ESL-221: Environmental Studies

(Paper VII)

(Department of Computer Science)

Submitted in partial fulfilment for award of the degree of
Bachelor of Computer Applications.
Session 2021-2024
DAV COLLEGE, JALANDHAR
Submitted by:
Janvi Saini
BCA SEM 4
Roll No: 10722109936
S. NO Topic Page no. Signature

1 Introduction to Environmental Pollution 5-6

2 Meaning of Environmental Pollution 7

3 Factors Affecting Environmental Pollution 8-11

4 Types of Environmental Pollution 12-13

5 Sources of Environmental Pollution 14

6 Effect of Pollution on the Environment 15

Environmental Protection and Control of Pollu

7 16-17
tion

8 Environmental Pollution Prevention 18

9 Conclusion 19
10 Bibliography 20
 Introduction to Environmental Pollution
The systematic pollution of our environment is one of the biggest hazards that
humanity faces today. People are becoming increasingly aware of the threat
posed by pollution and governments are enacting legislations aimed at
protecting the environment. During the last few decades, the global
environment has gone through serious challenges and changes. Population
pressure has escaped rapidly consequently resources have dwindled.
Pollution is an undesirable change in the physical and biological operations of
our air, land and water. They may be or will be harmful to human life, species
our industries process; living condition and culture assets or deteriorate our
material resources. Human being can be exposed to pollutant in many ways
through the air they breathe, the water they drink, the food they eat and the
cosmetics, drugs and other products they use. The continuing discovery of
previously unsuspected hazards from various chemicals and other substances
underscore the point. The environmental and human health effect of even
those substances identified for priority consideration.
Scientific developments have been a growing concern about the links between the
health and environment and worldwide industrial, land and resources management
practices. Today there is a growing concern for global scale environmental degradation
brought by combinations of all people on earth. Manufacturing plants, agriculture
production and other sources release pollutants into the air, water and soil, pollutants are
intentionally moved away through the management of waste including residues removed
from the air and water by pollution control equipment. Pollutants also move among the
media by changing into more or less hazardous substances
as they move through environment. They may accumulate in
sinks for long period of time and people often are exposed to
the same pollutant through the one medium by breathing air,
drinking water, eating food or absorbing it through skin.
Generally new industrial plants reduce less waste than older
ones. One report estimates that new factories cut the amount
of hazardous waste to half. Dilution which increases the
volume of waste, is now more common than segregations.
Firms dilute waste to lower pollutant concentration for discharge 0into a sewage treatment
plant or directly into air or water, or to inject them more easily into deep wells. To save
money, small electroplating firms after mix their organic waste with those contain in metals
and cyanide before dumping them in the sewer rather than treating them independently.
In a homeostatic ecosystem there is a balance between the living organisms and the
environment. Disturbance in any component of the environment is likely to have a harmful
effect on the ecosystem. Any change in the environment which contributes to its
deterioration is called pollution of the environment and the agent which causes the pollution
is called the pollutant. This change in the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of
our physical environment (air, water and land) is undesirable and harms human life, other
living organisms and cultural assets. The resulting impact on the environment has been so
massive with far-reaching consequences that the very existence of life is threatened. The
word environment connotes the whole gamat of physical surroundings i.e. land, air and
water along with the biotic components (all living forms) which are responsible for the plant
and animal kingdom to survive and proferaterate Environmental segments are atmosphere,
hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. Man is the main agent for polluting the
environment.

Factors Affecting Environmental Pollution

Some of the factors which are affecting environment and causes pollution are described
below:
i. Consequences of Population Growth:-
Population growth is one of the prominent factors that affect the degradation of the
environment. Earlier, pestilence and famine kept the population under control, but with the
development of chemical compounds to restore and enhance the soil fertility, and with
reduction in the death rate, there has been an explosive growth in population with inevitable
consequences.
The sewage treatment plant can degrade the organic waste but the metal of cyanide
accumulates in the plants sludge. Across media approach designed to avoid this problem
might require the discharger to segregate and treat separately the heavy metals and cyanide
to prevent their release. Once wastes are segregated, they are easy to recycle or treat. As a
better understanding of nature and extent of Cross media problem is gained, society will also
find better ways to improve both the effectiveness and efficiency of pollution control
policies.

Meaning of Environmental Pollution

Ecosystem is a natural unit of living community (plants and animals) and non-living
environment. The biotic and abiotic community are constantly interacting and exchanging
materials and energy between themselves. The life in an ecosystem depends upon the
environment which provides energy in the form of sunlight and nutrients for the living
components of the ecosystem. Waste matter and energy produced by human beings
through their irresponsible and wanting activities cause disturbance in the natural
environment or in the ecosystem is called Environment Pollution. Environment Pollution is
the result of increased production of waste products by the industries, rapid urbanization,
wanting and irresponsible. Harnessing of the natural resources as well as unplanned sewage
and waste disposal from industries and cities etc. Thus presence of any environment
pollutant called Environment Pollution. Nature has provided the basic ingredients for living
in abundance and whatever is used up during normal course of living is recaptured through
natural cycle. Any effort to disturb this process is termed as Environment Pollution.
This dramatic growth coupled with the development of cheap sources of energy like coal,
petroleum, natural gas etc., and industrial revolution has posed a grave threat to the
environment because earth is a finite system in which any further increase will be restricted
by environmental constraints. Pollution increases not only because of the people multiply
and the space available to each person becomes smaller but also because the demands per
person are continuously increasing and each throws away more and more every year.
Pollutants are the residues of the things we make, use and throw away.
An intimate relationship is found between human number (population) and environment.
The impact of any human group in environment can be conceptually resolved into three
factors; Pollution, Affluence i.e. material aspects of per capita consumption of goods and
resources and technology of production.
Of the factors responsible for environmental crisis, the increasing population growth is
considered to be a key factor.
Table: Trends in World Population Over 100 Years
Year World Population (in millions)
1900 1700
1930 2000
1960 3000
1990 5300
2000 6300
2025(Projected) 8200
As shown in table, the world population has grown dramatically over the last 350 years.
Control measures should be implemented successfully or else the biosphere will collapse
under the weight of the rapidly growing population.
ii. Pollution of Indian Lakes:-
Among the surface water bodies, lakes and reservoirs
are considered to be most valuable water
resources. These surface water bodies are currently
under serious pollution threat not only in India but
also globally considered to be an important issue.
Over past couple of decades national and
international programs on lake water quality assessment and their management in the
perspective of conservation were attempted. Considerable studies were made in
Himalayan lakes of J & K (Dal & Nagin Lake), Kumaun (Naimtal and Bhimtal Lake), Madhya
Pradesh (Bhopal Lake) and so on. In almost all cases lake water is highly polluted with silts,
agrochemicals, fertilizer, organic wastes and industrial discharges etc. As a result,
considerable biotic changes along with loss of productivity is noticed. In most of
limnological studies of the lake system thus revealed the fact that most of the lakes slowly
transformed into swampy marsh without any proper management for conservation.

iii. Pollutants:-
According to “The Indian Environment Protection Act 1980” a pollutant has been defined
as any solid, liquid or gaseous substances present in such concentration as may be or tend
to be injurious to environment.
Any substance present in the environment in such concentration which adversely effects the
environment by damaging the growth rate of a species and by interfering with the food
chains, and affects the health, comfort and property etc. is considered as a pollutant. Smoke
from industries and automobiles, domestic and commercial sewage, radioactive substances
from nuclear plants and discarded household articles (tins, bottles, broken crockery etc.)
come under the category of pollutants.
Classification of Pollutants:
The classification of pollutants is done from different points of view.
Depending upon their existence in nature pollutants are of two types, namely:
(i) Quantitative Pollutants (ii) Qualitative Pollutants
(i) Quantitative Pollutants: These are those substances normally occurring in the
environment, who acquire the status of a pollutant when their concentration gets increased
due to the un-mindful activities of man. For example, carbon dioxide, if present in the
atmosphere in concentration greater than normal due to automobiles and industries, causes
measurable effects on humans, animals, plants or property, then it is classified as a
quantitative pollutant.
ii) Qualitative Pollutants: These are those substances which do not normally occur in nature
but are added by man. For example-insecticides. Depending upon the form in which they
persist after being released into the environment, the pollutants are categorized into two
types, namely:

(a) Primary pollutants (b) Secondary pollutants.

(a)Primary Pollutants:
These are those which are emitted directly from the source and persist in the form in which
they were added to the environment.
(b)Secondary Pollutants:
These are those which are formed from the primary pollutants by chemical interaction with
some constituent present in the atmosphere.
Types of Environmental Pollution
Pollution is of five main types:
(a) Air Pollution
(b) Water Pollution
(c) Land and Soil Pollution
(d) Noise Pollution
(e) Radioactive Pollution

(a)Air Pollution:
It is an atmospheric condition in which certain substances (including the normal
constituents in excess) are present in concentrations which can cause undesirable effects
on man and his environment. These substances include gases, particulate matter,
radioactive substances etc.
(b)Water Pollution:
Water is one of the most important biological components that sustain life. Its great solvent
power makes the creation of absolute pure water a theoretical rather than a practical goal.
Human pollution has the habit of dumping their wastes into water. This has the effect of
diluting the waste and getting it dispersed if it is a running water system.
(c)Land and Soil Pollution:
Soil is the loose mineral material and is the most important component of the earth’s
surface (lithosphere). It is the growth medium for many microbes, plants and animals. The
formation of soil is the result of chemical, physical and biological weathering. Like air and
water, soil is also subjected to pollution. Soil contains many microbes.
(d)Noise Pollution:
We hear various types of sounds every day. Sound is mechanical energy from a vibrating
source. A type of sound may be pleasant to someone and at the same time unpleasant to
others. The unpleasant and unwanted sound is called noise. Sound can propagate through
a medium like air, liquid or solid. Sound wave is a pressure perturbation in the medium
through which sound travels.
(e)Radioactive Pollution:
The elements such as uranium, thorium etc. having unstable nuclei emit radiations such as
alpha, beta and gamma in nature to acquire stability.
These elements are called radioactive elements.
Some ordinary elements like zinc, calcium, chlorine etc. can be converted into radioactive
by bombardment with neutron or other particles. This bombardment is called
disintegration and the disintegration rate is measured in curie (Ci) named on the discoverer
of radioactive elements.
 Sources of Environmental Pollution
There are two main sources of environmental pollution:
i. Natural Sources
ii. Man Made Sources
i. Natural Sources of Environmental Pollution:
(a)Volcanic eruptions release gases and volcanic ash.
(b)Forest fires produce smoke and trace gases.
(c)Dust storms increase the wind-blown dust into the environment.
(d)Bacteria, spores, cysts and pollens are all natural pollutants.
(e)Decay of organic matter in marshy places releases marsh gas (methane-CH4) which is a light,
colourless, inflammable hydrocarbon.
ii. Man-Made Sources of Environmental Pollution:
Anthropogenic source cover a wide spectrum of types as man has aggravated the problem of
pollution by his innumerable activities like,
1. Domestic sources
2. Industries
3. Agriculture activities
4. Radioactive waste
5. Thermal power stations:
a) Industrialization b) Invention of automobiles. c) Over population. d) Deforestation:
Destruction of natural habitat. e) Nuclear explosions. f) Over-exploitation of natural resources.
g) Construction of buildings, roads and dams. h) Explosives used in wars. i) Use of fertilizers and
pesticides. j) Quarrying and mining.
 Effect of Pollution on the Environment
The term “environment” refers to the immediate surroundings in which man lives. It comprises
of living and non-living constituents that support life and sustain various human activities.
Pollution affects both the living as well as the non-living components of the environment.
It brings about drastic changes in the physical environment causing community wide problems
by polluting the air, water and land; adversely affecting the health of humans and animals, and
damaging plants and property. Besides there are effects of noise pollution and the hazards
associated with radiation pollution. As environment stress on the human body increases, many
medical scientists fear a terminal increase in infectious disorders not only because of lower
body resistance but because viruses and other disease organisms will increasingly slip through
water treatment and food processing plants as the quality of water and food at the intake
deteriorates. Effect on plants, the adverse effects range from reduction in growth rate to death
of the plant. The damage caused to plants by pollution includes necrosis (dead areas on a leaf
structure), chlorosis (loss or reduction of chlorophyll Leading to yellowing of leaf), epinasty
(downward curvature of the leaf due to higher rate of growth on the upper surface) and
abscission of leaves (premature fall). Pollution also causes deterioration of structural materials
such as marble and lime stone. Pollution has been changed the atmospheric conditions. An
average temperature has been increased due to increase in pollution. Effects of pollution at
international level are depletion of ozone layer, global warming, acid rain, rising sea level etc.
 Environmental Protection and Control of Pollution
Over population and pollution are potent ecological forces impinging upon man by affecting the
quality of the environment. All efforts aimed at bringing more and more people above the
poverty line actually increase the pressure on natural resources. Careless management of
natural resources is disrupting the ecological processes so much so that earth’s life supporting
capacity is being substantially threatened. Unmindful exploitation of the finite resources of the
biosphere has a severe ecological backlash because no development is sustainable unless it is
environmentally compatible. Pollution is the burning of the day at the global level. A combined
effort to control pollution has to be made by all government agencies, technologists,
industrialists, agriculturists and last but not the least the common man.
Several measures were recommended by the scientists participating in the conference, e.g.
i) The first step should be to identify those causes of pollution that have global implications, and
to devise protective measures to be adopted.
ii) The second step should be to find out the carrying capacity of the environment and reduce
the emission of the major sources of pollution.
iii) The third step should be to find a neutralizer for each type of pollutant.
iv) The fourth step should be to ensure that anti-pollution measures are adopted by all
industries.
v) The fifth step should be the identification of areas where the cause of pollution is poverty and
lack of environmental education. Contamination of food and water are the basic causes of
pollution in such areas.
Environmental monitoring is urgently required for controlling pollution.
These efforts include:
i) Installation of proper sewage disposal methods.
ii) Dumping of non-biodegradable wastes in low lying areas.
iii) Installation of Gobar gas plants in areas of high availability of cow dung.
iv) Reduction of smoke emission and treatment of chimney smoke to remove solid carbon
particles.
Environmental Pollution Prevention
Pollution is the creation of imbalances between nature and environment life cycle by human
beings and other living inhabitants on the earth due to their day to day input output activities
carrying unhealthy surrounding, deforestation, ecological degradation, soil erosion, depletion of
natural resources creation of industries slumps and ugly dwellings.
a) Maximum feasibility reduction of all wastes generated at production sites.
b) Source reduction, energy efficiency, reuse of input materials during production and reduced
water consumption.
c) Change products and production processes to reduce pollution at the source.

CONCLUSION
On the basis of coordinating with other related planning and analyzing the current challenges in
the environment, the present environmental planning has proposed the planning vision and
objectives, together with a preliminary scheme for environmental functional districts and
environmental functional district management.
Under the three principal themes of “Optimizing the Environment Suitable for Living and
Tourism”, “Promoting a Conservation and Recyclingoriented Society” and “Integrating into the
Green and Quality Region”, this planning has also established 11 green indicators for the
Environmental Planning, proposed 15 areas of concern and their strategic direction, formulated
various major actions, and established the implementation and supervision mechanisms, in
order to enhance the environmental management capability of the Macao SAR Government and
guarantee the execution of the planning.
However, since the environment is a complex, variable and extensive system, protecting the
environment is a hard and enduring task. It is impossible that all the existing pollution problems
in the environmental can completely be resolved in the next decade. A wonderful and quality
environment must be achieved by continuous planning, governmental policies, efforts of the
enterprises and public participation.
It is the responsibility of everyone to protect our environment. Let us fulfill our responsibilities
in environmental protection, creating a quality ecological environment and sharing wonderful
green living together.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
To make this project I have taken help from,
1. Journal of Environmental Pollution
2. A Study of Environmental Studies on Pollution.
3. www.scribd.com
4. www.google.com5. www.wikipedia.com