Introduction

Environmental pollution is a multi-disciplinary science involving chemistry,

physics, life science, agriculture, medical science, public health, sanitary
engineering etc. In broader sense, it is the study of the sources, reactions,
transport, effect and fate of chemical species in the air, water and soil and
the effect of human activity upon these.
Pollutant: A substance present in nature, in greater than natural abundance
due to human activity, which ultimately has a detrimental effect on the
environment and therefrom on living organisms and mankind. Examples arelead, mercury, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc.
Contaminant: A material which does not occur in nature, but is introduced by
human activity into the environment, affecting its composition. A
contaminant is classified as a pollutant when it exerts a detrimental effect.
Example- chlorine gas

Types of Pollution
Air
Causes of air pollution:
motor vehicle exhaust
power stations
car manufacturing
fertilizer factories
demolishing buildings
solvent evaporation
volcanic eruption
building roads
forest fires

Effect of air pollution:

Global warming, acid rain, smog, ozone depletion are some effects of air
pollution

Water
Causes of water pollution:
man-made chemicals used in farming
heavy metals
waste from factories
sediment from the river bed
air pollution
thermal (heat) pollution
soil pollution from rubbish dumps

Effects of water pollution:

The water in the earths biosphere is used and reused again and again by all
living things
water pollution

Soil
Causes of soil pollution:
farming
mining and quarrying
household waste
demolition and putting up buildings
factory waste

Effects of soil pollution:

Experts say that lots of land each year becomes unusable for humans or
animals.

soil pollution
Noise
Causes of noise pollution:
noisy roads and traffic
air traffic
rail traffic
household noise
industrial noise

Effects of noise pollution:

We hear and make sounds nearly all the time but too much noise can make
us feel angry or depressed. The time of day that noises are heard is very
important.
noice pollution
Radiation
Pollution from radiation can be caused by:
nuclear power plants
making nuclear weapons
disposal of nuclear waste
mining for uranium
radiation

What can happen?

Radiation occurs naturally at low levels and is a useful source of power when
concentrated.
It can also be very harmful to all living things if they are exposed to too much
of it.

Light
Light pollution happens when outside lights, such as a streetlight or a security

light, points light upwards into the night sky.

This light gets scattered in the sky and makes an orange foggy glow to
appear above a town.
What can happen?
It is likely that we wont be able to see the stars in the night sky if the amount
of light pollution isnt closely controlled.
bio

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT

It is imperative that we carefully utilise our renewable resources of soil,
water, plant and animal life to sustain our economic development. Over
exploitation of these is reflected in soil erosion, siltation, floods, and rapid
destruction of our forest, floral and wildlife resources. The depletion of these
resources often tends to be irreversible and since the bulk of our population
depends on these natural resources to meet the basic needs, it has meant a
deterioration in their quality of life.
Global petroleum deposits are likely to be exhausted within this century.
Research is going on for alternatives to fossil fuel (petroleum) based on
biomass (green energy). Controlled nuclear fusion holds the prospect of
abundant energyif the relatively difficult deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction
can be utilised for energy production. This energy source will become
unlimited.
Solar energy is both renewable and non-polluting and provides ideal energy
source. On a global scale, tapping of only a small fraction of solar energy the
earth can supply the entire energy requirement.
In any new development project, due consideration must be given to the
environmental, social and cultural impacts. For this purpose, environmental
experts must be involved in project planning.

DISASTERS

NATURAL AND MANMADE DISASTERS

Sometimes there are drastic changes in environment due to natural disasters,
e.g. cyclone, typhoon, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, volcanic eruption etc.
within a short time.
Bush fires, are another type of natural disasters, are of common occurrence
in some regions of the world due to hot summer and lightning. During the hot
summer months bush fires are common in Australia and in the Pacific coast
arid areas in USA.
Man developed science and technology but over the years since the Industrial
Revolution (1780- todate) he continued to plunder natural resources thereby
polluting the environment. He degraded lands, destroyed forests, threw toxic
wastes into rivers and seas and also harmful gases into the atmosphere. This
continuous load of manmade pollutants into environment brought about
adverse changes, which ultimately back-fired into series of disasters from
time to time.
Some examples of manmade disasters are: London smog, Minamata disease,
nuclear explosions, Bhopal disaster, Chernobyl disaster and Gulf War
Hazards.
Nuclear Explosions. Two bombs were dropped by USA during World War II
(Aug 6 and 9, 1945) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. These instantly
killed about 6 lakhs people, wiped out the two cities and unleashed
radioactive fallout which has caused generations to suffer from various
diseases including genetic disorder. Radiation continues to damage plants,
soil and biosphere* in the region.
*the environment consists of four segments- atmosphere, hydrosphere,
lithosphere and bioshphere.

Global Warming or Green House Effect

Among the constituents of the atmosphere, only carbon dioxide and water
vapour strongly absorb infrared radiation (14000 to 25000 nm) and
effectively block a large fraction of the earths emitted radiation. The
radiation thus absorbed by carbon dioxide and water vapour is partly reemitted to the earths surface. The net result is that the earths surface gets
heated up by a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect.
The current global trend in deforestation along with increased combustion of
fossil fuels have a cumulative effect on the net increase in carbon dioxide
content (present 356 ppm, 50%). Carbon dioxide has the potential to rival
nuclear wars in terms of massive irreversible damage to the environment. It

is the major greenhouse gas but there are other greenhouse gases- methane
(CH4, 19%), chlorofluorocarbons (CFC, 17%), nitrous oxide (N2O, 4%) and
water vapour (2%).

Ozone Hole
In september, 1980 scientists reported a large hole in the ozone layer over
Antarctica. CFC was the prime suspect for causing ozone depletion. It was
established that one molecule of CFC is capable of destroying one lakh O3
molecule in the stratosphere. The extreme chemical stability and nontoxicity
of CFCs enable them to persist for years in the atmosphere and to enter the
stratosphere. Depletion of ozone layer above the earth surface helps to
penetrate harmful rays from the sun to the earth.