Conserving the environment

by R.R.S. Perera

In the natural world people, animals and plants live and we call it the environment. The undisturbed environment sustains the balance between each other naturally.

The environmental pollution distorts this natural balance causing severe damage to humans and other species. Most of the time pollution of the environment is caused due to human activities. The pollution of land, air, water and sound make the earth unsuitable for living.

In simple terms, land pollution is the destruction of earth surfaces and misuse of land resources.

The main cause for this pollution is the solid waste. This is disposed from houses, schools, hospitals, markets and workplaces. The biodegradable solid waste such as food, paper and grass are less harmful whereas things such as plastic, aluminum, car parts and broken electronics gadgets are more harmful because they do not decay easily.

Dumping of these cause generating of unpleasant odour, spreading of flies and rats, heap of garbage which make an unpleasant environment. Deforestation is a prime cause for this type of pollution.

This is done for farming and mining purposes. Excessive usage of pesticides and fertiliser can pollute the soil.

The main consequence due to the land pollution is that toxic substances get into the human body. The possible ways for this are breathing polluted dust particles and eating of vegetables and fruits grown in polluted soil. Sometimes these toxics may wash into water sources thereby affecting the people who consume water of these sources.

Pollution

The air pollution occurs when gases, fumes and odour are introduced into the atmosphere. The main pollutants for this are Sulpher Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide.

These are toxic gases emitted from industries, burning of Fossil fuels and manufacturing activities both in farming and household such as fumigating, cleaning, painting, pest killing and use of weedicides and insecticides are influenced such pollution too.

When the above mentioned air pollutants are combined with water droplets, an acidic rain is formed. This process is called acidification. This is harmful to animals, fish and the wildlife. Sometimes the acidification may change the soil chemistry. This in turn could affect vegetation. The eutrophication is another adverse effect caused due to pollutant Nitrogen. The Nitrogen is a nutrient for herbs. This gets deposited in natural water sources such as rivers and lakes.

This leads to the growth of algae, which results in consuming of oxygen dissolved in the water. As a result, a threat of starving of oxygen is occurred to the aquatic creatures. Another way of polluting the air is particles of lead and mercury introduced by activities of household and farming. Depending on the length of the time of exposure and concentration of the chemicals, this may cause irritation to the eyes, nose and throat and respiratory infections.

Human activities

The contamination of water bodies by human activities is referred to as the water pollution. One reason could be mixing of hazardous substances with water. This could happen due to the chemicals which contained in pesticides and fertilisers. These chemicals can even get into the deep soil making ground water unsuitable for drinking.

The oceans are polluted due to dumping and spillage of oil. In addition, sewage and septic tanks waste water without treating give rise to water pollution.

The consequences of water pollution lead to the extinction of aquatic animals, disruption of food chains and the diseases such as Cholera and Hepatitis.

Human activities such as conversation, sleeping, reading and worshiping are disturbed by unwanted sound. This is called sound pollution. When you prepare food, you may use a grinder or a mixer for that. These types of household appliances make sound while they are being operated.

In addition, items such as vacuum cleaners, washing machines, air conditioners, televisions and sound systems are potential sources for sound pollution. In household environment dog barking too contributes to the same.

Places of worship, musical programs and meetings are used public addressing systems for announcements. In markets also we can see selling with loudspeakers. Most of the time seller shout out for offers. These activities give rise to the sound pollution.

Noise pollution

Commercial and industrial activities aggravate the level of noise. Printing presses, manufacturing industries and power houses are good examples for this. We use vehicles, trains and planes for transportation. Sound of the engines and tooting of horns of these make lot of noise.

The effects of the sound pollution are hearing losses, sleep disruption, stress related illnesses such as anxiety, headache, fatigue and irritation.

Prevention of the environmental pollution is vital for the existence of the human and other species. The best and easy way of mitigating this is to educate and make the people aware of the importance of saving the environment. The “3-R concept”, that is Reduce, Re-use and Recycle can be followed in all areas that have been discussed. Minimising of usage of pesticides and other chemical fertilisers is another common factor to be adhered.

Land pollution

To reduce the land pollution, we can use the products which are biodegradable and having little packaging that leads to reduce the littering.

Prevention of air pollution can be achieved by using renewable energy and introducing more energy efficient vehicles. The water pollution can be minimised by sewage treatment.

To reduce the noise pollution, sound proof rooms can be built for noisy machines. In addition, rules could be imposed on excessive use of tooting and the vehicles with damaged exhaust pipes. Further, when planning construction sites for airports and railway stations, locations should be selected away from public places to make the impact from noise minimum.