Environment pollution and management

Environmental pollution: Decrease in natural quantity of environment due to addition of pollution unwanted and harmful substances in it is called environment pollutions.

Substances that cause pollution are called pollutants.

There are 3 major sources of pollution, they are

a. Biological sources: All the degradable wastes like dead bodies of animal, their excreta, agricultural and forest residence etc

b. Chemical causes: Insecticides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, expired medicines, various chemical waste from factories, industries, laboratories, various gases like CO, CO2, S02 etc released from vehicles.

c. Physical sources: Dust particles, smoke, sand, soil. etc.

Air pollution: 

When various pollutants like harmful gases, smoke, dust particles micro organism etc mixed with air. Its natural quality decreases this is called air pollution.

Sources of air pollution:

Sources of air pollution can be classified into 2 types:

a. Natural Sources: It includes natural activities like volcano eruption, forest fire, cyclone, coil erosion, storm etc

b.Artificial sources: Burning of plastic, various pollutants emitted from industries, vehicles, agricultural activities, burning of fuels, foul smell, from decaying materials etc

Primary pollutants: Pollutants which are directly emitted from sources like smoke released from vehicles, burning of fuels, dust particles etc

Secondary pollutants: Pollutants which are formed in atmosphere due to chemical reaction of one or more pollutants. Eg acid rain, smog, ozone etc:

Effects of air pollution

Air pollution has number of negative effects to the human beings, animals and environment. Some of them are:

1. Decrease in visibility of atmosphere.
2. Reduction in solar radiation.
3. Increase in greenhouse effect.
4. Decrease in biological growth of plants.
5. Adverse effect on human health.
6. It causes depletion of ozone layer.
7. It causes acid rain.
8. It causes destruction of historical monuments.
9. It causes change in climate.

Control measures of air pollution

1. Industries must use new technology to filter harmful and poisonous gases before their emission.
2. Vehicles that use fossil fuel should be replaced by electric vehicles.
3. Plantation of trees around industrial area, settlement area, open places and side of road also helps in controlling air pollution.
4. Proper management of various solid, liquid waste, dead bodies of animals also help in controlling air pollution.
5. Proper management of plastic waste is very important for controlling air pollution.
6. Public awareness programs about the air pollution and its effects should be conducted.

Water pollution

Alternation in physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water which may cause harmful effects on human, aquatic life and environment is called water pollution

Sources of water pollution

1. Sewage water
2. Contaminated water from industries.
3. Agricultural wastes.
4. Oily pollution (oil spills in water)
5. Thermal pollution
6. Radio active substances

Measures to control water pollution

1. Use of treatment plant for sewage waste, water from hospitals etc.
2. Proper management of various solid and liquid wastes (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse).
3. Cleanliness of surrounding of water resources.
4. Plantation trees around water resources.

Soil Pollution

Decrease in natural quality and productivity of soil due to addition of unwanted and harmful substances in it is called soil pollution.

Causes of soil pollution:

1. Domestic waste
2. Excessive use of pesticides
3. Industrial wastes
4. Use of chemical fertilizers
5. Acid rain

Effects of soil pollution:

1. It decreases productivity of soil.
2. Food grown in polluted soil can cause various diseases to organism due to chemicals preserved in them.
3. It kills useful soil micro-organisms.
4. It disturbs food chain and ecosystem.

Measure to control soil pollution:

1. Proper management of soil and liquid wastes. (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse)
2. Increase in use of compost manure.
3. Reduction in use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers.
4. Public awareness.

Conservation and management of forest:

Importance of forest:

1. Green forest is also called lungs of the earth as it absorbs carbon dioxide and other pollutants and helps to minimize the problem of air pollution, acid rain, global warming etc.
2. Forest is the habitat for wild animals, birds.
3. Forest provides medicinal herbs are various kind of fruit, vegetables, timber, grass etc. So, many industries receive raw materials from forest.
4. Forest help to increase water absorbing capacity of soil which help in conservation of water resources.

Management of forest:

Proper utilization of forest product along with conservation of forest is called management of forest.

Various ways of management of Forest are:

1. Various modern scientific method should be applied to prevent forest fire.
2. Proper planning should be done while cutting trees, old and dry trees should be targeted rather than young green trees.
3. Regular plantation should be done at sloppy and empty landforms.
4. Public awareness programs about the importance and proper utilization of forest resources also helps in management of forestry.
5. Community Forestry programme also help in conservation and management of forest.

Conservation and management of sources of water:

1. Out of total surface area of earth about 71% is occupied by water resources.
2. Out of total water available in earth, only 3% water is fresh water that can be used for various activities. Remaining 97% water is salty water.
3. Proper utilization of water resources without creating any problem of pollution is called management of water resources.

Various ways of conservation and management of water resources are as follows:

1. Plantation of trees around water resources help in the conservation.
2. Sewage and other various wastes, dead bodies of humans and animals etc shouldn’t be mixed directly into water resource. Use of poison and electric current to kill fish should be banned.
3. Various programmes should be conducted by national and international organizations for conservation of watershed and glaciers.
4. Scientific modern technique should be applied for storage and distribution of water.

Solved exercise

a. Biological sources of environmental pollution are less harmful than other sources.

This because pollutants from biological sources are degradable so they decay in short time and their effect is over but not other po.llutants

b. Polluted air harms all living organisms.

When living organism breathe in polluted air, pollutant.can cause various problems and disease in their body so it harms all living organisms.

c. All types of pollution affect human health badly/

In all types of pollution, through different mediums, when the pollutant enter in our body body system, it damages various body organ and their functioning which affect our health.

d. Industries are responsible for all types of pollutions.

Industries ore responsible to create all solid, liquid and gaseous waste as well as noise which are responsible for all types of pollution.

e. Radioactive waste is the most hazardous waste in comparison ta others.

Radiation emitted from radioactive waste can contaminate all aspect of environment. When it passes through body of living beings, it damages their body cells and effects remains for very long duration of time. So, It is most hazardous waste.

e. Environmental pollution affects ecosystem of a place. Explain  

Environmental pollution affects the ecosystem do place this is because when pollutants kill any one organism of food chain, others cannot get sufficient supply of food which result to disturbance of whole ecosystem.

f. Observe and answer

i. What type of pollution is shown here?

Air pollution

ii. Mention cause of this pollution.

Harmful smoke and gases from industries are its causes.

iii. Mention its effect on health of organisms.

It causes respiratory diseases to organisms.

iv. What should be done to minimize the pollution in all sectors?

1. Industries should be established far from settlement .
2. Technology to filter and purify smoke should be used.
3. Renewable source of energy must be used.

v. What role can you play to reduce this pollution?

1. Conduct public awareness programmes about controlling measures of air pollution.
2. I can request concerned authority to use the modern technology in their industry so that all the harmful smoke and dust can be filtered and purified.

g. Write difference between air and water pollution

Air pollution	Water pollution
Decreases natural quality of air.	Decrease Natural quality of water.
Transmits air borne diseases.	Transmits water borne diseases.

h. Write difference between pollution and pollutant.

Pollution	Pollutant
It is the condition at which natural quality of environment decreases.	The substances which are responsible to create pollution are called pollutants,
It is effect of pollutants.	It is cause of pollution.

i. Write difference between domestic wastes and industrial waste.

Domestic wastes	Industrial waste
These are the various wastes from houses.	These are various waste from industries.
They may be biodegradable or non biodegradable.	They are non biodegradable.

j. What are environmental pollution and management?

Environmental pollution is the decrease in natural quality of environment due to addition of harmful substances in it.

Environmental management is the conservation and utilization of environment in a proper way without degrading its quality.

k. What is air pollution? Make a list of its sources and explain one in detail.

When various pollutants like harmful gases, smoke dust etc get mixed with air its natural quality decreases. It is called air pollution.

A list of its sources are:

Natural sources: Sources caused by nature itself and cause pollution are called natural sources of air pollution. It includes decaying of organic matter, storms volcanic eruption, forest fire, release of CO2 etc. Humans aren’t responsible for it

Artificial sources

l. What is water pollution? Make a list of effects of water pollution and mention measures to mitigate them.

Water pollution is the alternation in physical chemical and biological characteristics of water which may harm to human, aquatic life and environment. List of its effects are:

1. It may transmit water borne diseases.
2. It may harm aquatic Life.
3. Polluted water used in irrigation cause soil pollution.
4. Such water can’t be used for household activities.

Measures to mitigate them are:

1. Appropriate plans and policies.
2. Water treatment plans should be installed in big industries.
3. Solid wastes should be disposed properly.
4. Cleanliness of surrounding.
5. Plantation of trees around water resources.

m. Define soil pollution. Make a list of its effects on environment

Soil pollution is the decrease in natural quality and productivity of soil due to addition of unwanted substances on it.

Its effects are:

1. It decreases soil productivity.
2. Food grown in polluted soil can cause various diseases.
3. It kills useful soil micro-organisms.
4. It disturbs food chain and ecosystem.

n. Mention ways to conserve and manage water resources.

Ways to conserve and manage water resources are:

1. Water treatment plans should be installed.
2. Watches should be disposed.
3. Cleanliness of surrounding.
4. Plantation of trees near water resources.

o. Write about the importance of forest. Mention its present situation and ways to prevent its destruction.

Importance of forest are:

1. It absorbs carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
2. It provides shelter to wild animals and plants.
3. It provides medical herbs and timber, wood etc.
4. Forest helps to increase water increasing capacity of soil which helps to conserve water resources.

Present situation of forest:

1. Demand of forest products are increasing due to growing population.
2. Forests are being cut for urbanization and modernization.
3. Forests are also a being destroyed due to natural disasters and for agriculture, industries etc

Ways to prevent its destruction

1. Afforestation
2. Use of modern technology to prevent forest fire.
3. Regular plantation without cutting trees.
4. Public awareness

p. Why is water essential? What is its condition in densely populated areas?Mention ways to mitigate water pollution.

1. Water is essential for drinking water, survival doing daily activities. It is very polluted due to human activities in densely populated areas.
2. Ways to mitigate water pollution:
3. Making water treatment plant.
4. Conducting awareness programme.