Pollution

Pollution Different areas: Air Pollution Inorganic Wastes (Industry & Everyday Life) Organic Wastes (Eutrophication) Radiation/ Nuclear

=__//**Air Pollution**//__= = = The air we breathe is made up of different gases. Humans have added more gases to the atmosphere. These extra gases are called "air pollutants", and come fmainly from power stations, chemical industries and road transport.
 * Summary:**



Air pollution from vehicles is currently the main air quality problem in most cities. Gases released from exhausts can have serious effects on people's health. In the past, air pollution was mainly caused by the burning of coal in people's homes and by industries, but now it is not that much of a problem anymore.
 * Causes:**

The release of air pollutants must be kept to a minimum, because some of the gases can be harmful, not only to humans but also to wildlife and our environment.
 * Effects:**

(Cars are a major source of NOx.) || Acid rain also causes buildings, statues, and monuments to deteriorate. || (Cars are a major source of VOCs.) || Ashes, smoke, soot, and dust can dirty and discolor structures and property, including clothes and furniture. || Acid rain also causes buildings, statues, and monuments to deteriorate. ||
 * Sources and Effects of Common Air Pollutants ([|http://www.cleanerandgreener.org/programs/schools/pollution.htm)]**
 * **Pollutant** || **Anthropogenic Sources** || **Health Effects** || **Environmental Effects** ||
 * **Ozone**
 * (O3)** || Secondary pollutant formed by chemical reaction of VOCs and NOx in the presence of sunlight. || Breathing problems, reduced lung function, asthma, irritates eyes, stuffy nose, reduces resistance to colds and infections, premature aging of lung tissue. || Damages crops, forests, and other vegetation; damages rubber, fabric, and other materials; smog reduces visibility. ||
 * **Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)** || Burning of gasoline, natural gas, coal, oil.
 * Lung damage, respiratory illnesses, ozone (smog) effects. || Ozone (smog) effects; precursor of acid rain which damages trees, lakes, and soil; aerosols can reduce visibility.
 * **Carbon Monoxide (CO)** || Burning of gasoline, natural gas, coal, oil. || Reduces ability of blood to bring oxygen to body cells and tissues. ||  ||
 * **Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)** || Fuel combustion, solvents, paint.
 * **Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)** || Fuel combustion, solvents, paint.
 * Ozone (smog) effects, cancer, and other serious health problems. || Ozone (smog) effects, vegetation damage. ||
 * **Particulate Matter** || Emitted as particles or formed through chemical reactions; burning of wood, diesel, and other fuels; industrial processes; agriculture (plowing, field burning); unpaved roads. || Eye, nose, and throat irritation; lung damage; bronchitis; cancer; early death. || Source of haze which reduces visibility.
 * **Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)** || Burning of coal and oil, especially high-sulfur coal; industrial processes (paper manufacturing, metal smelting). || Respiratory illness, breathing problems, may cause permanent damage to lungs. || Precursor of acid rain, which can damage trees, lakes, and soil; aerosols can reduce visibility.
 * **Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)** || Burning of coal and oil, especially high-sulfur coal; industrial processes (paper manufacturing, metal smelting). || Respiratory illness, breathing problems, may cause permanent damage to lungs. || Precursor of acid rain, which can damage trees, lakes, and soil; aerosols can reduce visibility.
 * **Lead** || Combustion of fossil fuels and leaded gasoline; paint; smelters (metal refineries); battery manufacturing. || Brain and nervous system damage (esp. children), digestive and other problems. Some lead-containing chemicals cause cancer in animals. || Harm to wildlife and livestock. ||
 * **Mercury** || Fossil fuel combustion, waste disposal, industrial processes (incineration, smelting, chlor-alkali plants), mining. || Liver, kidney, and brain damage; neurological and developmental damage. || Accumulates in food chain. ||
 * Solutions:**
 * Develop the use of more renewable resources: More efficient uses of solar energy, wind power
 * Elimination of fossil fuels, replacement of the internal-combustion engine
 * Different kinds of transportation engines (electricity or steam powered)
 * Government measures such as establishing a system of pollution allowances for trading emission rights
 * International measures such as Kyoto Protocol, Carbon Trading, forcing incentives to cut down on emission of polluting gases
 * More use of public transportation. Also the use of hybrid cars/fuel-cell cars
 * Using more energy saving lights in homes, schools, offices
 * Using more energy saving lights in homes, schools, offices


 * Uncertainties**
 * Fluctuations in the earth's temperature are natural and are not due to human contributions.
 * Even if human contribution is acknowledged, its scale is negligible, and there is no need for immediate action.
 * Rises in the CO2 levels are the result of increased temperatures, rather than the other way around.
 * Computer models predicting future climate are unreliable and are based on many assumptions.
 * Methods of measurement of temperatures (weather balloons and satellites) have previously shown evidence against the theory of global warming.
 * The climate is affected by cosmic rays, rather than air pollution..

Inorganic waste is basically the waste that is not from plants or animals. Industrial Waste (Inorganic Waste), which takes the biggest portion in 'inorganic waste', is a necessary evil that is created by every industry in the world. Since not 100% of entire raw materials are used to make goods, We consider any leftovers that cannot be used anymore as 'industrial waste'. As the industry expands and people demand more and more goods, firms produce more, and that significantly increased amount of industrial waste produced.
 * __Inorganic Waste and Industrial Waste__**

Causes: Basically, any industrial activities which involve producing something using some kind of physical raw material can be the causes of the pollution caused by the industrial waste. However, the typical branches of the industry which cause the most concern are chemical, metal-refining, and artificial rubber making industries. Furthermore, inorganic waste are also caused by other non-industry factors such as from mercury in the batteries, runoffs of the chemical fertilizers, etc.

Effects: Solutions
 * Inorganic waste created from runoffs of the chemical fertilizers can amend the soil condition of the soil and alter the plants living in the area.
 * Dumping chemical waste to the rivers and seas made some rivers and parts of the sea made marine organisms unable to dwell in the area.
 * River got exposed to the mercury mutated the marine organisms and affected crops using the river to grow, eventually hit the humans back as humans ate the crops produced and fishes caught.
 * Overabundance of industrial waste caused firms to bury all the waste in land, and this made some land unable for any kind of organisms to live.
 * As humans developed nuclear energy, handling of nuclear waste (uranium, plutonium, etc.) became a serious issue for many MDCs.
 * For many MDCs, active government intervention has been a main method to treat the problem. Governments provided firms some land to dump the waste, legislated laws to regulate uncontrolled dumping of the industrial wastes.
 * Many technologies have been and will be discovered by scientists. This will greatly contribute to the reduction of wastes creating during the process of producing goods.
 * Many firms chose to find the usage of the industrial wastes instead of dumping them into dumping ground which takes a lot of money.

Uncertainties There are some debates whether the pollution caused by inorganic/industrial waste is a serious threat. Although some environmentalists insists that the degree of the dumping of such waste has reached a dangerous level, some officials and industrialists argues that the threat is not significant, since many of the waste created are used again to produce other goods. (In South Korea, about 51% of entire industrial wastes produced are reused to produce other alternative goods.)

//**Inorganic Wastes**// def: sand, dust, glass and many synthetics These "synthetics" is what causes our Everyday Trash to become such a hazard to the environment. Detrivores can't break them up into smaller molecules, and so there is no way to get rid of it.

Causes:
-Large quantities of waste are thrown away everyday, and these are oftentimes dumped in large garbage fields. Statistics show that the average American disposes of over 3.5 kilograms of trash a day, 50% more than in 1970. In the UK, household waste accounts for 8% of the entire waste produced each year. -These wastes are then just dumped from one place to the next, the people in charge searching for some place not too full of trash yet that it would not become overpowering. Yet. -The consumer market has soared in the past decades, and so people are buying more and more, even though they might not have any use for it.

Effects:
-the synthetic material may melt in extreme heat, or in other ways release toxic chemicals into nature. this has severe health implications for all organisms in the area, including humans - animals may not be able to distinguish a plastic bag from other things, and accidentally digest it (one example is the turtle, which feeds on jelly fish, and mistakes the bags people leave behind on beaches for its food, eats it, and suffocates) - burning the waste leads to more problems, as the fumes may turn toxic, and the air is polluted by the carbon emissions from the flames - landfills have been a way people got rid of trash in the past, but this is being slowly phased out, as it severely damages the soil nutrient content.

Solutions:
-there are the three R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle -use natural, organic material such as cardboard boxes instead of plastics -sort trash

Uncertainties:
-it is still more expensive to recycle material, and there is as yet no real answer to the tons of synthetic material on our planet. -there have been schemes to send a rocket ship out to space to deposit the metals and plastics, but in order for that to happen space travel must become more reliable.

Websites: http://www.chemsoc.org/networks/learnnet/green/waste/home.htm http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/research/health/index.htm http://www.ec.gc.ca/science/sandenov02/article1_e.html http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/waste.html

=Eutrophication=
 * Definition**: According to US Geological survey, Eutrophication is a process whereby water bodies, such as lakes, estuaries, or slow-moving streams receive excess organic nutrients.


 * Causes**: Nutrients can come from many sources, such as fertilizers applied to agricultural fields, golf courses, and suburban lawns; deposition of nitrogen from the atmosphere; erosion of soil containing nutrients; and sewage treatment plant discharges. Basically, any discharge of organic waste that ends up in water can lead to eutrophication.

that stimulate excessive plant growth (algae, periphyton attached algae, and nuisance plants weeds). This enhanced plant growth, often called an algal bloom, reduces dissolved oxygen in the water when dead plant material decomposes and can cause other organisms to die. Water with a low concentration of dissolved oxygen is called hypoxic. Entire deadzones within the ocean have been created by river esuaries that continually pump nutrients into the ocean. The resulting algal blooms choke up ocean life, devastating marine ecosystems.
 * Effects:**

This is of great cause for concern, as ocean areas once open for human economic use have been devastated. One example is the gulf of Mexico, where river run-off from the Mississippi river dumps fertilizers and other organic compounds into the sea.

Fish Kill in the Salton Sea as a result of eutrophication


 * (Possible) Solutions:**

- restore wetlands between farms and surface waters - reduce livestock densities - improve efficiencies of fertilizer applications - use wastewater to riirgate crops

Sources used: toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/**eutrophication**.html

=Radiation/ Nuclear Pollution= There are different kinds of radioactive pollutions. When we think of radioactive pollutants, we commonly think of the mishandlings of material such as uranium, which creates damage to our lives and ecosystems. Furthermore, contamination from power plants may effect our environment, as objects such as protective clothing and tools that have become contaminated are mismanaged and introduced into environment.

__Example of modern day nuclear pollution:__ The reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels is creating most radioactive wastes in Western Europe. Reprocessing plants based in countries such as the United Kingdom and France are contaminating the North Sea and North Atlantic coasts. Fuel spent comes from other European and non-European countries which causes additional risks of shipments of radioactive material by land and sea.

Example of this: **Radioactive Lobsters in Irish Sea** //Lobsters in the Irish Sea near a plutonium processing plant in England were found to be contaminated with radiation. According to Greenpeace, the nuclear plant at Sellafield is discharging over 2 million gallons of radioactive effluent into the ocean each day. The lobsters, along with other fish and ocean vegetations die because of contamination.//
 * __Effects on environment:__**
 * 1) Nuclear wastes leaves //long lasting effects//, as they are radioactive for thousands of years.
 * 2) Nuclear pollution is generally highly toxic and can contaminate water or the marine environment. Nuclear waste creeps, seeping into ground water and spreading along sea floors. Not only will these marine ecosystems cease to exist, water contaminated will no longer be accessible for any type of use.
 * 1) Accident at a nuclear power plant radioactive materials might escape containment which can pollute the land and air and can hurt our environment and natural resources.

1. If humans are exposed to radiation, their living tissues will be damaged. A large population exposed to low levels of radiation can suffer increased cancer. Main public concerns on the acceptability of nuclear power from fission is, first, the high level or radioactivity present at various stages of the cycle. The second concern is the fact that the nuclear fuels uranium and plutonium are the materials from which nuclear weapons are made.
 * __Effects on humans:__**
 * __Public concerns__**

· Taking extreme precautions when dealing at nuclear power plants. · Production of methods to better handle and rid of nuclear wastes.
 * __Solutions:__**