A quick primer on pollution

By Aarab Harsh

Pollution is any undesirable change that takes place in the environment. It is harmful to both living and non-living things. But why so? Simply because pollution radiates harmful gases including Sulfur Dioxide, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxide, etc. There are different types of pollution such as air pollution, water pollution, and land pollution. In fact, when pollution levels increase it causes global warming and subsequently, creates a change in the overall climate. This leads to causing several health issues for humans as well as the flora and fauna surviving on earth.

Air Pollution

It’s caused due to the emission of gases from vehicles running on petrol or diesel, factories, burning of fossil fuels and forest fires. Plus, the dust and smoke from the cement and chemical plants also add to this pollution.  

When the level of these harmful gases increases in the air, it creates an impact on the oxygen level in the atmosphere. And hence causes lung problems like breathlessness, and living beings may develop lung diseases such as bronchitis, emphysema, asthma and sometimes even cancer. 

Water Pollution

When harmful chemicals and sewer water mixes with a river, lake, pond or sea, the water body is contaminated. Many times, plastic wrappers and garbage are thrown into these water bodies. These make the water toxic for humans and animals to use. 

Even though 71% of the earth is covered with water, we must remember that only 2.5% of it is of use for humans. And  because of this increasing pollution in water, the aquatic biodiversity is facing a serious threat. It’s causing the death of many ocean animals such as whales, fish, shark, octopus, etc. Moreover, poor quality of water and harmful chemicals in it is responsible for many diseases in humans and animals.  

Land Pollution

This is another common type of pollution. It is caused due to the deposition of solid and liquid waste materials like plastic cans and bottles, dumping garbage, and so on. Many kinds of human Human activities such as littering and incessant use of man-made pesticides or insecticides are certainly adding to this pollution.   What is happening is it’s deteriorating the soil fertility, damaging the crops, while causing diseases in plants, humans, and animals. The concern is all these kinds of pollution are disturbing the ecosystem, thereby resulting in gradual loss of biodiversity. Hence, it’s important to be alert when it comes to discarding waste.