Environmental Pollution: Impact on Ecosystem and Human Illness - Essay Sample

Introduction

Environmental pollution is the harm or damage done to the environment through contamination of land, air, and water resources. Environmental pollution entails the contamination of biological and physical components of the ecosystem to the extent that the normal functioning of the environment is altered (Livesley et al., 2016). Pollution negatively impacts the natural environment and affects the normal functioning of the ecosystem resulting from increases in human illnesses as well as global warming. Pollution is increasingly causing an imbalance in the ecosystem because of development and modernization in human lives, primarily in science and technology. Human beings waste a significant amount of nature through actions the result in serious harm to the environment. Consequently, environmental pollution is among the severe challenges facing humanity and other life forms on earth. Human beings are primarily faced with ongoing threats from natural disasters that might be of natural origin.

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Air pollution is a potentially dangerous type of pollution that changes the composition of gases in the atmosphere. It occurs when dust, smoke, and other harmful gases penetrate the atmosphere resulting in the air contamination and resultant effects (Navarro et al., 2016). The primary cause of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels, including coal, gasoline, petroleum, and other fossil fuels. Fossil fuels play a pivotal role in the society in their use in manufacturing, generation of electricity as well as transportation, which makes them uncontrollable in modern society. Although the cleaner alternative option is being innovated, pollution is still a challenge to the environment. Carbon Monoxide resulted from incomplete combustion primarily originating from vehicles as well as Nitrogen Oxides. Consequently, agricultural activities significantly contribute to air pollution. Ammonia is a common air pollutant arising from agriculture-related activities such as the use of insecticides and fertilizer (Wilkinson et al., 2007). The decay of wastes and garbage in disposal sites emit methane gas to the environment which has adverse effects on the ozone layer. Equally, garbage coupled with other household products releases harmful Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) to the atmosphere. Moreover, natural causes such as volcanic eruptions as well as mining processes, cause severe impacts on the environment. During a mining process, vast amounts of dust and chemicals are released to the atmosphere resulting in massive pollution. Volcanic ash released during volcanic eruptions is released to the atmosphere, which results in a decrease in global temperatures.

Air pollution causes the formation of acid rain from harmful gases such as nitrogen and sulfur dioxide. In modern society, air pollution is rampant, and acid rain is a severe threat to aquatic life and humans. Polluting gases released to the atmosphere causes severe impacts on the climate. Essentially, they form a blanket around the planet that influences heat retention, thus increasing the overall temperature. However, this effect do not manifest immediately; global warming may take some time before the changes are felt. Conversely, a slight change in the temperature results to adverse changes to the weather. Greenhouse gases are the main result of warmer temperatures through trapping of the heat in the atmosphere, which increases temperatures worldwide. The effect causes an increase in sea levels and ice melting in the Polar Regions, extreme weather conditions as well as a rise in the spread of infectious diseases such as Lyme. Emission of carbon dioxide and methane contribute significantly to the total greenhouse gases emissions globally. The effects of air pollution have resulted in climate change. The probabilities of certain weather types or alteration of weather events are patent. Changes in the intensity, pattern, and the amount of precipitation is the effect of climate change. Other regions experience heavy rainfall, including areas that rarely experienced such heavy precipitation before while other regions experience a drastic decline. Projections of precipitation levels indicate an increase in the average; however, the locations and patterns are expected to shift significantly. Global warming increases the chances of the occurrence of extreme weather events such as heat waves. Heat waves with low humidity increase the chances of occurrence of, which is extremely dangerous to human beings. Consequently, global warming will significantly impact on regional climate, including alterations to the hydrological cycle as well as impact changes to the air flow in the ocean altering ocean currents. The coastal region will suffer severe impacts from a rise in sea level. The release of nitrogen oxide to the atmosphere speeds up the growth of algae on the surface of water bodies, which poses a considerable threat to aquatic life (Rose et al., 2016). Although the atmosphere has an automatic mechanism to ensure that the ecosystem is not affected, effective laws to reduce the release of harmful substances to the environment.

Air pollution impacts the natural environment and affects the normal functioning of the ecosystem resulting in changes in the environment. The primary causes of air pollution are the decay of garbage and solid wastes, agricultural activities, and the burning of fuels. The effects include global warming, acid rain formation, eutrophication, and climate change that results in changes in weather patterns.

References

Livesley, S. J., McPherson, E. G., & Calfapietra, C. (2016). The urban forest and ecosystem services: impacts on urban water, heat, and pollution cycles at the tree, street, and city scale. Journal of environmental quality, 45(1), 119-124. doi:10.2134/jeq2015.11.0567

Navarro, J. A., Varma, V., Riipinen, I., Seland, O., Kirkevag, A., Struthers, H., ... & Ekman, A. M. (2016). Amplification of Arctic warming by past air pollution reductions in Europe. Nature Geoscience, 9(4), 277. DOI: 10.1038/NGEO2673

Rose, R., Monteith, D. T., Henrys, P., Smart, S., Wood, C., Morecroft, M.,... & Corbett, S. (2016). Evidence for increases in vegetation species richness across UK Environmental Change Network sites linked to changes in air pollution and weather patterns. Ecological Indicators, 68, 52-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.01.005

Wilkinson, P., Smith, K. R., Joffe, M., & Haines, A. (2007). A global perspective on energy: health effects and injustices. The Lancet, 370(9591), 965-978. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61252-5