What are the Harmful Effects of Pollution? Pollution By: Tasfia Khan 9 th Grade Girls 2 May 1, 2012

Pollution has been one of the leading crisis in this world. It has been increasing over time, causing many things to be unsuited for living organisms.

Anything that is added to our environment in a way that makes it less fit for living things is known as pollution. Many forms of pollution exist. Such are thermal pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, etc.

Noise pollutions are series of loud noises that causes hearing loss. It’s more common in cities than in villages. Cars honking all day, construction noises, and people chatting are a few to mention that contribute to this.

The harmful effects of noise pollution is hearing loss. As people get accustomed to hearing loud noises, it’ll be harder for them to hear small noises. Other than that, people may get frequent headaches. This is one imbalance of the human ecology.

Noise pollution can be lowered, causing less people to have hearing losses. If urbanization was decreased to a point and less noise was made, it would be so much better for the environment and human ecology would be balanced.

Another type of pollution is water pollution. There are six major types of water pollution: organic wastes, inorganic chemicals, disease causing microorganisms, changes in water temperature, oil spills, and radioactive wastes.

Many organic wastes from organisms are biodegradable. This means they can be broken down by bacteria and other decay organisms. However, these organisms use oxygen from the water, causing the water to have less content of oxygen. This lack of oxygen kills organisms in the water.

When mercury, lead, pesticides, fertilizers, and detergents are dumped in the water, the water becomes poisonous for humans and organisms. As people drink from this water, the inorganic chemicals enter their body, building up toxic materials, causing illness and death. Disease contributing microorganisms also have similar function. They enter sewages and wastes that are untreated.

Oil spills layer up on the water, making the water undrinkable and unusable. It’s toxic to organisms and kills many types of bacteria. Birds die when they ingest oil in trying to clean their feathers.

Thermal pollution contributes to water temperature changing. The hot pipes goes into the cold water, transferring heat. The water becomes hot and the oxygen content gets less. Cold-blooded organisms die from this hot water, and due to lack of oxygen.

Industrialized countries with large urban population face air pollution. Tiny particles called aerosols remain suspended in the midair. Aerosol particles scatter sunlight, reducing the amount of light to reach earth’s surface, causing lower temperatures.

Pollutants besides aerosols are present in air pollution. Some other pollutants would include sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide. These harmful factors contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer.

Land pollution is another problem occurring today. Ever since cities became more frequent, so did these. Refuse are thrown into landfills and burned through incineration. This contributes to air pollution, causing the air to be thickened with ash.

All types of pollution are harmful for either us or the animals. As urbanization becomes more frequent, so will these types of pollution. You see, the harmful effects of pollution is endless.