ECO-TIPS

WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Environmental pollution refers to the presence in the environment of any agent (physical, chemical or biological) or a combination of various agents in places, forms and concentrations that are or may be harmful to health, safety or the environment. Welfare of the population, or that may be detrimental to plant or animal life, or prevent the normal use of properties and places of recreation and enjoyment of them. Environmental pollution is also the incorporation into the receiving bodies of solid, liquid or gaseous substances, or mixtures thereof, whenever they adversely affect the natural conditions of the same, or that may affect the health, hygiene or welfare of the public.

As man's power over nature increases and new needs arise as a result of life in society, the surrounding environment deteriorates more and more. The social behavior of man, which led him to communicate through language, which later formed human culture, allowed him to differentiate himself from other living beings. But while they adapt to the environment to survive, man adapts and modifies that same medium according to his needs.

Technological progress, on the one hand, and accelerated population growth, on the other, produces the alteration of the environment, sometimes leading to an attack on the Earth's biological balance. It is not that there is an absolute incompatibility between technological development, the advance of civilization and the maintenance of ecological balance, but it is important that man knows how to harmonize them. To do this, it is necessary to protect renewable and non-renewable resources and to be aware that environmental sanitation is fundamental for life on the planet

Pollution is one of the most important environmental problems affecting our world and arises when there is an imbalance, as a result of the addition of any substance to the environment, in such quantity as to cause adverse effects on man, animals, Plants or materials exposed to doses that exceed acceptable levels in nature.

Pollution can arise from certain manifestations of nature (natural sources) or due to the different productive processes of man (anthropogenic sources) that make up the activities of daily life.

The sources that generate the most important anthropogenic pollution are: industrial (refrigerators, slaughterhouses and tanneries, mining and oil activity), commercial (wrapping and packaging), agricultural (agrochemical), domiciliary (containers, diapers, (Flue gas). As source of emission is meant the physical or geographical origin where a release is polluting the environment, either air, water or soil. Traditionally the environment has been divided, for its study and its interpretation, in those three components that are: air, water and soil; However, this division is merely theoretical, since most pollutants interact with more than one of the elements of the environment.

CAUSES:

Our planet is exposed to numerous pollutants that harm the welfare and health of the living things that inhabit it.

The United Nations stands out as the culprits of pollution and the greenhouse effect on cities because "they occupy 2% of the world's territory and produce 70% of these gases." This organization warns that the situation could worsen because many countries are having very fast growth, like Brazil. China and India, and in turn are emitting gaseous pollutants.

The UN believes that the main disadvantaged by climate change will be the poorest countries because of its growing population or the repeated flooding, desertification and drought conditions. Contaminants are substances, chemical or biological, in the form of heat energy, radiation or noise that adhere or come into contact with air, soil or water affecting its composition and causing damage to the environment in which animals, plants and the man.

The main causes of pollution are:

• Road traffic: cars and trucks are the biggest urban pollutants because they circulate daily by flushing toxic gases that are harmful to health. These vehicles pollute because of the combustion of the hydrocarbons they use to move, and the wear of the brakes and wheels.

• In cities there is another source of pollution such as construction and demolition: these activities release dust and gases that damage the air in the area in which they develop, and in turn contaminate the water where they throw their wastes.

• Fossil fuels: the comfort and well-being of the inhabitants of the big cities resulted in an increase in the consumption of fossil fuels. The production of coal, oil and natural gas grows with the rise of levels of pollution of the air, soil and water of the planet.

• The world population index has grown at a different rate than the mortality rate, which has had an impact on the environment: causing inefficiency in the treatment of domestic wastewater, increasing unconventional consumption and generating tons of garbage.

• Technological progress benefits economically and socially, but the proliferation of industries and the lack of environmental control in their processes, has harmed the ecosystem by the large amount of waste thrown into the air, rivers and seas.

• Deforestation: indiscriminate logging in forests and jungles prevents trees, responsible for purifying the air, perform this task and thousands of animals and plants are extinguished because they have no place to live and grow.

• Pesticides and chemicals used in crops contaminate soil and water in the area where they were planted. Even getting to contaminate, alarmingly, many foods.

CONSEQUENCES:

Anything that is added to the air, water, soil or food and that threatens the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms is called pollution or pollution.

Most of the pollutants correspond to by-products or solid waste, liquid or gaseous, that originate when extracting, processing, turning into products, or using a natural resource. Also considered as contamination are both unwanted energy emissions and excessive amounts of them, such as heat, noise, or radiation.

Contaminants can reach our environment through human activities or anthropic activities, but also and even seem contradictory, certain natural processes such as a volcanic eruption, can give rise to pollution of water and air.

Most of the pollution from human activities occurs in or near urban or industrial areas, where pollutants are concentrated. Some pollutants directly affect the areas where they have been produced, others are transported by wind or water to other areas ... Pollution does not respect borders of any kind.

Some contaminants come from unique, well-identified sources, such as a power plant chimney, a drain pipe from a meat packaging plant, or the exhaust pipe of an automobile. These are called point pollutants.

Other pollutants come from non-point sources, which are scattered which are often difficult to identify. A non-point source of contamination is the expansion of fertilizers and pesticides that takes place from the plots, golf courses, lawns and gardens where they are applied, to streams and lakes. Many pesticides that scatter in the air and wind carry them into the atmosphere.

(Miguel Cahuas)