A lot of factors like industrialization, inefficient garbage disposal, littering, etc could cause pollution. A number of factories are set up near water bodies for the ease of operation and the waste produced by such factories as bumped into the water bodies. It is extremely harmful if the water is consumed or used. Pollution is the contamination of the environment and atmosphere where do we live and make it unable to live in a healthy way.
We have provided below short and long essays on pollution in English for your knowledge and information. After going through the essays, you will know what pollution is and what are its main causes; how to stop pollution; its prevention etc. These essays will be helpful in your school/college assignments of essay writing, speech giving or paragraph writing, etc.
Pollution refers to the presence of contaminants in the natural environment. Some of the examples of polluting substances are – gases like Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO) etc; solid pollutants like plastic, sewage etc and chemicals like fertilizers as well as those produced as byproduct in factories, transportation etc.
The immediate effect of pollution is that it renders earth’s natural resources unusable, or in other words, harmful to use as well as it also causes species depletion and ecological imbalance.
It is very necessary to take essential precautionary and pro active measures to prevent any further damage that will happen due to pollution to earth and its inhabitants.
Introduction
Pollution today has become a global concern for the health of the environment as well as the flora and fauna on the planet. Pollution has a widespread effect on the environment, including the natural resources. It makes the natural elements polluted and harmful to use, ultimately making the life on planet suffer.
What is Pollution?
When a polluting substance enters into our natural environment and contaminates it, this process is called pollution. These pollutants are mostly formed due to several human activities, mostly economical in nature. To state few examples – Carbon Monoxide (CO) released by transportation vehicles pollute the air; trail of oil left by big ocean liners, pollute the ocean and makes water harmful for aquatic life.
Conclusion
Pollution is the immediate threat that the environment faces today and is also the most prominent one. The clock is ticking continuously and with every passing moment the damage to the environment is increasing. Immediate action to preserve the environment against pollution is needed to be taken by the government and other stake holders.
Introduction
In a lay man terms pollution occurs when something unwanted enters into your natural environment. The release of toxic gas on burning of plastic is pollution; mixing of harmful chemicals with the soil when it is mixed with chemical fertilizers, is pollution; when the disposed waste from your house, somehow reaches into the open environment, it cause pollution. Similarly there could be several other examples of pollution. As for now, we will discuss below the types of pollution.
Types of Pollution
The five major types of pollution are given below-
1) Air Pollution
Its main source is the burning of fossil fuels by the transportation vehicles and smoke emanated from the factories.
2) Water Pollution
Its main source is the runoff water from urban settlements, agricultural fields and release of byproducts from factories.
3) Soil Pollution
Soil pollution could be caused from several factors like – improper disposal of waste, use of harmful chemicals in agriculture industry etc.
4) Light Pollution
Light Pollution refers to more than required presence of light in a polluted area, which is large enough to interfere with the natural environment.
5) Noise Pollution
Noise pollution refers to the presence of excessive noise generated by human activities like, road transport vehicles, jet planes, a busy market, loudspeaker announcements etc.
Conclusion
Whatever may be the type of pollution, it always has a degrading effect on the environment and human health or else affects one or the other living species on earth. Light pollution confuses roosting birds, often causing fatal accidents.
Introduction
Today, the very existence of human life on planet earth, along with the life of other flora and fauna is threatened up to a large extent by the pollution. Pollution affects everything essential for survival – natural resources, species, health etc.
What is Pollution
When any external unwanted substance, generated by a human activity enters into the environment, it causes pollution. Causes of pollution are always human induced and the natural cause of pollution is almost negligible.
There are a number of human activities those cause pollution. Tons of toxic waste generated as a byproduct in factories is left into the rivers and streams, polluting them; thousands of cubic meters of harmful gases are released by transportation vehicles, polluting the air; improperly disposed waste from urban settlements, got strewn on land and water, resulting in land as well as water pollution.
Now that we have got an idea on what is pollution, we will move on to discussing some of the significant effects of pollution.
Effects of Pollution on Environment
Pollution has a widespread effect on the environment as discussed below-
1) Polluted Air
Pollution contaminates the natural air, making it harmful to breathe. For example toxic gases released by transportation vehicles mix with the air, resulting in its pollution. When this air is inhaled by a human or animal, it causes severe respiratory ailments. Some species of animals and plants, which are highly sensitive to such kind of pollution, die.
2) Polluted Water Bodies
Improper disposal of waste generated by areas of human settlements cause this waste to reach our naturally occurring water bodies in form of runoff. The urban waste consists of several toxic compounds including plastic. This waste is non biodegradable and stays in water, making it hazardous to consume. It also results in the depletion of aquatic species population which are highly sensitive to pollution.
3) Soil Toxicity
Pollution cause due to agricultural activities like the use of chemical fertilizers, result in toxicity of the soils. Chemical fertilizers are made up of harmful chemical compounds, which got mixed with the soil, ultimately making it toxic. It affects the species of flora as well as fauna those depend on the purity of the soil for their survival.
4) Species Depletion
One of the most prominent effects of pollution on the environment is the depletion of species. When polluting substances get mixed with our natural resources, it harms the living species in some way or the other. Gaseous pollutants, cause severe respiratory ailments and decrease the life expectancy of the fauna and flora as well.
5) Global Warming
Global warming is one of the main effects of pollution which leads to a number of environmental effects. Gaseous pollutants like Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) released due to the burning of fossil fuels, stays in the atmosphere resulting in greenhouse effect. Green house effect, on the other hand is responsible for a number of factors like unexpected, climatic changes resulting in droughts, famine etc; depletion in aquatic species like coral reefs, fishes etc.
Conclusion
The effect of pollution on the environment is far and wide. Not only the pollution effects present but also threaten the future of several species if no concrete action to prevent pollution is taken. The rate at which the pollution is being damaged is way too more than it could be repaired. It might take centuries to reverse the damages that we have done to the environment, that too it won’t be an easy task and will require strict discipline and will to tackle pollution.
Introduction
Pollution refers to the presence of unwanted substances; know as pollutants, in the environment. Pollution is an immediate threat to the environment and causes severe damage to it. Lately, the world is recognizing the need to deal with the pollution if the earth and its biodiversity are to be preserved.
What is Pollution
Pollution occurs when an unwanted external compound mainly generated due to human activities, enters into the environment. These compounds are referred to as the pollutants and cause severe damage to the environment. Everything that constitutes the part of the environment, that is the water bodies, air, flora and fauna, are in some way or the other get affected by the pollution. Moreover, pollution also causes global effects like Greenhouse gas effects, Global Warming and Acid Rain. Global warming refers to an increase in earth’s average surface temperature and results in conditions like famine, flood and drought. Below we will discuss about the effects of pollution on major Indian cities like Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Lucknow and Varanasi.
It must be known that an AQI between 0 to 50 is considered “Good”; 51 to 100 is considered as “Satisfactory”; 101 to 200 is considered as “Moderate”; 201 to 300 is considered as “Poor”; 301 to 400 is considered as “Very Poor”; 401 to 500 is considered as severe and a value above 500 is considered “Severe-plus or Emergency”.
Pollution Level in Delhi
As per a survey done by the World Health Organization, the National Capital Territory of Delhi stands at the lowest position in terms of air quality index, among 1650 other major cities around the world. In Delhi, children are the worst affected and as per a study, nearly 2.2 million or 50% of all children are suffering irreversible damages due to poor air quality.
Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi remains usually moderate (101-200) during January to September months. However, the AQI rapidly deteriorates during the onset of winter months from October to December. Often during these months the AQI reaches to a hazardous level of 500 plus.
The Particulate Matter levels of PM2.5 and PM10 Particulate Matters in Delhi reach up the level of 999 micrograms/m3. This is much above the safe limit, which is 60mg/m3 for PM2.5 particles and 100mg/m3 for PM10 particles.
Burning of the roots of paddy crop during the winter months in the adjoining states of Punjab and Haryana makes the situation worst in Delhi, by causing dense smoke. This method is traditionally called “Parali” and is one of the prime constituents of Pollution in Delhi.
Pollution Level in Noida
Noida, also known as New Okhla Industrial Development Authority, located in the western Uttar Pradesh, bordering Delhi is immediately behind the national capital in terms of poor air quality. Incessant construction works in and around Noida, in addition to the heavy vehicular pollution and cold winter air causes a dense, thick smog. The term smog is used for a mixture of smoke and fog, suspended in the atmosphere. The Air Quality Index of Noida also gets very poor up to the level of 500 during the winter months of October to December.
The particulate matter level of this western UP district is by and large at par with that of Delhi, often the two competing with each other for the highest concentration of particulate matters.
Pollution Level in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad often tops the list of north Indian cities with worst Air Quality Index and pollution. Here also, like Delhi and Noida the AQI goes past the hazardous level of plus 400, mostly during the months of October to December.
The main reason behind such a poor Air Quality Index of Ghaziabad is industrial pollution and waste burning. The city is flanked by the industries on the outskirts, which results in a dense smoke emanating from the factories as well as from the transport vehicles plying to the industrial area.
The PM10 level of Ghaziabad reaches up to four times of permissible levels during October to December. Sometimes, this value is reached during the Deepawali festival, due to the incessant bursting of crackers and smoke emanated from them. PM10 Particulate Matter, which has a permissible limit of 100 microgram/m3, often is recorded nearing around 500 micrograms/m3 in Ghaziabad.
Pollution Level in Lucknow
The Air Quality Index (AQI) of the capital of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, fluctuates between moderate and poor, often crossing the 250 plus mark. Though, the situation is definitely not as bad as Delhi NCR, nevertheless, it still is alarming and requires concrete action.
The worst Air Quality Index of Lucknow was recorded as 265 in the first half of the November month. The quantity of suspended Particulate Matter has also increased significantly in Lucknow’s residential areas since the last decades.
The air of Lucknow is found to be consisting of very fine Particulate Matters, PM2.5 with concentration just below 870 microgram/m3, which is very highly hazardous indeed.
Pollution Level in Varanasi
The ancient pilgrimage city of Varanasi has always been in news for its everyday fluctuating population of tourists. Being the Parliamentary Constituency of Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi since 2014, it has become the centre of development, with everyday construction works of some kind or the other. Though the construction is good for the city’s development point of view, it is also causing some of the worst recorded downfalls in its Air Quality.
AQI of Varanasi in 2019 is ranked at the third position on the World Health Organization’s list of fifteen most polluted cities in the world. The people of Varanasi are facing respiratory ailments and other complications due to the ever continuing construction work.
Recorded Air Quality Index (AQI) of Varanasi reaches up to 300 which falls in the “Poor” category. The Level of Particulate Matter found in Varanasi is PM2.5, the value of which fluctuates within the range of 53microgram/m3 to 100microgram/m3, which is extremely unhealthy for sensitive groups and children.
Conclusion
India is home to some of the world’s most polluted cities, whose position remains almost uniform though sometimes shifting a place up or down. Cities like Delhi, Noida, Calcutta, Mumbai and Varanasi all have obtained a position among the world’s most polluted cities. There is an immediate need to tackle the situation with strong will and determination. It is the time when government, people, industries all should join hands to tackle the pollution and prevent the health and environmental hazards caused by it.
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