution mainly affects animals by causing
harm to their living environment, making it toxic for them to
live in. Acid rains can change the composition of rivers and
seas, making them toxic for fishes; an essential quantity of
ozone in the lower parts of the atmosphere can cause lung
problems to all animals. 

Nitrogen and phosphates in water will cause the

overgrowth of toxic algae, preventing other forms of life to
follow their normal course. 

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Eventually, soil pollution will cause harm and, sometimes,

even the destruction of microorganisms, which can have
the dramatic effect of killing the first layers of the primary
food chain.

3. Effects on Plants
As for animals, plants, and especially trees, can be
destroyed by acid rains (and this will also have a negative
impact on animals as well, as their natural environment will
be modified), ozone in the lower atmosphere block the
plant respiration, and harmful pollutants can be absorbed
from the water or soil.
4. Effects on the Ecosystem
In short, environmental pollution, almost exclusively
created by human activities, has a negative effect on the
ecosystem, destroying crucial layers of it and causing an
even more negative effect on the upper layers.

Source: Canva

20+ Wonderful Solutions to Environmental

Pollution

1. Environmental planning should be considered as a base

stone for developmental planning. Hence, before starting
any project, a study to evaluate the environmental impacts
has to be conducted.
2. Shifting to eco-friendly transportation such as electric
vehicles and hydrogen vehicles and promoting shared
mobility (i.e., carpooling, and public transports) could
reduce air pollution significantly.

The world is working on reducing the emission of

hazardous gases from vehicles causing air pollution
constantly in a variety of ways such as car emission
control, electric and hybrid vehicles and public
transportation systems, and in the future, we can manage
to reduce emissions profoundly.

3. Basic solutions for air pollution must involve moving

away from fossil fuels, replacing them with sustainable
renewables like solar, geothermal, and wind and producing
clean energy. The world is phasing out coal.

4. Now, as solar radiation is at a climatic peak, solar power

is a fantastic solution. We can reap power from the sun
using solar panel systems and provide energy from home
systems to large scale systems powering entire
communities and cities.

Wind power is also coming into play. Solar power and wind
turbine power are both powerful forces against radioactive
power and fossil fuel power.
5. Industry plays a vital role in the progress of societies. At
the same time, it exhausts the natural raw resources and
produces pollution. This has created an environmental
imbalance.

To assess the potential environmental impact of an

industrial plant, EIA needs to be carried out, and the
industrial plants that do not have EIA should be warned.

6. Green building can help solve environmental problems

to an extent. From planning to demolition, the objective of
green building is to create environmentally responsible and
resource-efficient structures to reduce their carbon
footprint.

7. Storage facilities for solid wastes should be built in the

city. The necessary actions need be taken to integrate the
solid waste storage facility that is very close to the city, and
to nature.

8. The wastewater recycling project should be exercised,

and a recycling center should be built to reduce water
pollution.

9. Environmentally friendly products should be made

cheaper to encourage people to use them, and people
should know the long term advantage of using these
products nationwide.
10. Protecting soil, air and water quality should be a
fundamental goal of national environmental policy. The
national land use and conservation policies need to be
developed to reduce the misuse of productive agricultural
land, and the uncontrolled and disorganized urbanization.

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11. For prevention of the visual pollution, enough green

areas and parks should be built, the municipality should
collect the wastes in an organized way, and the use of
commercial boards and other billboards should be
regulated and controlled.

12. To prevent noise pollution, the open markets, bazaars,

recreation and amusement facilities, schools and parks
inside the city should be surrounded by trees and other
plants. The industrial areas and plants should also be
surrounded by green areas.

13. We also need to work on electromagnetic radiation

(ER) reduction. Realizing the blatant potential for huge ER
emissions directly in brains and eyes of users, major
manufacturers of computers and electronic devices have
started to implement hardware protocols to reduce risks
and minimize ER production significantly. While producing
the newer devices, they are aiming to knock this problem
out, and, fortunately, this is working.

14. Nowadays radiation is a serious issue and the

ecological cost of radioactive power plants has become
more evident than before. Nuclear testing and radioactive
leakage from power plants have contaminated oceanic life
to such a level that it will take hundreds of years to return
to normal. But more radiation solutions are in progress
with the advancement of various ecologically friendly
power technologies every day.

15. While sanctioning urban land-use, the landscape

architects should be engaged by the municipality. The
planning authorities should include ecological factors in
planning to provide a healthy and clean environment.

16. The number and quality of the green areas and parks
should be increased for fresh and healthy air.

17. The mass media, including print and electronic media

and the internet, is the main source of information about
environmental issues. These should, therefore, be used
more intensively to facilitate the transmission of
environmental information and promote more positive
environmental attitudes.
18. As the environment has been advancing rapidly,
environmental education has a very strategic and
important role in preparing people to solve global
environmental problems. Environmental issues should be
included in the national education syllables to have well-
educated and concerned people about environmental
issues. The integration of environmental education in
present classes and programs is necessary, helpful, and
mandatory. 

19. The top-level politicians, executives, administrators

and all the other entrepreneurs should also be educated
about the environment. One of the basic properties of
environmental education is the need for a close
relationship between the inter-discipline and inter-
professions. 

20. Local administrations should be concerned about

educating the local people by providing the means (e.g.,
books, brochures, seminars.) to make them understand the
importance of environmental problems.

21. Finally, in order to produce effective solutions for

environmental problems, a national approach towards the
problems is crucial.

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About Rinkesh
A true environmentalist by heart ❤. Founded Conserve Energy
Future with the sole motto of providing helpful information related
to our rapidly depleting environment. Unless you strongly believe
in Elon Musk‘s idea of making Mars as another habitable planet,
do remember that there really is no 'Planet B' in this whole
universe.

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