Pollution

Various environmental problems

1. Why should these environmental problems have arisen?

2. What needs to be done to overcome these problems? Man's interference with nature has created many problems on earth. Due to industrialization, population growth, mining, transportation, increasing use of pesticides and fertilizers, pollution has increased on the earth and pollution has also started affecting humans. Pollution: Pollution is the contamination of the natural environment which is harmful to the ecosystem.

Let's see!

1. Where is pollution around you? 2. What causes pollution?

Pollutants

Pollutants are substances that disturb the natural functioning of the ecosystem, causing harmful effects on abiotic and biotic factors (plants, animals and humans). If pollutants are released into the environment in excess, the environment becomes toxic and unhealthy. Pollutants are natural as well as man-made. Natural pollutants degrade over time according to the laws of nature, whereas man-made pollutants do not.

18.2 My children! Save me!

think about

If natural substances are pollutants, why do we not feel the side effects of consuming them? When do such substances become pollutants?

Try it

Action : Do a survey of your locality yourself and decide which are the most polluted places in your locality. Try to identify the pollutant associated with each location where pollution is found.

a. Air pollution

Remember a little.

1. Draw a graph showing the concentrations of various gases in the Earth's atmosphere. 2. Why is it said that air is a homogeneous mixture of different substances/elements?

3. Which hazardous gases are released into the air from the burning of fuels?

Contamination of air due to harmful substances like poisonous gases, smoke, dust, micro-organisms is called air pollution:

Causes of air pollution

Just move your head.

1. What types of pollutants are detected?

2. Are pollutants degradable or non-degradable?

Natural causes

1. Volcanic Eruption: Eruption releases solid, gaseous and liquid materials. E.g. Hydrogen Sulfide, Sulfur Dioxide, Carbon Dioxide, Ammonium Chloride, Hydrogen, Vapor, Dust

2. Earthquakes Earthquakes release large amounts of toxic gases and water vapor from the Earth's interior into the air.

3. Whirlwinds and dust storms mix ground dust, debris, soil, pollen and microorganisms into the air.

4. Carbon dioxide due to wildfires,

Sulfur Dioxide, Hydrogen Sulfide and Smoke

mixes with the atmosphere.

5. Due to mixing of microorganisms with air e.g. Some organisms mix fungal spores with the air.

Man-made causes

1. Use of fuel : I. Use of coal, wood, LPG, kerosene, diesel, petrol releases carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, lead compounds into the air. II. Open burning of solid waste, agricultural waste, garden waste causes air pollution.

2. Industrialization : Huge amount of smoke is emitted from various factories. Sulfur emissions, nitrogen oxides, mix with the atmosphere.

3. Nuclear power generation and nuclear explosion: The use of uranium, thorium, graphite, plutonium in nuclear power generation causes air pollution due to radiation.

Effects on Pollution Depletion / Destruction of Ozone Layer As we have studied earlier, the ozone layer is found in the lower part of the atmosphere. The ozone gas layer protects the living creatures on earth from the ultraviolet rays (UV-B) emitted from the sun, but now this ozone home is under threat due to the following reasons.

The energy emitted by the sun is absorbed

GREENHOUSE EFFECT AND GLOBAL WARMING CO, although present in very small amounts in the atmosphere, does a very useful job of absorbing the energy emitted by the Sun. Over the past hundred years, industrialization has increased the amount of CO in the atmosphere. The effect of this CO on the Earth's temperature is the 'greenhouse effect', like CO, nitrous oxide, methane gas and CFCs trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere. Collectively they are called "greenhouse gases".

Energy emitted by the Sun from the Earth's surface

is absorbed

Earth

8.5 Greenhouse Results

The global temperature is gradually increasing due to the increasing greenhouse effect. Due to this, changes in climate have resulted in disruption of crop production, distribution of wildlife and rise in sea level due to melting of ice caps and glaciers.

oxides

gut

raindrops

fuel combustion

Acid Rain Oxides of sulfur and nitrogen are released into the atmosphere from the burning of fuels like coal, wood, mineral oils. These mix with rain water and form sulfuric acid, nitrous acid and nitric acid. These acids mix with raindrops or snowflakes that fall as rain or snow. Acid rain to him

is called

Effects of acid rain 1.

Acid rain increases the acidity of soil and water bodies. This causes damage to aquatic animals, plants and the entire forest life.

Animals and plants

damage

8.6. raindrops

And the entire ecosystem is adversely affected.. 2. Corrosion of buildings, statues, historical structures, bridges, metal statues, wire fences etc. 3. Heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury are indirectly absorbed by plants and enter the food chain due to acid rain.

enter 4. As the water in reservoirs and canals become acidic, certain metals and plastics in canals

Leaching into drinking water causes serious health problems.