135 Facts About Pollution That Will Make You Think About Environment

The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes reports on the various effects of pollution on the environment and as per the latest reports, the situation is getting bleaker every year.

Whenever there is a mention of pollution, most people generally think about air pollution and water pollution but in reality, pollution is present in many and various forms. Some examples include noise pollution, land pollution, plastic pollution, light pollution, and toxic waste pollution.

There are unfortunately many adverse and significant effects of pollution on the environment and all forms of life. It is therefore extremely important to pay attention to the increasing pollution levels and take corrective actions immediately, looking at ways that individuals and countries can reduce the pollution they create, and start to reverse some of the negative impacts it has already caused.

Here are some of the most important facts about different forms of pollution and the corrective actions you can take to reduce the effects of pollution.

Activities That Increases Pollution

Let's start by talking about the main activities that are the cause of pollution, some of these activities are proving to have a really bad influence on the environment. Here are some important facts related to the activities that lead to an increase in pollution levels:

Pollution can generally be defined as any form of activity that increases the toxicity levels in different natural environments and therefore leads to an adverse impact on living organisms, including human health.

Pollution could be in the form of increased levels of gasses such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide, in the air, caused due to human activities.

Air pollution is much worse in metropolitan cities. This is because the buildings traps air, making it harder for the pollution to dissipate and causing it to be more concentrated.

Pollution can also take the form of discarded toxic materials in freshwater or seawater sources, leading to an adverse impact on freshwater and marine ecological system.

Pollution may also take the form of excessive use of noisy objects or lights or discarding of plastic waste in landfills. All these activities have a considerable impact on life on Earth.

The vast majority of these polluting activities are caused by humans.

Air pollution is caused because of many things and these include cars, funds, factories, Power plants, vehicles. Did you know that large herds of cows are also a significant contributor to air pollution.

Any activity where people burn fossil fuels causes a lot of air pollution, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change.

Water pollution is predominantly caused because of human activities. Under the category of water pollution there comes ocean pollution, which causes a lot of harm to marine life and ecosystems.

Many industries that are located near water sources tend to discard their wastewater into freshwater sources. This pollutes the rivers and lakes near the industry, but also eventually that polluted water moves out to sea.

Untreated sewage can have a considerable impact aquatic and marine life.

Oil spills and leakages from big ships are a major cause of pollution in the oceans. Oil poses a significant threat to animals living in the ocean. Seabirds unable to fly because they are covered in oil are often seen after an oil spill.

Solid waste is still sometimes dumped by ships into the oceans. This causes lots of pollution.

Population growth has played a major role in increasing the pace of pollution and balance of the environment in a very severe way.

Increasing industrial activities have also contributed to rapid growth in pollution levels. As developing countries are quickly using fossil fuels to power their industries, carbon emissions are increasing at a rapid pace.

Different Types Of Pollution

Pollution can take many different forms but all of these forms are extremely lethal for the environment and therefore for all the life forms on earth. The Earth is the only planet in our solar system that can sustain life. We need to look after it, it is our only home, and if it becomes too polluted to sustain life, the human race will go extinct. Here are some important facts on different types of pollution that human society regularly faces:

There are many kinds of pollution that prevail in this world such as air pollution, ocean pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, land pollution, nitrogen pollution, and many more to go.

Pollution can impact the natural resources on Earth such as rivers, the sea, the air, the soils and plant life. This in turn negatively impacts biodiversity, and ultimately human health.

Pollutants are elements, molecules and particles that cause pollution. Sound waves can also be a form of pollution.

Pollutants are often chemicals that are produced or generated by human activities.

Some chemicals only cause pollution when they are in large quantities. 

So in order to make the world a better place to live, humans should be the ones to take responsibility, for maintaining harmony, peace and also for keeping the resources of sustainability healthy.

To describe pollution in a more scientific way you can explain it as something which occurs when the environment is exposed to harmful materials such as chemicals, plastic materials, or nuclear waste.

Pollutants can be of two types that are natural or man-made.

When you look at types of pollution, the pollution can be categorized into four broad categories: -

Air pollution

Air pollution basically includes the pollution of air, which means when the air is exposed to various toxic materials.

This toxicity could originate due to fumes from vehicles, methane emissions, factory emissions, or excess carbon dioxide.

When the level of impurity in the air increases, it is known as polluted air. This whole phenomenon is known as air pollution.

Air pollution in towns and cities is a very serious issue impacting human health. In some cities air pollution gets so bad people are advised to not leave their houses. Air pollution is particularly dangerous to people who suffer from breathing or lung conditions.

Water pollution

Water pollution as the name suggests is the mixing of the harmful materials that are toxic into aquatic environments. This includes both fresh water and saltwater.

Water pollution can have a damaging effect on the animals and plants that life in rivers, lakes or the oceans.

It can also result in poor human health, especially in regions where people do not have access to safe drinking water in their homes.

Land pollution

This basically means the pollution of land which is caused due to many factors such as agricultural actives which us pesticides, insecticides, and also the burning of radioactive waste.

Pesticides and insecticides are chemicals used to help in the production of crops, by killing of weeds and insects. However, these chemicals get into the environment and cause the loss of many insect species.

Bees have become a rare sight in many countries because of the use of insecticides. Bees are essential to humans as they help to pollinate the plants we need to live.

Chemicals that get into the soils and plants, can also move up the food chain into birds, reptiles and mammals. This can cause significant problems to biodiversity and wildlife populations.

Other forms of pollution

Some other forms of pollution include light pollution, thermal pollution, radioactive pollution, noise pollution, and industrial pollution. Light pollution is caused by excessive usage of light sources which disrupts the natural usage of light by different life forms.

The Environmental Effects Of Pollution

Here are some extremely important aspects related to the adverse impact of pollution on the environment: -

Increasing quantities of pollution has very adverse effects on the environment and also on human health.

Air pollution can cause various breathing diseases such as asthma, and has even been linked to increaed chances of developing cancer.

Pollution has been show to increase the risk of heart disease.

The effects of water pollution that gets into the marine environment have very damaging impacts on coastal ecosystems, causing animal and algae life to die off..

Aquatic life also suffers because of the pollution that is caused due to oil spills and the throwing of the solid waste directly into water bodies.

Increased nutrients in the water due to chemical run-off from farmland can cause algal blooms. This blooms create toxic areas of water, resulting in the death of many aquatic species.

Water treatment to make water safe for human consumption is much harder and more expensive in areas where the natural water sources are polluted.

Noise pollution has caused an increase in the risk of getting people developing hearing problems.

Noise pollution under water has also been shown to impact the behaviour of marine mammals, such as dolphins and whales, and has been thought to cause some mass stranding events.

Land pollution has caused a great risk of infecting the fertility of agricultural land, which is indeed important for the growth of crops.

The loss of naturally fertile and productive land results in the need for more chemical usage during crop production, and a deterioration in the quality of food that humans eat.

Ways To Reduce Pollution

Here are some of the ways to reduce the pollution levels around the world. As there is such as increase in pollution, in order to save the world for the future generation, humans have to take some immediate action.

• You can start by reducing the use of disposable materials as much as possible. Try to avoid buying things packaged in single use plastics and always carry your own reusable bags with you when you go shopping.
• Recycling is also very important, recycling eventually leads to the emission of less waste and the need to harvest less of the raw materials.
• Recycling reduces the amount of waste going to landfill.
• Another way that you can consider as a step towards the reduction of pollution is that you should start using your feet more!
• Walking places, or maybe cycling, will help in reducing the usage of vehicles and thus less fuel will be needed.
• These actions will eventually result in less emission of harmful gases in the environment.
• You can also install filters in chimneys so as the harmful materials are trapped and not emitted into the air.
• When shopping, try to buy food that is from the local area, or as close as possible. This reduces the number of 'air miles' associated with the food.
• You could even try growing your own fruit and vegetables, then they will have no air miles!
• Always pick up your litter after yourself. Never drop litter. Litter washes and blows into water courses, and eventually out to sea where is causes significant problems for marine animals.
• The countries which are least polluted include Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Estonia.
• These are countries that have proved that they have the least amount of pollution as they have policies which help to reduce waste and protect their local environments from pollution.