Environmental pollution /degradation are the introduction of substances that contaminates the natural nature of the environment. The common ways in which the environment is being polluted is through the water, air and the soil. The paper is going to describe the effects of pollution, the conservation efforts taken and the future efforts being planned.
The problem being addressed is environment pollution which is a common thing all around the world. This is due to the social and economic activity of the human race. There are three types of pollution water pollution, air pollution and soil pollution.
Water pollution mainly occurs in large water bodies such as dams, lakes, oceans. This is due to the increased activity of humans in water bodies, activities such as fishing cursing through the ocean have contributed to the pollut
...ion of water bodies. People throw non bio degradable items into the, people dumb non bio degradable wastes in to water bodies which in turn course water pollution. The majority of this non-biodegradable material is plastic bags, bottle and other plastic substances. This substances end up affecting marine life in general and even human beings who use the same water for their daily activities. Industries also cause water pollution; this is due to the disposal of their waste in to water bodies. This may include plastics and even chemicals substances which are toxic and hence killing the marine life. The other type of pollution is air pollution; this is mainly caused by toxic fumes which occur in form of carbon emission being released to the air. The main contributor of this are the machines which do not use clean energy as a source of
fuel some of this include motor vehicle which are the main contributors of air pollution. Planes and industries, most of pollutants use oil driven engines which bring about lots of fumes. These fumes destroy the ozone which shied the earth from direct sunlight hence causing global warming. These fumes also cause illness such as asthma cancer and other respiratory diseases due to the toxic fumes brought about by the use of these engines. Soil pollution is also caused by a number of factors this include plastics as we had seen before industrial chemicals, agrochemicals and human activities such as mining.
This activities help in polluting the soil.
Initial causes of water pollution are contamination of water which in turn leads to the outbreak of diseases such as typhoid, cholera and other related water bone diseases. Shortage of clean drinking water. Initial causes of air pollution may include contaminated air hence lack of fresh air. It may also cause short time respiratory diseases and some discomfort in breathing. The initial cause of soil pollution increase acidity in the soil.
Some of the long term effects of environmental pollution may include. In water pollution some of the long term effects may be death or even extinction of marine life in general. Difficulty in water mobility such that vessels such the ship will find it difficult to navigate through the water bodies. Some of the long term effects of air pollution are complicated respiratory diseases such as asthma and other respiratory diseases. It also may cause life threatening diseases such as cancer of the throat and that of the lungs. It also causes global warming in the long run, hence climate
change and the change of whether patterns. It may also cause skin cancer which is brought about by extreme rays of the sun. Some of the long term effects of soil pollution are: soil infertility due to excess acid in the soil, it may also cause drought and famine and it may even cause death due to starvation in the long run.
Many efforts have been taken in order to avoid environmental pollution and degradation. Many countries and people around the world are now aware of environmental pollution and its consequence. Though some are still ignorant a good number of the world population is trying to understand and conserve the environment some. Efforts have been made from within and without to try and educate the masses about environmental pollution. Developed countries who are the leading when it comes to pollution have also taken measures to ensure that the environment is taken care of.
Efforts have been taken both at individual level, state level and also at the global level. There are some outstanding individuals who fought for tooth and nail for the environment. One of this fellows is prof Wangari Mathai a nobel peace prize winner who was the champion of the environment .some conservations movement have been adopted all over the world who encourage planting of trees and encourage people to go green. In some countries in Europe bicycles are being adopted as the mode of transport replacing cars which causes environmental pollutionfootnoteRef:2. On the global scale world leaders from different leaders from different parts of the world meet in order to discuss climate change. Due to this the world leaders agreed that all the leaders
should make an effort and see that carbon emission are reduced in their respective countries. The Kyoto protocol was one of the efforts which the global leaders agreed on in order to counter climate change and secure the environment. Due to Kyoto protocol some of the world’s leading carbon emitters have put measures of curbing climate change by making strict laws that help curb carbon omissions. Most of countries in the world are now curbing climate change by passing bills and making laws that are environmental friendly in order to curb climate change hence protecting the environment in general.
Future efforts to care for environment are ongoing both at individual and country level. For example in Europe automobile manufacturers have come up with a new kind of vehicle that will be using hydrogen instead of petroleum fuel. The hydrogen will combine with oxygen and the end product will be water hence no pollution to the environment. Other auto mobile manufacturers are going green by manufacturing cars that use electricity as a mode of fuel whereby you charge your vehicle for several hours and you are good to go. All this cars haven’t been commercialized yet but when this is done it will be a milestone achievement and a big win for the environment.
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