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About environment problems, effects and other forms chuchu
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2 ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS INTRODUCTION An environmental problem is an imbalance or undesirable change in the environment and in the quality and quantity of any environmental factor which directly or indirectly affects the health and well-being of man in adverse manner. The Philippines are prone to natural disasters, particularly typhoons, floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquake and tsunamis lying as it does astride the typhoon that can cause the natural degradation of the environment. OBJECTIVES At the end of this module, you should be able to:
There are a lot of environmental problems/issues but in reality, they are intertwined with each other and needs serious attention from all of us. Many poisonous substances occur in nature, quite independent of human activity. Pollution is used to refer to harmful materials introduced by man into the environment. Pollution may be defined as the release in excess of allowable limits of foreign substances within the environment. There are various forms of pollution which occur in different communities all over the world. The most common forms of pollution are water pollution, air pollution, land pollution and noise pollution. Sometimes it is not the type of material, but its concentration that determines whether a substance is a pollutant. Types of Pollution
1. Water Pollution This is the release of harmful materials into water bodies like rivers, lagoons, lakes, and seas leading to their contamination. These water bodies become impure for humans and other living creatures. Water pollution is a global issue and world community is facing worst results of polluted water. Major sources of water pollution are discharge of domestic and agriculture wastes, population growth, excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers and urbanization. Bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases are spreading through polluted water and affecting human health. It is an appalling problem, power enough to lead the world on a path of destruction. Water is a natural solvent, enabling most pollutants to dissolve in it easily and contaminate it. The effect of water pollution is directly suffered by the organisms and the vegetation that survive in water, including amphibians. On a human level, several people die each day due to the consumption of polluted and infected water. Sources of water pollution Water pollution may occur from variety of sources, there are two terms used to describe how the water became polluted.
a. Point source – this is pollution from a discrete location. This discrete location could be a factory, a sewer pipe or a runoff from a single farm. b. Non-point source – is a contamination derived from multiple or diffused sources. These may include contaminated water travelled after rains, agricultural or storm water runoff, or debris blown into waterways from the land. Types of water pollution There are various classifications of water pollution which are discussed as follows: a. Groundwater pollution – it is one of the least visible but most critical natural resources. The groundwater gets polluted when contaminants such as fertilizers, pesticides, and waste leaching from landfills and septic systems, making their way into an aquifer. Once the groundwater becomes polluted, an aquifer becomes unsafe for humans and remains unusable for decades, or even thousands of years. The groundwater can also spread contamination far from the original polluting source when it seeps into streams and oceans. b. Surface water pollution – is the pollution of aquatic systems that are above ground, such as streams, lakes and rivers. These waters become polluted when rainwater runoff caries pollutants into the water. The pollutants transported by runoff are things like salts and chemicals from city and highway roads and nutrients and fertilizers from farms. When pollution is caused by nutrients and fertilizers, this is called nutrient pollution , and it leads to an overproduction of algae and other aquatic plants. This overabundance of plants and algae causes problems because they cover the water surfaces and prevent sunlight from reaching the plants underwater. This then leads to less oxygen production, which causes harm to oxygen-breathing organisms in the water like the fishes.
c. Mining Activities – Mining is the process of crushing the rock and extracting coal and other minerals from the underground. These elements, when extracted in the raw form, contain harmful chemicals and can increase the number of toxic elements when mixed up with water, which may result in health problems. Mining activities emit a large amount of metal waste and sulphides from the rocks, which is harmful to the water. d. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides – are used by farmers to protect crops from insects and bacteria. They are useful for the plant’s growth. However, when these chemicals are mixed up with water, they produce harmful pollutants for plants and animals. Also, when it rains, the chemicals mix up with rainwater and flow down into rivers and canals, which pose serious damages for aquatic animals. e. Eutrophication – The increase level of nutrients in water bodies is knows as eutrophication. It results in the bloom of algae in the water. It also depletes the amount of oxygen in the water that negatively affects fish and other aquatic animal populations. f. Acid rain – Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction that begins when compounds like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the air. These substances can rise very high into the atmosphere, where they mix and react with water, oxygen and other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants.
Causes of Water pollution (Natural) a. Floods – when a large river flood, many pollutants such as farm waste, detergents, chemicals from processing plants, fertilizer from crops are swept downstream and deposited on the land. These large deposits pollute drinking water and farmland. In addition, floodwaters deposits sediments, sand and moisture in homes and buildings. This will lead to mold production and many forms of mold are hazardous to humans. b. Volcanoes – while volcanoes are beautiful to look at, and have formed some of the most beautiful islands on Earth. When volcanic ash clouds move over bodies of water, hydrogen fluoride can be precipitated out of the cloud and into the water. The body of water becomes contaminated with toxic levels of hydrogen fluoride. Hydrogen fluoride is another exceedingly harmful gas released during volcanism. c. Earthquake – when the intense shaking of an earthquake occurs, an influx of sediments from the surrounding area can impact water quality for surface and ground water systems. Particles within the sediment could leach nitrates and arsenic compounds into well sources. Furthermore, ground water wells may experience water level fluctuations either close to or far away from the earthquakes epicenter. The water level may either increase to the point where water is flowing at land surface or decrease to the point where the well becomes dry. d. Algal blooms – nutrient pollution fuels the growth of harmful algal blooms which have negative impacts on the aquatic ecosystems. Harmful algal blooms sometimes create toxins that are detrimental to fish and shellfish, these toxins move up to the food chain and can impact larger animals.
and parking lots and picks up pollutants. This polluted runoff can flow into our rivers and streams, or overwhelm local infrastructure to cause sewage overflows. Sewage pollutes our waters with pathogens, excess nutrients, heavy metals and other toxins.
Table 3a. Water Quality Guidelines for Primary Parameters in Freshwater FRESHWATERS Parameter Unit AA A B C D Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) mg/L 1 3 5 7 15 Chloride mg/L 250 250 250 350 400 Color TCU 5 50 50 75 150 Dissolved Oxygen (a) (minimum) mg/L 5 5 5 5 2 Fecal Coliform MPN/100mL <1.1 <1.1 100 200 400 Nitrate as NO 3 - N mg/L 7 7 7 7 15 pH (range) 6.5 – 8.5 6.5 – 8.5 6.5 – 8.5 6.5 – 9.0 6.5 – 9. Phosphate mg/L <0.003 0.5 0.5 0.5 5 Temperature (b)^ oC 26 - 30 26 - 30 26 - 30 25 - 31 25 - 32 Total Suspended Solids (TDS) mg/L 25 50 65 80 110 MARINE WATERS Parameter Unit SA SB SC SD Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) mg/L n/a n/a n/a n/a Chloride mg/L n/a n/a n/a n/a Color TCU 5 50 75 150 Dissolved Oxygen (a) (minimum) mg/L 6 6 5 2 Fecal Coliform MPN/100mL <1.1 100 200 400 Nitrate as NO 3 - N mg/L 10 10 10 15 pH (range) 7.0 – 8.5 7.0 – 8.5 6.5 – 8.5 6.0 – 9. Phosphate mg/L 0.1 0.5 0.5 5 Temperature (b)^ oC 26 - 30 26 – 30 25 – 31 25 – 32 Total Suspended Solids (TDS) mg/L 25 50 80 110 Notes: MPN/100mL – Most Probable Number per 100 mililiter n/a – Not Applicable TCU – True Color Unit (a) – samples shall be taken from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (b) – The natural background temperature as determined by EMB shall prevail if the temperature is lower or higher than the WQG; provided that the maximum increase is only up to 10 percent and the it will not cause any risk to human health and the environment.
Associated Risks of Water Pollution
ACTIVITY SHEET PRACTICE TASK 10 - WATER POLLUTION EXPERIMENT Name: Course, yr and Section: SAMPLES OBSERVATIONS Polluted Water Polluted water after movement Polluted water after standing for 5 minutes Filtered water QUESTIONS:
2. Air Pollution The air pollution is a mix of particles and gases that can reach harmful concentrations both outside and indoors. Its effects can range from higher disease risks to rising temperatures. This refers to any physical, chemical or biological change in the air. It is the contamination of air by harmful gases, dust and smoke which affects the plants, animals, and humans drastically. There are a certain percentage of gasses present in the atmosphere. An increase or decrease in the composition of these gases is harmful to survival. This imbalance in the gaseous composition has resulted in an increase in earth’s temperature, which is known as global warming. Types of Air Pollutants 1. Primary Pollutants – The pollutants are emitted directly into the atmosphere by a particular source. The primary pollutants are the following: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) – gases from evaporating gasoline. Carbon Monoxide (CO) – an odourless gas that is produced by combustion Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) – which include nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2 ) – produced through the combustion of coal. Particulate Matter (PM) - which are small suspended particles 2. Secondary Pollutants – The pollutants formed by the intermingling and reaction of primary pollutants. These primary pollutants can combine with other chemicals in the atmosphere. NOx can produce nitric acid (HNO 3 ) Sulphur dioxide can produce sulphuric acid (H 2 SO 2 ) Ozone, which is produced through chemical reactions between nitrogen dioxide, VOCs and sunlight Smog, formed by the intermingling of smoke and fog.
Causes of Air Pollutants (Anthropogenic)
and natural ventilation is caused by air temperature differences between indoors and outdoors and by wind. Finally, there are a number of mechanical ventilation devices, from outdoor-vented fans that intermittently remove air from a single room, such as bathrooms and kitchen, to air handling systems that use fans and duct work to continuously remove indoor air and distribute filtered and conditioned outdoor air to strategic points throughout the house. The rate at which outdoor air replaces indoor air is described as the air exchange rate. When there is little infiltration, natural ventilation, or mechanical ventilation, the air exchange rate is low and pollutant levels can increase. 99% of our atmosphere is made of oxygen (O 2 ) at 21% and 78% Nitrogen (N 2 ). These gases are transparent to both visible light from the sun and thermal infrared light from the earth. Greenhouse gases like water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane are vitally important for keeping our planet warm. Greenhouse gases are found in small concentrations, they are vitally important in maintaining a globally averaged temperature of 59oC.
Name: Course: Year and Section: Instruction: Explain each question, before you begin writing, read the passage carefully and plan what you will say. Your essay should be as well organized and as carefully written as you can make it.
