Pollution in Its Many Forms
9th and 10th Grade Informational Reading Texts
Water pollution:
Water pollution, the accidental or intentional dumping of pesticides; herbicides; oil products; fertilisers; sewage; industrial waste; detergents; and other foreign chemicals and objects into aquatic environments, is arguably the biggest current pollution concern. The dumping of products containing heavy metals into aquatic environments is particularly concerning because they are toxic even in small concentrations, and likely to biomagnify. When aquatic organisms' process contaminated water, they absorb or ingest the heavy metals along with other essential nutrients. With each additional step along the food chain, organisms ingest and accumulate increasingly higher concentrations of these toxic elements. Biomagnification is especially a concern with long-lived predatory marine fishes that people consume as food, such as swordfish, marlins, sharks, and some tunas and sea basses.
Oil pollution:
Oil pollution involves the release of petroleum products into the environment, which can originate from damaged ships, failed drilling rigs, leaking offshore platforms, or other unexpected events. The released oil causes mammals and birds to lose the insulating abilities of their fur and feathers, leaving those animals vulnerable to hypothermia and drowning. Other aquatic animals, including fish and shellfish, may ingest oil products, causing them to sicken and die. Because of the massive amount of oil that is involved in oil extraction and transport, an oil pollution event often represents a serious ecological disaster. Oil spills have destroyed thousands of hectares of mangrove swamps, estuarine wetlands, and other coastal ecosystems, causing severe hardship to marginalised local communities who depended on those areas for subsistence fishing and farming.
Plastic pollution:
Some of the biggest impacts from plastic pollution are caused not by visible scraps of plastic, but by microplastics, the collective name for plastic particles smaller than 1 mm. microplastics may originate from the breakdown of larger pieces of plastic and polystyrene products, or they may be manufactured intentionally small, such as beads added to cosmetics and other personal care products that are flushed down drains after use. Because microplastics are so small, they easily pass through the standard filters used at sewage treatment plants. Consequently, microplastics generally end up in the aquatic environment, where they are unintentionally consumed. This consumption can block or damage the victim or even poison animals through leaching of synthetic chemicals. Each of these threats increases death rates and lowers reproductive rates. Just as with the Biomagnification, the consumption of microplastics also affects other consumers, because the small organisms that ingest the microplastics are often food for other animals, allowing plastic pollution to move through an entire food chain.
Groundwater pollution:
Groundwater pollution-the release of pollutants into aquifers and other sources of groundwater-is also becoming a serious issue. This type of pollution generally originates from landfills, on-site sanitation systems, leaking sewage systems, mining leachate, agriculture runoff, and other types of waste dumping. The pollutants may sometimes be released directly into aquifers; however, more often the contaminants and pathogens leak into the soil, from where it seeps into groundwater. One of the most important emerging threats to groundwater is hydrological fracturing or fracking. While fracking was initially hailed as a method to access previously inaccessible fossil fuels, scientists subsequently found that it poses a wide variety of very serious environmental and health risks. Most importantly, the liquids used in fracking contain toxic chemicals which pose a high risk for groundwater pollution, which in turn lead to miscarriages and birth defects, cancer, as well as skin and respiratory diseases. In addition, fracking increases greenhouse gas emissions and induces infrastructure-damaging earthquakes.
An important form of air pollution is hydrocarbons, which are released during fossil fuel burning. Burning fossil fuels also releases sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, where they combine with water vapour to produce nitric and sulphuric acids. These acids later return to the ground as acid rain, with dramatically low pH relative to normal rainwater. Another important contributor to air pollution is domestic fuel burning. During these activities, very small pollutant particles are released into the air. Because these particles are so small, they are difficult to filter from the air, and can easily be inhaled. Once inhaled, the particles can pass into the victim's bloodstream, from where they negatively impact cardiovascular health, neurodevelopment, and cognitive function.
Soil pollution:
Soil pollution occurs when soil meets foreign chemicals and other pollutants. This type of pollution is often associated with industrial activities that extract resources from the earth, agricultural runoff, pesticide use, Oil spills, acid rain, improper treatment of sewage, and improper disposal of waste. People and wildlife can then become sick through direct contact with contaminated soils, or through secondary contamination via polluted groundwater or eating food grown in contaminated soil. The improper disposal of electronic waste (or e-waste in short) is a particularly serious form of soil pollution.
Light pollution:
Light pollution describes the addition of excessive, ill-timed, or poorly designed artificial light to the natural world, a consequence of an increasingly industrialized world. Behavioral disruption is perhaps the most well-known consequence of increased light pollution; consider all the moths and other nocturnal insects attracted to artificial night lights. Light pollution also interferes with the navigation abilities of nocturnal species, which often use the stars, moon, and light reflectance from water surfaces to orientate themselves. It also disrupts the natural day-night cycles with which most species evolved. These disruptions interfere with circadian rhythms, which negatively affect living organisms' physiology.
Thermal pollution:
Thermal pollution describes localised human-induced temperature changes to the natural world. Aquatic ecosystems represent one of the ecosystems most vulnerable to thermal pollution. These abrupt releases of thermally discordant water often lead to thermal shock which can be lethal to fish and other aquatic organisms. The urban heat island effect represents a terrestrial form of thermal pollution. It reduces the quality of life for people and wildlife by reducing comfort and water availability. It also increases energy consumption to offset the heat increases which, in turn, contributes to air pollution and climate change.
Water pollution, the accidental or intentional dumping of pesticides; herbicides; oil products; fertilisers; sewage; industrial waste; detergents; and other foreign chemicals and objects into aquatic environments, is arguably the biggest current pollution concern. The dumping of products containing heavy metals into aquatic environments is particularly concerning because they are toxic even in small concentrations, and likely to biomagnify. When aquatic organisms' process contaminated water, they absorb or ingest the heavy metals along with other essential nutrients. With each additional step along the food chain, organisms ingest and accumulate increasingly higher concentrations of these toxic elements. Biomagnification is especially a concern with long-lived predatory marine fishes that people consume as food, such as swordfish, marlins, sharks, and some tunas and sea basses.
Oil pollution:
Oil pollution involves the release of petroleum products into the environment, which can originate from damaged ships, failed drilling rigs, leaking offshore platforms, or other unexpected events. The released oil causes mammals and birds to lose the insulating abilities of their fur and feathers, leaving those animals vulnerable to hypothermia and drowning. Other aquatic animals, including fish and shellfish, may ingest oil products, causing them to sicken and die. Because of the massive amount of oil that is involved in oil extraction and transport, an oil pollution event often represents a serious ecological disaster. Oil spills have destroyed thousands of hectares of mangrove swamps, estuarine wetlands, and other coastal ecosystems, causing severe hardship to marginalised local communities who depended on those areas for subsistence fishing and farming.
Plastic pollution:
Some of the biggest impacts from plastic pollution are caused not by visible scraps of plastic, but by microplastics, the collective name for plastic particles smaller than 1 mm. microplastics may originate from the breakdown of larger pieces of plastic and polystyrene products, or they may be manufactured intentionally small, such as beads added to cosmetics and other personal care products that are flushed down drains after use. Because microplastics are so small, they easily pass through the standard filters used at sewage treatment plants. Consequently, microplastics generally end up in the aquatic environment, where they are unintentionally consumed. This consumption can block or damage the victim or even poison animals through leaching of synthetic chemicals. Each of these threats increases death rates and lowers reproductive rates. Just as with the Biomagnification, the consumption of microplastics also affects other consumers, because the small organisms that ingest the microplastics are often food for other animals, allowing plastic pollution to move through an entire food chain.
Groundwater pollution:
Groundwater pollution-the release of pollutants into aquifers and other sources of groundwater-is also becoming a serious issue. This type of pollution generally originates from landfills, on-site sanitation systems, leaking sewage systems, mining leachate, agriculture runoff, and other types of waste dumping. The pollutants may sometimes be released directly into aquifers; however, more often the contaminants and pathogens leak into the soil, from where it seeps into groundwater. One of the most important emerging threats to groundwater is hydrological fracturing or fracking. While fracking was initially hailed as a method to access previously inaccessible fossil fuels, scientists subsequently found that it poses a wide variety of very serious environmental and health risks. Most importantly, the liquids used in fracking contain toxic chemicals which pose a high risk for groundwater pollution, which in turn lead to miscarriages and birth defects, cancer, as well as skin and respiratory diseases. In addition, fracking increases greenhouse gas emissions and induces infrastructure-damaging earthquakes.
An important form of air pollution is hydrocarbons, which are released during fossil fuel burning. Burning fossil fuels also releases sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, where they combine with water vapour to produce nitric and sulphuric acids. These acids later return to the ground as acid rain, with dramatically low pH relative to normal rainwater. Another important contributor to air pollution is domestic fuel burning. During these activities, very small pollutant particles are released into the air. Because these particles are so small, they are difficult to filter from the air, and can easily be inhaled. Once inhaled, the particles can pass into the victim's bloodstream, from where they negatively impact cardiovascular health, neurodevelopment, and cognitive function.
Soil pollution:
Soil pollution occurs when soil meets foreign chemicals and other pollutants. This type of pollution is often associated with industrial activities that extract resources from the earth, agricultural runoff, pesticide use, Oil spills, acid rain, improper treatment of sewage, and improper disposal of waste. People and wildlife can then become sick through direct contact with contaminated soils, or through secondary contamination via polluted groundwater or eating food grown in contaminated soil. The improper disposal of electronic waste (or e-waste in short) is a particularly serious form of soil pollution.
Light pollution:
Light pollution describes the addition of excessive, ill-timed, or poorly designed artificial light to the natural world, a consequence of an increasingly industrialized world. Behavioral disruption is perhaps the most well-known consequence of increased light pollution; consider all the moths and other nocturnal insects attracted to artificial night lights. Light pollution also interferes with the navigation abilities of nocturnal species, which often use the stars, moon, and light reflectance from water surfaces to orientate themselves. It also disrupts the natural day-night cycles with which most species evolved. These disruptions interfere with circadian rhythms, which negatively affect living organisms' physiology.
Thermal pollution:
Thermal pollution describes localised human-induced temperature changes to the natural world. Aquatic ecosystems represent one of the ecosystems most vulnerable to thermal pollution. These abrupt releases of thermally discordant water often lead to thermal shock which can be lethal to fish and other aquatic organisms. The urban heat island effect represents a terrestrial form of thermal pollution. It reduces the quality of life for people and wildlife by reducing comfort and water availability. It also increases energy consumption to offset the heat increases which, in turn, contributes to air pollution and climate change.