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then falls on the ground in the form of acid rain. Acid rain can cause great
damage to human, animals and crops.
4. Eutrophication: Eutrophication is a condition where high amount of
nitrogen present in some pollutants gets developed on seas surface and
turns itself into algae and and adversely affect fish, plants and animal
species. The green colored algae that is present on lakes and ponds is due to
presence of this chemical only.
5. Effect on Wildlife: Just like humans, animals also face some devastating
effects of air pollution. Toxic chemicals present in the air can force wildlife
species to move to new place and change their habitat. The toxic pollutants
deposit over the surface of the water and can also affect sea animals.
6. Depletion of Ozone layer: Ozone exists in earths stratosphere and is
responsible for protecting humans from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. Earths
ozone layer is depleting due to the presence of chlorofluorocarbons, hydro
chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. As ozone layer will go thin, it will
emit harmful rays back on earth and can cause skin and eye related
problems. UV rays also have the capability to affect crops.
Water pollution
is the contamination of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and
groundwater). This form of environmental degradation occurs when
pollutants are directly or indirectly discharged into water bodies without
adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds.
Sources of water pollution
Direct sources include effluent outfalls from factories, refineries, waste
treatment plants etc... That emit fluids of varying quality directly into urban
water supplies. In the United States and other countries, these practices are
regulated, although this doesn't mean that pollutants can't be found in these
waters.
Indirect sources include contaminants that enter the water supply from
soils/groundwater systems and from the atmosphere via rain water. Soils and
groundwater contain the residue of human agricultural practices (fertilizers,
pesticides, etc..) and improperly disposed of industrial wastes. Atmospheric
contaminants are also derived from human practices (such as gaseous
emissions from automobiles, factories and even bakeries).
Effects of water pollution
The effects of water pollution are varied. They include poisonous drinking
water, poisonous food animals (due to these organisms having bio
accumulated toxins from the environment over their life spans), unbalanced
river and lake ecosystems that can no longer support full biological diversity,
deforestation from acid rain, and many other effects. These effects are, of
course, specific to the various contaminants.
Soil pollution
is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other
alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial
activity, agricultural chemicals, or improper disposal of waste. (Xenobiotic is
a foreign chemical substance found within an organism that is not normally
naturally produced by or expected to be present within that organism. It can
also cover substances which are present in much higher concentrations than
are usual.)
Causes of Land Pollution
Below are the sources of land pollution:
1. Deforestation and soil erosion: Deforestation carried out to create dry
lands is one of the major concerns. Land that is once converted into a dry or
barren land, can never be made fertile again, whatever the magnitude of
measures to redeem it are. Land conversion, meaning the alteration or
modification of the original properties of the land to make it use-worthy for a
specific purpose is another major cause. This hampers the land immensely.
Also there is a constant waste of land. Unused available land over the years
turns barren; this land then cannot be used. So in search of more land,
potent land is hunted and its indigenous state is compromised with.
2. Agricultural activities: With growing human population, demand for food
has increased considerably. Farmers often use highly toxic fertilizers and
pesticides to get rid off insects, fungi and bacteria from their crops. However
with the overuse of these chemicals, they result in contamination and
poisoning of soil.
3. Mining activities: During extraction and mining activities, several land
spaces are created beneath the surface. We constant hear about land caving
in; this is nothing but natures way of filling the spaces left out after mining
or extraction activity.
4. Overcrowded landfills: Each household produces tonnes of garbage each
year. Garbage like aluminum, plastic, paper, cloth, wood is collected and sent
to the local recycling unit. Items that cannot be recycled become a part of
the landfills that hampers the beauty of the city and cause land pollution.
5. Industrialization: Due to increase in demand for food, shelter and house,
more goods are produced. This resulted in creation of more waste that needs
to be disposed of. To meet the demand of the growing population, more
5. Cause Air pollution: Landfills across the city keep on growing due to
increase in waste and are later burned which leads to air pollution. They
become home for rodents, mice etc which in turn transmit diseases.
6. Distraction for Tourist: The city loses its attraction as tourist destination as
landfills do not look good when you move around the city. It leads to loss of
revenue for the state government.
7. Effect on wildlife: The animal kingdom has suffered mostly in the past
decades. They face a serious threat with regards to loss of habitat and
natural environment. The constant human activity on land, is leaving it
polluted; forcing these species to move further away and adapt to new
regions or die trying to adjust. Several species are pushed to the verge of
extinction, due to no homeland.
Other issues that we face include increased temperature, unseasonal
weather activity, acid rains etc. The discharge of chemicals on land, makes
it dangerous for the ecosystem too. These chemicals are consumed by the
animals and plants and thereby make their way in the ecosystem. This
process is called bio magnification and is a serious threat to the ecology.
Natural disasters
Typhoon
A typhoon is a violent tropical cyclone, in meteorological term, which is a low
pressure system occurring in tropical oceans. The winds above the ground
circulate around the center counterclockwise for a typhoon occurring in the
northern hemisphere and clockwise for that occurring in the southern
hemisphere.
Flood
an overflowing of a large amount of water beyond its normal confines,
especially over what is normally dry land.
Cause of flood
A flood is caused by a combination of heavy rainfall causing river / oceans to
over flow their banks, and can happen at any time of the year, not just in the
winter.
Effects of flooding
Floods can have devastating consequences and can have effects on the
economy, environment and people.
Problems caused by floods Economic
During floods (especially flash floods), roads, bridges, farms, houses and
automobiles are destroyed. People become homeless. Additionally, the
Ash and mud can mix with rain and melting snow, forming lahars. Lahars are
mudflows flowing at very fast pace.
Some positive effects of volcanoes include:
Different types of erupting volcanoes provide extraordinary scenery, so
beautiful and natural that they attract tourists to the area, bringing in some
economic value.
Places close to volcanic activities tend to have higher potential for
geothermal energy, which can be an advantage to the towns and cities.
some ash and lava breakdown become soils that are rich in nutrients, and
become good areas for crop planting activities.
Mass Wasting
The downslope movement of rock, regolith, and soil under.
Types of mass wasting
Flow - The debris is moving downslope as a viscous fluid. A
mudflow is a flowing mixture of debris and water, usually moving down a
channel.
Slump - involves movement along a curved surface, the upper part moving
downward while the lower part moves outward.
Slide - A descending rock mass remaining relatively coherent, moving along
one or more well defined surfaces. A rock slide is the rapid sliding of a mass
of bed rock along an inclined surface of weakness. such as bedding plane or
a major fracture. In contrast, a rock avalanche is a very rapidly moving,
turbulent mass of broken-up bed rock.
Fall - occurs when material free-falls or bounces down a cliff.
Controlling Factors in Mass Wasting
Water - When debris is saturated with water (as from a heavy rain or melting
snow), it becomes heavier and is more likely to flow downslope. Interestingly
when a small amount of water in soil forms a thin film around each grain the
surface tension of the water holds the grains together. It is surface tension
which makes wet beach near the surf zone relatively hard and strong. In
contrast, dry sand further up the beach has little strength because the
surface film is gone. Likewise, when sand become saturated (water fills all
the pore space), the surface tension no longer acts and the grains may be
forced apart by the water. In this latter case, the grains can slide easily and,
so, the sand or soil become very weak can easily slide down a slope.
Local relief - Steeper relief always speeds mass wasting.