Types of Environmental Pollution

Our modern lifestyle, riddled with large industrial sites, factory farms, power plants, and countless automobiles, produces quite a few types of environmental pollution. The effects of these pollutants show themselves in nearly every aspect of our lives, contaminating the air, water, soil, and even our bodies. Learning about these contaminants, how they are produced and how they affect the environment and our lives, is important to efforts to reduce or eliminate these harmful substances in the future.

There are many different types of environmental pollution. These include:

Air pollution is defined as substances released by humans into the Earth's atmosphere that can be harmful to people, as well as animals, plant life, and the environment in general. There are any number of different pollutants that fall under this category, and the list of sources is a long one. Perhaps topping the list of contributors to air pollution are fossil fuels. Among the long list of pollutants that the burning of fossil fuels emits into the air are sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. When sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides are present together in the atmosphere, they combine to form the compounds that are the source of acid rain.

Carbon monoxide is poisonous to humans and animals, and carbon dioxide is a primary greenhouse gas, contributing to global warming. Smog is created when nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, also produced by fossil fuels, are exposed to sunlight, causing a chemical reaction. Fossil fuels also contribute several types of particulate matter into the air, such as oily ash and diesel particles. Fossil fuels are used for many things, from producing electricity in power plants to running heavy machinery in industrial plants, and from jet planes to passenger cars, as well as in home heating, cooling, cooking, and a nearly endless list of other everyday uses.

Water pollution is a major issue all around the globe. Garbage, chemicals, fertilizers, human and animal waste, and other toxic substances are dumped into bodies of water, seep into ground water supplies, or are deposited by the fall of acid rain. These contaminants are present in virtually all of our oceans, lakes, streams, and reservoirs worldwide. In some bodies of water, fish and other aquatic life is so badly poisoned that they are unsafe for human consumption, containing heavy metals like mercury, chromium, manganese, and lead, or chemical substances like PCBs and pesticides. In the most contaminated areas, aquatic animal and birds are directly affected, reducing their reproductive abilities, causing mutations, or killing them outright.

Soil contamination, which is the addition of man made chemicals or other contaminants to the natural soil environment, is another issue that affects the environment adversely. Industrialized farming is one prominent cause of soil contamination, with the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides leaving soil contaminated by chemicals, and large populations of livestock the source of heavy organic contamination. Factories and industrial sites often contaminate the soil with hazardous chemicals, and waste treatment plants, landfills, and septic systems leach contaminants into the soil that are both chemical and organic toxins.

Oil and chemical spills are frequent sources of soil contamination, as is the rupture of underground storage tanks. Soil contamination affects people and animals that come in direct contact with polluted soil, with lead poisoning or illnesses from pesticide exposure among the many possibilities. Soil contamination finds its way into the food chain, absorbed by the crops that are grown for human consumption and as feed for livestock. These contaminated crops and livestock become contaminated vegetables, fruits, meats, and other consumer products on the shelves of the local grocery store, affecting the health of us all.

Noise pollution, while not frequently listed among the top concerns of those involved with environmental issues, is nevertheless a serious problem on a number of levels. Health issues, such as sleep disorders, hearing loss, even high blood pressure and anxiety, are caused by the insidious invasion of noise pollution into the natural environment. Sounds that have become part of everyday life, from the urban areas to the rural ones, have a cumulative affect on the environment and our well-being. Among the most frequent sources of noise pollution are motor vehicles, such as autos, trains, and airplanes. Construction or factory equipment are often sources of excess noise, as are outdoor equipment such as lawn mowers and leaf blowers.

These are but a few of the many types of environmental pollution that affect our heath and well-being in today's world. While the problem of pollution is a large one, it need not be overwhelming. As awareness spreads about the damage that mankind is doing to the environment, and by extension, ourselves, more of us have begun to seek answers and take action to reduce our personal impact on our surroundings. Just as each one of us has done our part in creating these problems, each of us can take measures to prevent further damage and correct some of the damage already done, paving the way towards a healthier planet for future generations.

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