Effects of Water Pollution on the Environment - Research Paper Example

? Effects of Water Pollution on the Environment No: Effects of Water Pollution on the Environment Air and water are considered as the major pillar that holds the environment. In the past decades, the massive industrialization polluted the environment. The effects of the environmental pollution are worse as estimated. The biodiversity loss, the increase in the temperature of the world, the depletion of ozone and alteration in the hydrologic cycle are the impacts of the climate change resulted due to the impact of massive industrialization. The emissions from the vehicles contribute much in the production of carbon emissions. Water pollution can be seen as the part of the pollution. Most of the creatures are found in the sea, oceans, rivers and streams and most part of the world is covered with water. Most of water present in the world is saline and thus undrinkable for the humans. Only 2.5% of the world’s water resources are fresh and available of the human utilization (nlm.nih.gov, 2012). Water pollution is a broad term that is used to depict the pollution related to the saline as well as fresh water resources. Water resources have much influence on maintaining the environment of the world. It is a fact that oceanic occurrences have much influence on the environment of the world as oceans are the producers of oxygen and maintain the temperature and humidity that are essential for the environment and human life. Pollutants produced by the humans are diverted to the water bodies like the rivers, streams, oceans and seas. Pollution penetrate the water bodies directly and indirectly that contaminate the water and make the water bodies incompatible for the creatures to stay alive in. Most of the pollutants are less bio degradable and maintain existence in the bodies of the marine creatures that comes in the food cycle of the humans. A news article informs that mercury is found in the fish that conforms that the most pollutants remain in the bodies of the marine creatures. Direct pollutant that are directed towards the water bodies are industrial wastes, wash over of industrial waste, oil waste, city sewage waste, chemical waste, waste released from ships and ship wreckage wastes. These types of wastes penetrate the water bodies and endanger the sensitive marine plant and animal species. On the other hand, the pollutants from the industries prevent the atmospheric oxygen from entering the water. Oil residue over the top of the water is the example of such pollutants that restrict atmospheric oxygen from entering the water. On the other hand, the residues from the chemical industry including bleach that is mostly utilized in the textile manufacturing and washing is dropped into the water bodies that also restrict the oxygen from being entering the water bodies. If the water has no oxygen, no creature can survive in the water. The indirect pollution is the type of pollution that is not directly or willingly diverted to the water bodies. The aerosol emissions from the factories and vehicles move towards the seas and oceans and the particles and emissions are absorbed by the water that pollute the water and become a constant danger for the marine creature. The major reason of the motion of the particles towards the oceans seas and lakes is to obey the law of diffusion that states “diffused particles move from the region of higher concentration to the region of lower concentration”. In case of aerosol particles are in the region of higher concentration, which are mostly cities, and industrial hubs, where as the regions of lower concentration are the oceans and seas. The green house emissions dissolve into the water and penetrate into the bodies of the marine creatures. Some of the most affected marine animals are the oceanic plants, fish species and particularly microscopic plants that contribute much in providing the food for the marine creatures. The most significant impact of the water pollution is the scarcity of water in major regions of the world. In most of the undeveloped regions of t he world sewage water is diverted to the rivers. As the result of such diversion, the river water is found to have harmful bacterial and viral colonies that enter the human body through the water and ills the associating person. Diarrheal sickness, malarial sickness, etc are some of the commonly known diseases that are caught by the humans. A number of deaths are reported each year due to diarrheal sickness or malarial sickness in the underdeveloped countries like India, etc. The major influence is seen on the migrating marine animals that continue to migrate from one portion of the ocean to the other searching for food. There are various kinds of water pollution that have negative impacts on the surroundings for example contamination of industries demolishes the marine life. The contamination has adverse effect on the life cycle and production of fish; jelly fish and shell fish etc because it has injurious chemicals. Sewage water has microbial pollutants that are very much harmful for marine like as well for the earthly creatures because they used to drink water. These pollutants increase the death rate in water creatures as well as earthly creatures. Rising rate of Aerobic algae and decreasing rate of oxygen in water are the consequences of organic matter and nutrients (wwf.panda.org, 2012). This adverse effect is known as eutrophication and because of decreasing rate of oxygen; fish and other water creatures find difficulty in breathing as well life of these creatures are highly in danger. Acid rain have sulfate particles that alters the pH of water and because of altering the pH of water, it becomes more acidic and more harmful for marine life. As the consequences, more death rates in surroundings. Harmful particles on the water create the layer through which sunlight does not enter properly in the water (nrdc.org, 2012). Because of not reaching sunlight properly process of photosynthesis becomes slow down. This has adverse effects of aquatic creatures that depend on these plants. Because of drinking that contaminated water, many people and other earthly creates face sickness and other dies (water.epa.gov, 2012). Ground water is much affected by the Pesticides that penetrate into the ground and make the ground water contaminated. Large amount of pesticides are utilized in the golf courses and farms also with the fertilizers. Pesticides are made from the chemicals that have higher consistency of poisonous chemicals and it is less feasible to neutralize the chemicals in the pesticides. Pesticides remain in the soil and water for longer periods. On the other hand, the chemical fertilizers also penetrate in the soil and contaminate the ground water which results in the alteration in the balance of the minerals and elements in the water, making it unhealthy. Ground water is mostly contaminated through the untreated sewage water that have higher amount of organic compounds and requires more oxygen to treat the water. However, untreated water consumes all the oxygen present in the water making it unhealthy for the drinking. On the other hand, Sewage water contains harmful bacterial and viral diseases that remain in the water (edugreen.teri.res.in, n.d.). However, boiling such water may kill the bacteria but unable to neutralize the chemical concentration in water. On the other hand this type of contamination reach the rivers and oceans, where fish and other edible marine organisms intake the materials and find a way to enter the human system thus the contamination directly and indirectly endangering the human life. Water dissolves the environment fume with concentrated amount of nitrates and sulphur dioxide. The dissolved compounds change the behavior of the water and make the water of acidic nature. In such type of water, there are many health risks for the marine life as well as for the human life. Diseases Mostly the diseases factors remain the water and travel with the water. On the other hand, the fish and other edible creatures also spread the disease when eaten by the humans. Most of the diseases related to the water spread rapidly due to transportation of disease through the water. Microorganisms that are blamed to spread the diseases include virus, bacteria, protozoa, and parasitic worms (Walls, Dawn, 2012). These organisms and eggs of the organisms are expelled out through the feaces. The expelled out organisms reach the new host through the water as sewage is diverted to the fresh water resources. Cholera and typhoid are the most common diseases related to the water. These diseases affect a large number of people due reaching most of the people. Most of the chemicals utilized in the agriculture like pesticides, fertilizers, etc have the large quantity of phosphates and carbonates. The phosphates and carbonates present in the pesticides and fertilizers may become a reason for the cancer. However, some pesticides have large quantities of carcinogens that may cause the reproductive problems, if the dose is increased (water-pollution.org, 2012). Lead is found in most of the water bodies. Lead was utilized in the old paints and in battery manufacturing and recycling. The excessive level of lead in the body may cause nervous system to work improperly. Lead is difficult to expel from the body and thus it remains in the body unless specially treated. If the water has more amount of fluoride than desired, it will weaken the teeth and bones. It makes the spinal cord less flexible and more stiff that count as the weakness of the spinal cord. Nitrates dissolved in the water makes the water to generate the algae colonies that increases the risk of cancers. It proves to be harsh for the infants as it restricts the oxygen to be dissolved in the water. Arsenic in the water causes cancer. Disorganization of water resources causes the adverse effects that are health risks and Water-borne epidemic. The best preventive measure is that to appropriately organize the water resources. Proper organization of water resources ultimately lead to the healthy environment and because of that, marine creatures as well as earthly creatures can be saved from diseases. For being saved from water-borne infectious diseases, city rivers should be checked weekly basis that no any industrial contamination is thrown in it, and people should have the trust that water which they are supplied are 100 percent clean and pure. The pipes through which, water is supplied should be cleaned on the monthly basis. In the homes, people should boil and filter water before utilizing it (Selman, Mindy, 2008). If the people adopt that preventive measure, they can be saved from many diseases. Human activity is the major reason for the water pollution and consequently it is endanger the biodiversity of the planet and the human life on the planet. Nature always tries to maintain balance and human activity disturbs the balance of the world. The major causes of the water pollution are the industries and fumes from the vehicles. Power plants and chemical industries produce massive amount of chemical waste that is diverted to the rivers and oceans. Such type of waste directly or indirectly is thrown in water bodies. Emissions from the industries and vehicles to towards the oceans and seas and are dissolved on the water. The compounds present in the fumes react with the water changing the nature of water. Many health issues arise due to water pollution (Walls, 2012). Some diseases are commonly known while other diseases are not expected to move to other regions. Water transports the diseases from one part to the other. To prevent the water pollution there is need to manage the wastes from the factories as well as sewage waste. Treating the sewage waste has economic as well as environmental benefits. On the other hand, treating the chemical waste requires careful handling but the useful chemicals can be extracted or neutralized to limit the environmental hazards of the chemical waste. On the other hand, marinating a proper hygiene may prevent the water borne diseases from spreading. It is a fact the most of us knowledge about the water pollution but few have interest in controlling it. References nlm.nih.gov. (2012). Water Pollution. Retrieved on 30 December 2012 from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/waterpollution.html water.epa.gov. (2012). What Do You Can Do. Retrieved on 30 December 2012 from http://water.epa.gov/action/ eponline.com. (2012). Researchers Find Substantial Water Pollution Risks From Fracking To Recover Natural Gas. Retrieved on 30 December 2012 from http://eponline.com/articles/2012/08/07/researchers-find-substantial-water-pollution-risks-from-fracking-to-recover-natural-gas.aspx Selman, Mindy. (2008). Better Way Us Government Clean Our Water. Retrieved on 30 December 2012 from http://www.wri.org/stories/2008/08/better-way-us-government-clean-our-water nrdc.org. (2012). Water. Retrieved on 30 December 2012 from http://www.nrdc.org/water/ wwf.panda.org. (2012). Water Pollution. Retrieved on 30 December 2012 from http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/webfieldtrips/water_pollution/ water-pollution.org. (2012). Environment. Retrieved on 30 December 2012 from http://www.water-pollution.org.uk/environment.html Walls, Dawn. (2012). How Can Water Pollution Affect Animals, Homes and Health? greenliving.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved on 30 December 2012 from http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/can-water-pollution-affect-animals-homes-health-2921.html edugreen.teri.res.in. (n.d.). Health Impacts of Water pollution. Retrieved on 30 December 2012 from http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/water/health.htm Read More