Understanding Pollution Topic 5: Pollution Management Understanding Pollution

What is Pollution? addition of a substance or agent to the biosphere through human activity, at a rate greater than at which it can be rendered harmless to the environment and organisms within it sources can be varied Fossil fuel emissions Secondary atmospheric pollutants Domestic waste Agricultural waste

Sources of Pollution? Major sources: fossil fuel combustion - CO2, SO2, nitrogen oxides domestic waste - organic waste (food & sewage) - paper, plastics, glass, tin industrial waste - heavy metals - flourides, lead, acids - heat agricultural waste - organic waste - nitrates, pesticides

Point Source vs Non-Point Source Pollution release of pollutants from a single, identifiable source factory chimney, sewage waste disposal pipe etc Non-point Source (NPS) Pollution: release of pollutants from numerous, widely spread sources vehicle emissions, fertilisers etc

Point source pollution is easier to manage as it can be found more easily. It is also easier to see who is polluting – a factory or a house. Non-point source pollution may have many sources and it may be virtually impossible to detect exactly where it is coming from eg nitrate and phosphate fertilizers washing off fields into water courses and leading to eutrophication – difficult to know which fields it has come from.

Sources of Pollution in the Russian Arctic