The Path to a Greener Future: Understanding Sustainable Development In an era where environmental challenges and resource depletion are becoming increasingly evident, the concept of sustainable development has gained significant importance. Sustainable development aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This blog post will explore the principles, goals, and strategies of sustainable development, highlighting its critical role in ensuring a balanced and healthy future for our planet. "Transforming our world: The path to sustainable development." What is Sustainable Development? Sustainable development is a holistic approach that integrates economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity. It seeks to create a harmonious relationship between human activities and the natural world, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and responsibly. Definition: The most widely recognized de...
Introduction: According to ODUM (1971), Pollution is “an
undesirable change in the characteristics of air, water and land that harmfully
affect the life and also create health hazards for all living organisms on the
globe”.
According to SOUTHWICK (1976), Pollution can be defined as “the
unfavorable (or) alteration of environment caused by human activities and
causing harm to human beings”.
Basically the Pollution is of two types.
(1) Natural Pollution: This type of pollution is limited in its occurrence
generally from natural hazards like volcanic eruptions, emissions of natural
gas, soil erosion, ultraviolet rays, cosmic rays etc and
(2) Manmade Pollution: Most of the pollution is man made only. However,
Pollution is usually categorized as Air Pollution; Water Pollution, Thermal
Pollution; Noise Pollution; Land & soil Pollution; Radio Active Pollution
and Marine Pollution.
AIR POLLUTION
“Air Pollution is
defined as the presence of excessive unwanted foreign substances in the air
which adversely affect the quality of air and causing damage to human, animal
and plants”.
Causes of Air pollution:
The air pollution takes place due to the following
reasons:
1.
Transportation
service: we are using cars, buses, scooters etc for transportation purpose. The
fuels used for running these vehicles are kerosene, diesel, petrol etc. during
the combustion of these fuels large amount of poisonous gases like Co, CO2,
SO2, Hydrocarbons etc., are released into atmosphere. Here the air
is polluted, 75% of air pollution is due to vehicles only.
2. Industries: the most common pollutants
of these industries are CO,CO2,SO2H2S,HClCFC’s
etc. in addition to these pollutants the smoke coming out from these industries
may contain dust, carbon, metals, etc. industrial pollution is another major
reason for air pollution.
3. Deforestation: cutting of plants or trees
is called deforestation. Deforestation result increase of Co2 in the atmosphere
which causes global warming.
4. Agricultural activities: the pesticides,
insecticides etc, are used in agriculture. Some of these poisonous chemicals
spread into the atmosphere causing air pollution.
5. Radioactive materials: radioactive rays
coming out from atomic reactors, hospitals or nuclear explosion pollute the
atmosphere. The nuclear effluents are more hazardous to living organisms.
Effects of Air pollution:
1.
On human beings: The presence of sulphur dioxide in the air
causes asthma, bronchitis and eye irritation, the nitrogen oxide can cause
respiratory illness among the children and also Carbon monoxide (CO) is a very
toxic gas and it combines with hemoglobin of blood and reduced the oxygen carry
capacity of blood. All of these pollutants in air affect human beings.
2. On
Animals and plants: The
pollutants and contaminants accumulate in the vegetation. The animals get
poisoned when they consume the contaminated vegetation.
3. On
non living things: material,
buildings and structures may be damaged by air pollutants and acid rains.
Building stones, marble that contain CaCo3 are attacked by the gases like
sulphur dioxide.
Methods of control Air pollution:
Prevention
and control of air pollution: Different techniques for
controlling these pollutants are discussed below:
Methods
of controlling gaseous pollutants:
i)
Combustion:
This technique is used when the pollutants
are in the form of organic gases or vapors.
ii)
Absorption:
In this technique, the gaseous effluents
are passed through scrubbers or absorbers.
iii)
Adsorption:
The gaseous effluents are passed through porous solid adsorbents kept in
suitable containers.
Steps, in general, to be taken for reduction of air pollution:
At
home
i)
Avoid using chemical
pesticides or fertilizers in your yard and garden.
ii)
Compost yard waste
instead of burning.
iii)
Be energy efficient. Most
traditional sources of energy burn fossil fuels, causing air pollution.
iv)
Plant trees and encourage
other to plant trees as well.
v)
Try to stop smoking at
home, at office or outside.
On
the road
i)
Keep your vehicle well
maintained. A poorly maintained engine creates both- more air pollution and
uses more fuel.
ii)
Drive less. Walking,
bicycling, riding the bus, or working from home can save you money as well as
reduce air pollution.
iii)
Don’t idle your vehicle.
If you stop for more than 30 seconds, except in traffic, turn off your engine.
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