Land, air and water pollution are the major environmental hazards that poses great danger to both human and animal health. Pollution refers to introduction of elements to the ecosystem that can cause harm to the various components of the environment in one way or another. Let us look at each of these pollution methods in-depth.
Land Pollution: This is caused by release of harmful materials into the land. This waste includes domestic waste, municipal waste and non-biodegradable materials such as plastics. These materials make the land unsuitable for various economic activities such as agriculture.
Air Pollution: This is a unique form of pollution that results from release of harmful gases into the atmospheres. The main sources of these gases include vehicles, industries and power plants. Examples of pollutant gases are carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides. Once they accumulate in the atmosphere, they cause green house effect that is responsible for global warming and formation of acid rainfall.
Water Pollution: This occurs as a result of release of harmful chemicals into the water bodies such as industrial sludge, domestic waste, untreated human waste and the list continues. Research shows that approximately 100,000 marine species are killed by water pollution. These pollutants make the aquatic ecosystem unsuitable for the aquatic animals since they cause salinity and acidification. Over 40% of American rivers are polluted and this has significantly reduced the number of fishing grounds that we used to rely on for fish.
Some of the diseases that can result from environmental pollution include bronchitis, cancer, water-borne diseases, genetic mutations and the list continues. Hence, there is need to control pollution and rehabilitate the already polluted ecosystems so as to cushion ourselves from this negative effects. For example, treatment of waste and recycling of non-biodegradable materials such as plastics will greatly help to reduce both land and water pollution. Other pollution control measures include planting of trees as well as formulation of stringent rules and regulation to govern the manner in which waste is released to the environment.