POLLUTION
Development has lead mankind to misuse the limited natural resources around us. There are several kinds of pollution that of air, water and soil. Growth and progress has to be balanced with conservation of nature so that we may live disease free lives and leave a clean planet for the future generations. Some of the types of pollution that affect our daily lives are as follows:
Air Pollution: Gases like carbon monoxide, nitrogen and sulphur oxides along with fumes, un-burnt carbon, lead, cement dust, acid sprays, mist and smoke pollute the air. These are released in the air by the vehicle exhaust, factory chimneys, chemicals from domestic appliances and indiscriminate cutting down of trees. The temperature increases leading to global warming and a misbalance in weather causing floods, drought and fire.
Ozone hole over Antarctica has been caused by chlorine and bromine used in industries increasing skin causing UV rays reaching Earth. Respiratory diseases are rampant in more polluted metro cities of the world because of air pollution.
Water Pollution: The dissolved and suspended impurities in the water as a result of industrial waste and municipals sewage being dumped in rivers and lakes causes water pollution. Factories making dyes, fertilizer, soaps tanning, printing, and detergent throw effluents with harmful chemicals in rivers. Farms wastes like pesticides along with animal wastes further pollute natural water bodies and depletion of oxygen from water with cutting off sunlight causes eutrophication- kind of a purification which hinders life in water.
Soil Pollution: Mining of earth for coal and minerals causes to change the topography of land making it vulnerable to floods and erosion. Stripping the land of green cover kills biospheres which shelter hundreds of species disrupting the natural cycle of food chain.
The disposal of industrial waste and agriculture waste by dumping on ground causes seepage and contamination of ground water. Urban wastage chokes the natural drainage of the landscapes causing floods and loss of fertility of land.
Scientific disposal involves segregation of degradable and non-degradable wastes and massive afforestation programs to compensate for the overgrazing and consumption of forest products. The CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) measures the RSPM (respirable suspended particular matters) as stipulates safe levels as 80mg per cubic t of air for industrial areas and 60 for residential areas whereas the actual is about 3 to 4 times in all metros. The added hazard of noise pollution of honking vehicles and engines sound drives away birds and insects and makes concrete jungle of our lives. It is therefore of paramount importance that all of us become involved in fighting pollution at individual levels, after all the future is a trust we hold for the children of today. They deserve a pollution free world of health and happiness.
As we see the world go by it is important that we realize that WE are responsible for the phenomenon of pollution and therefore every effort to cure it counts. As students and future citizens of the world a lot can be done in small ways. Awareness is just the first step- nevertheless a very critical one.