What’s happening in the world? Why is there rubbish flowing freely everywhere we go? Why are our waters so polluted? It’s all because of us. We all know about how we are the reason our waters and roads are trashed with rubbish, but what’s actually going on?
The Problems
As time goes on, the effect that the pollution has grows worse every second. There are many different types of pollution, but the mainly known ones include: air pollution, water pollution/aquatic pollution, plastic pollution, and litter. These are all cause by us humans yet we do nothing to stop it. These problems are just getting worse and worse and will soon be almost impossible to deal with!
Air Pollution
Air pollution is mostly caused by large factories as when manufacturing their products they normally produce smoke. This smoke is not healthy for our air and therefore makes the air quality in the atmosphere around the factory bad. Another cause of air pollution is the smoke from wildfires. It affects the air as the smoke from any sort of fire whether it’s from a forest, bush, structure, tires, waste, or even wood burning releases different chemicals and particles when any sort of carbon-containing materials burn. All smoke also contains Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and PM (particulate matter). PM contains tiny little microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are small enough to the point where they are able to be inhaled by the human body and can cause serious health problems – This is why air pollution is very bad for us!
Water Pollution
Water pollution (also known as aquatic pollution) is the taint of water bodies such as oceans, streams, lakes, rivers, and more. When these bodies of water are contaminated it has a negative impact on its health and does not create a good environment or habitat for anything living in or around the body. When harmful substances like sewage water, industrial waste, animal waste, oil spills, rubbish, radioactive substances, and remainders from mining activities flow in the water it causes serious effects to the water and its environment, but also to the human health. It can cause diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, Hepatitis A, dysentery, and more. Water pollution can even kill! According to a study which was published in The Lancet on October 20, 2017. It talks about water pollution and in the first paragraph it states “Pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and death in the world today, responsible for an estimated 9 million premature deaths,” it has most definitely grown a lot since then as our waters just keep getting worse and worse! Another hazard from contaminated water is if it’s drinking water. If contaminated drinking water is drunk, you could get seriously ill and contain all kinds of diseases. As mentioned before, water pollution is also bad for the environment surrounding the body of water. In order for the environment to thrive, healthy ecosystems rely on a variety of plants, fungi, bacteria, animals – all of which interact, directly or indirectly, with each other. If any of these organisms are harmed it causes a chain effect, imperilling the entirety of the aquatic environment around! Chemicals and things from industrial sites like heavy metals contaminate the water as well. These contaminants are very toxic to our aquatic life, they most often reduce the organisms life span and also their ability to reproduce! Water pollution is a major problem.
Plastic Pollution
Though plastic pollution and litter may seem like the same thing, they are two completely different problems. Plastic pollution is a major contributor to affecting our animals, food chains, water, and soil, whereas litter is the issue of displaced waste plastic. Plastic pollution has become one of the biggest pressing environmental issues, it increases rapidly as the production of disposable products is starting to become so bad that our time to make a difference before we can’t is running out. Every single year, it’s estimated that eight million tons of plastic waste makes its departure into our oceans, that is a lot of plastic and it’s all our fault! The way that the plastic moves around and actually gets into our oceans is from being carried by rivers. Rivers act as conveyor belts when it comes to plastic, they pick up more and more rubbish as they go on. Once the rivers reach their destination, most of the plastic just gets caught up and remains along the coast. But as soon as it’s caught up in the currents of the ocean, it is able to be transported around the world. Plastic is also a major harm to our animals. Millions of them are killed by plastic every year. About 2,100 species are known to have been affected by plastics and nearly every single species of seabird eats plastic. The main cause of their death is by entanglement or starvation. Aquatic animals get strangled by random fishing gear left out in the ocean, abandoned, or six-pack rings that were discarded. Microplastics are found in over 100 of our aquatic species. In many cases, the microplastics go through the animals digestive system and disintegrate easily, but in some plastic has been found to have also blocked their digestive tracts or organs which leads them to death. Another cause of their death is from when their stomachs are jam packed with plastic, this reduces their urge to eat and leads them to starvation which causes them to pass. Plastics are also consumed by many of our land animals and in some cases, lead to death.
Litter
Litter is caused by the misplacement of plastic and rubbish. It is a common but extremely bad problem. People throw their rubbish on the ground freely without thinking about the effects it would have on our ecosystems and animals. When litter is scattered across the road and it starts to rain heavily, the water makes the litter flow with it, leading the litter to the stormwater drains. This causes the litter to block the stormwater drains which leads to floods. This is why we must pick up any litter we see whether it’s flowing, floating, or stagnant, any piece picked up helps!
How can we Prevent These Problems?
To help prevent air pollution: Make sure to turn off your car engine when not in use, drive your car less, car pool, keep your car in good repair. Don’t burn your rubbish, limit backyard fires. Plant more trees and take care of them. Switch to electric or hand powered lawn equipment.
To help prevent water pollution: Reduce your plastic consumption – reuse or recycle plastic whenever you can. Make sure to maintain your car so it doesn’t leak oil or any other chemicals. If you have a pet at home make sure you pick up its poo. If you notice a storm sewer that is being blocked by litter, clean it up to keep the trash out of the water and throw it in the bin (this can also help prevent street floods from any heavy rain!). Don’t flush any old medications down the toilet. Make sure to dispose of them in your rubbish bin to prevent them from entering any local waterways around your neighbourhood. Properly dispose of any oils, chemical cleaners, and nonbiodegradable items so you can keep them from going down the drain to where they don’t belong.
To help prevent plastic pollution: Many scientists and conservationists say that the solution to plastic pollution from entering our waterways since its very difficult to get out once in, is to just stop the plastic from entering our rivers and seas in the first place. This can be accomplished by improving the waste management systems, and making better product design that takes into account short life disposable packaging. We should also reduce the manufacturing of single use plastic as they’re just unnecessary at this point.
To help prevent litter: Pick up any plastic you see floating around, any small piece picked up helps. Same as how to prevent plastic pollution.