an essay about pollution causes and effects

Essay on Pollution for Students and Children

500+ words essay on pollution.

Pollution is a term which even kids are aware of these days. It has become so common that almost everyone acknowledges the fact that pollution is rising continuously. The term ‘pollution’ means the manifestation of any unsolicited foreign substance in something. When we talk about pollution on earth, we refer to the contamination that is happening of the natural resources by various pollutants . All this is mainly caused by human activities which harm the environment in ways more than one. Therefore, an urgent need has arisen to tackle this issue straightaway. That is to say, pollution is damaging our earth severely and we need to realize its effects and prevent this damage. In this essay on pollution, we will see what are the effects of pollution and how to reduce it.

Effects of Pollution

Pollution affects the quality of life more than one can imagine. It works in mysterious ways, sometimes which cannot be seen by the naked eye. However, it is very much present in the environment. For instance, you might not be able to see the natural gases present in the air, but they are still there. Similarly, the pollutants which are messing up the air and increasing the levels of carbon dioxide is very dangerous for humans. Increased level of carbon dioxide will lead to global warming .

Further, the water is polluted in the name of industrial development, religious practices and more will cause a shortage of drinking water. Without water, human life is not possible. Moreover, the way waste is dumped on the land eventually ends up in the soil and turns toxic. If land pollution keeps on happening at this rate, we won’t have fertile soil to grow our crops on. Therefore, serious measures must be taken to reduce pollution to the core.

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Types of Pollution

Air Pollution
Water Pollution
Soil Pollution

How to Reduce Pollution?

After learning the harmful effects of pollution, one must get on the task of preventing or reducing pollution as soon as possible. To reduce air pollution, people should take public transport or carpool to reduce vehicular smoke. While it may be hard, avoiding firecrackers at festivals and celebrations can also cut down on air and noise pollution. Above all, we must adopt the habit of recycling. All the used plastic ends up in the oceans and land, which pollutes them.

an essay about pollution causes and effects

So, remember to not dispose of them off after use, rather reuse them as long as you can. We must also encourage everyone to plant more trees which will absorb the harmful gases and make the air cleaner. When talking on a bigger level, the government must limit the usage of fertilizers to maintain the soil’s fertility. In addition, industries must be banned from dumping their waste into oceans and rivers, causing water pollution.

To sum it up, all types of pollution is hazardous and comes with grave consequences. Everyone must take a step towards change ranging from individuals to the industries. As tackling this problem calls for a joint effort, so we must join hands now. Moreover, the innocent lives of animals are being lost because of such human activities. So, all of us must take a stand and become a voice for the unheard in order to make this earth pollution-free.

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FAQs on Pollution

Q.1 What are the effects of pollution?

A.1 Pollution essentially affects the quality of human life. It degrades almost everything from the water we drink to the air we breathe. It damages the natural resources needed for a healthy life.

Q.2 How can one reduce pollution?

A.2 We must take individual steps to reduce pollution. People should decompose their waster mindfully, they should plant more trees. Further, one must always recycle what they can and make the earth greener.

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Essay on Pollution: Samples in 100, 150 and 200 Words

Updated on
Apr 27, 2024

As the world embraced urbanization, mother nature witnessed the greener lands getting transformed into modern cities and metropolises. What followed is a trail of natural disasters signalling that something is wrong with the planet Earth. Pollution is increasingly asked under the writing section in school and college tests as well as competitive exams . This is because it is a relevant environmental issue today. This blog aims to help you with the necessary knowledge as well as tips and tricks to draft a well-written essay on pollution.

What is Pollution?

Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment. These materials are called pollutants. They can be created by human activity like trash and natural like volcanic ash. Pollutants damage the quality of water, air and land. Pollution is a global problem. Air and water carry pollution into the ocean currents and migrating fish. Pollution is among the many things that harm our planet- once greener and healthier than it is now. Pollution is a dangerous phenomenon that is contributing to an array of health issues.

Types of Pollution

In simple terms, pollution is defined as the contamination of the physical and biological constituents in the earth’s atmosphere. It affects human life and the natural environment to a very great extent. It degrades our natural resources, from the water we drink to the air we breathe. While writing an essay on Pollution, you must mention the major four types of pollution which are as follows:

Air Pollution : Air pollution is the contamination of air in the atmosphere when harmful or excessive quantities of substances such as smoke and harmful gases from industries, CFCs and oxides produced by automobiles, the burning of solid wastes, etc. are introduced into the environment.
Water Pollution : This refers to the contamination of natural resources of water, due to the addition of harmful chemical, biological or physical materials, which includes industrial wastes, oil spills, domestic and farm wastes, pesticides, as well as mining and agricultural wastes, to water resource which make it unusable.
Soil Pollution : Land/Soil Pollution occurs due to the degradation of the earth’s surface by different commercial, industrial, agricultural and domestic activities. Causes of soil pollution also include mining, deforestation, dumping of e-waste and other industrial wastes, usage of harmful chemicals such as insecticides, pesticides, etc.
Noise Pollution : Excess noise due to sounds created by machines, loudspeakers, microphones, loud music, noise from industries, construction and civil engineering works etc. lead to noise pollution.

Causes and Health Effects of Pollution

You can include various causes and health effects in your essay on Pollution from the following table:-

Sample Essay on Pollution in 100 Words

Pollution is the addition of unwanted substances which are incorporated into the environment that can damage our Earth. There are mainly four types of pollution, these include water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution, and noise pollution. One should note that any form of pollution is the result of careless activity carried out by man. We, humans daily dump waste directly into water bodies which leads to water pollution.

Vehicle emissions of smoke into the atmosphere impede the ability of all living things to breathe, leading to air pollution. Our garbage is dumped into landfills directly, which results in soil pollution. Although it cannot be seen, noise pollution is a severe type of pollution that can harm our ears.

Sample Essay on Pollution in 250-300 Words

The biggest threat planet Earth is facing is pollution. Unwanted substances leave a negative impact once released into an environment. There are four types of pollution air, water, land, and noise. Pollution affects the quality of life more than any human can imagine.

Due to air pollution, even teenage kids have developed various respiratory diseases. Water pollution has led to diseases in children. The waste we humans dump on the land or chemical fertilisers which are put on the land for agricultural purposes causes land/ soil pollution.

If the soil quality deteriorates due to such practices, the soil will become infertile and no crops could be grown in future. The government has launched various schemes over the years to fight pollution but individual efforts can also play a vital role.

Start by replacing plastic bags for shopping with cloth bags, stopping littering on roads and stopping wasting water are some of the basic things to start with that can lead to big changes in the environment.

Also Read: Essay on Green Energy PDF: 150 and 250 Words

Sample Essay on Pollution in 300-350 Words

One of the most critical threats faced by our planet in the present-day scenario. Environmental pollution is a global issue affecting people around the world. It is occurring in different forms, whether by affecting the air we breathe or the water resources we utilise for several purposes.

Air pollution came into being with an increase in the level of carbon dioxide, with the increase in pollutants which are contaminating the air and causing breathing discomfort as well as skin diseases to human beings. Talking about the other aspect, there is no life without water.

The water bodies are polluting and becoming unsafe for drinking or any other use because of industrial development, rapid urbanisation and various other reasons. Due to air pollution, diseases that can occur in human beings are asthma, various skin diseases, cancer, etc. Therefore, it is the essential need of the hour to take serious steps to reduce pollution to its core.

At a personal level, we can minimise environmental pollution by taking public transport or carpools to reduce vehicular smoke, avoiding firecrackers at festivals and celebrations can also cut down on air and noise pollution, and not using fertilisers and pesticides which can cause both water and soil pollution, and switching over to organic farming. The government can also bring strict rules and regulations to lessen industrial pollution.

To sum up, any type of pollution is harmful to the environment with serious consequences like global warming, uneven climatic changes, etc. Due to our greediness and illegal human activities, the innocent lives of animals are lost. The time has come to join hands and work towards preserving and protecting the environment for the present as well as future generations.

Also Read: Essay on Environment: Examples and Tips

Short Essay on Pollution in English

Find a sample of a short essay on pollution below:

Nikita Puri

Nikita is a creative writer and editor, who is always ready to learn new skills. She has great knowledge about study abroad universities, researching and writing blogs about them. Being a perfectionist, she has a habit of keeping her tasks complete on time before the OCD hits her. When Nikita is not busy working, you can find her eating while binge-watching The office. Also, she breathes music. She has done her bachelor's from Delhi University and her master's from Jamia Millia Islamia.

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Causes and Effects of Pollution

The environment people live in is affecting them, including health and lifestyle, and the nature around them, like plants, animals, water bodies, and the atmosphere. Environmental issues caused by humans using natural resources and treating nature with no respect have resulted in some negative changes. One of the most significant problems people are facing nowadays is pollution. It affects all the crucial elements for sustaining human life: water, air, and soil. The causes and effects of pollution are multiple and varied, and they should be examined closely to better understand this phenomenon.

General reasons for pollution include major emissions of carbon dioxide, as well as the chemicals produced as the result of the burning of fossil fuels. This happens because of different factories’ activity and their waste, which is being discharged into water, soil, and the atmosphere. Other than big manufacturing elements, pollution is caused by people individually. This involves emissions caused by cars, using much energy for different activities, and producing enormous amounts of waste, especially the types that are not decomposable or take hundreds of years to do so.

The first side of the environment impacted by pollution is the atmosphere. Air pollution can be defined as a combination of harmful gases or particles that accumulate in the air in unsafe quantities. The worsening air quality can result in multiple health issues, including “heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases” (“Ambient (outdoor) air pollution,” 2018, para. 1). As air quality is measured around the world, many deficiencies are detected, which directly influence human life.

According to the World Health Organization data, in 2016, about 91 percent of the population inhabited places with unsatisfactory air quality (as cited in “Ambient (outdoor) air pollution,” 2018). Therefore, air pollution is affecting not only those living in big urban areas but is also spreading around the whole planet.

Water covers the majority of the planet, so water pollution is also a crucial problem. Wastewater and emission of fertilizers into water bodies cause water pollution, which can make water harmful to human consumption. Other than becoming undrinkable, contaminated water will affect or even kill aquatic creatures and plants, as well as transfer to crops, making them just as dangerous. The United Nations World Water Development Report stated that over 80 percent of wastewater is discharged back into the environment, not being appropriately treated (2017). Thus, not only do the major water bodies become largely polluted but the effect is also transferred to soil.

As a significant part of the food for humans and domestic animals is grown, polluted soil can also cause complications. Soil pollution occurs when certain toxic chemicals are gathered in large amounts. Soil can be affected by harmful substances as a result of industrial waste emission into the ground, contaminated water interacting with it, or excessive amounts of pesticides or fertilizers being used. As a result, plants and crops become dangerous for human consumption and can cause multiple health problems.

Pollution is a global phenomenon, causing much damage to the planet and harming people and other living creatures. It can manifest in different forms, but its impact is hugely detrimental. Seeking solutions for this problem is now one of the main agendas for the whole of humankind, which can only be done with combined efforts of government structures and community and individual actions. Only by being aware of this situation and taking measures for improvement will people be able to protect their health and create better conditions for future generations.

Ambient (outdoor) air pollution . (2018). Web.

The United Nations world water development report 2017. (2017). Web.

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StudyCorgi. (2021, June 23). Causes and Effects of Pollution. https://studycorgi.com/causes-and-effects-of-pollution/

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Air Pollution: Everything You Need to Know

How smog, soot, greenhouse gases, and other top air pollutants are affecting the planet—and your health.

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What is air pollution?

What causes air pollution, effects of air pollution, air pollution in the united states, air pollution and environmental justice, controlling air pollution, how to help reduce air pollution, how to protect your health.

Air pollution refers to the release of pollutants into the air—pollutants that are detrimental to human health and the planet as a whole. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) , each year, indoor and outdoor air pollution is responsible for nearly seven million deaths around the globe. Ninety-nine percent of human beings currently breathe air that exceeds the WHO’s guideline limits for pollutants, with those living in low- and middle-income countries suffering the most. In the United States, the Clean Air Act , established in 1970, authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to safeguard public health by regulating the emissions of these harmful air pollutants.

“Most air pollution comes from energy use and production,” says John Walke , director of the Clean Air team at NRDC. Driving a car on gasoline, heating a home with oil, running a power plant on fracked gas : In each case, a fossil fuel is burned and harmful chemicals and gases are released into the air.

“We’ve made progress over the last 50 years in improving air quality in the United States, thanks to the Clean Air Act. But climate change will make it harder in the future to meet pollution standards, which are designed to protect health ,” says Walke.

Air pollution is now the world’s fourth-largest risk factor for early death. According to the 2020 State of Global Air report —which summarizes the latest scientific understanding of air pollution around the world—4.5 million deaths were linked to outdoor air pollution exposures in 2019, and another 2.2 million deaths were caused by indoor air pollution. The world’s most populous countries, China and India, continue to bear the highest burdens of disease.

“Despite improvements in reducing global average mortality rates from air pollution, this report also serves as a sobering reminder that the climate crisis threatens to worsen air pollution problems significantly,” explains Vijay Limaye , senior scientist in NRDC’s Science Office. Smog, for instance, is intensified by increased heat, forming when the weather is warmer and there’s more ultraviolet radiation. In addition, climate change increases the production of allergenic air pollutants, including mold (thanks to damp conditions caused by extreme weather and increased flooding) and pollen (due to a longer pollen season). “Climate change–fueled droughts and dry conditions are also setting the stage for dangerous wildfires,” adds Limaye. “ Wildfire smoke can linger for days and pollute the air with particulate matter hundreds of miles downwind.”

The effects of air pollution on the human body vary, depending on the type of pollutant, the length and level of exposure, and other factors, including a person’s individual health risks and the cumulative impacts of multiple pollutants or stressors.

Smog and soot

These are the two most prevalent types of air pollution. Smog (sometimes referred to as ground-level ozone) occurs when emissions from combusting fossil fuels react with sunlight. Soot—a type of particulate matter —is made up of tiny particles of chemicals, soil, smoke, dust, or allergens that are carried in the air. The sources of smog and soot are similar. “Both come from cars and trucks, factories, power plants, incinerators, engines, generally anything that combusts fossil fuels such as coal, gasoline, or natural gas,” Walke says.

Smog can irritate the eyes and throat and also damage the lungs, especially those of children, senior citizens, and people who work or exercise outdoors. It’s even worse for people who have asthma or allergies; these extra pollutants can intensify their symptoms and trigger asthma attacks. The tiniest airborne particles in soot are especially dangerous because they can penetrate the lungs and bloodstream and worsen bronchitis, lead to heart attacks, and even hasten death. In 2020, a report from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health showed that COVID-19 mortality rates were higher in areas with more particulate matter pollution than in areas with even slightly less, showing a correlation between the virus’s deadliness and long-term exposure to air pollution.

These findings also illuminate an important environmental justice issue . Because highways and polluting facilities have historically been sited in or next to low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, the negative effects of this pollution have been disproportionately experienced by the people who live in these communities.

Hazardous air pollutants

A number of air pollutants pose severe health risks and can sometimes be fatal, even in small amounts. Almost 200 of them are regulated by law; some of the most common are mercury, lead , dioxins, and benzene. “These are also most often emitted during gas or coal combustion, incineration, or—in the case of benzene—found in gasoline,” Walke says. Benzene, classified as a carcinogen by the EPA, can cause eye, skin, and lung irritation in the short term and blood disorders in the long term. Dioxins, more typically found in food but also present in small amounts in the air, is another carcinogen that can affect the liver in the short term and harm the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems, as well as reproductive functions. Mercury attacks the central nervous system. In large amounts, lead can damage children’s brains and kidneys, and even minimal exposure can affect children’s IQ and ability to learn.

Another category of toxic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are by-products of traffic exhaust and wildfire smoke. In large amounts, they have been linked to eye and lung irritation, blood and liver issues, and even cancer. In one study , the children of mothers exposed to PAHs during pregnancy showed slower brain-processing speeds and more pronounced symptoms of ADHD.

Greenhouse gases

While these climate pollutants don’t have the direct or immediate impacts on the human body associated with other air pollutants, like smog or hazardous chemicals, they are still harmful to our health. By trapping the earth’s heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases lead to warmer temperatures, which in turn lead to the hallmarks of climate change: rising sea levels, more extreme weather, heat-related deaths, and the increased transmission of infectious diseases. In 2021, carbon dioxide accounted for roughly 79 percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and methane made up more than 11 percent. “Carbon dioxide comes from combusting fossil fuels, and methane comes from natural and industrial sources, including large amounts that are released during oil and gas drilling,” Walke says. “We emit far larger amounts of carbon dioxide, but methane is significantly more potent, so it’s also very destructive.”

Another class of greenhouse gases, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) , are thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide in their ability to trap heat. In October 2016, more than 140 countries signed the Kigali Agreement to reduce the use of these chemicals—which are found in air conditioners and refrigerators—and develop greener alternatives over time. (The United States officially signed onto the Kigali Agreement in 2022.)

Pollen and mold

Mold and allergens from trees, weeds, and grass are also carried in the air, are exacerbated by climate change, and can be hazardous to health. Though they aren’t regulated, they can be considered a form of air pollution. “When homes, schools, or businesses get water damage, mold can grow and produce allergenic airborne pollutants,” says Kim Knowlton, professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University and a former NRDC scientist. “ Mold exposure can precipitate asthma attacks or an allergic response, and some molds can even produce toxins that would be dangerous for anyone to inhale.”

Pollen allergies are worsening because of climate change . “Lab and field studies are showing that pollen-producing plants—especially ragweed—grow larger and produce more pollen when you increase the amount of carbon dioxide that they grow in,” Knowlton says. “Climate change also extends the pollen production season, and some studies are beginning to suggest that ragweed pollen itself might be becoming a more potent allergen.” If so, more people will suffer runny noses, fevers, itchy eyes, and other symptoms. “And for people with allergies and asthma, pollen peaks can precipitate asthma attacks, which are far more serious and can be life-threatening.”

More than one in three U.S. residents—120 million people—live in counties with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the 2023 State of the Air report by the American Lung Association (ALA). Since the annual report was first published, in 2000, its findings have shown how the Clean Air Act has been able to reduce harmful emissions from transportation, power plants, and manufacturing.

Recent findings, however, reflect how climate change–fueled wildfires and extreme heat are adding to the challenges of protecting public health. The latest report—which focuses on ozone, year-round particle pollution, and short-term particle pollution—also finds that people of color are 61 percent more likely than white people to live in a county with a failing grade in at least one of those categories, and three times more likely to live in a county that fails in all three.

In rankings for each of the three pollution categories covered by the ALA report, California cities occupy the top three slots (i.e., were highest in pollution), despite progress that the Golden State has made in reducing air pollution emissions in the past half century. At the other end of the spectrum, these cities consistently rank among the country’s best for air quality: Burlington, Vermont; Honolulu; and Wilmington, North Carolina.

No one wants to live next door to an incinerator, oil refinery, port, toxic waste dump, or other polluting site. Yet millions of people around the world do, and this puts them at a much higher risk for respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, neurological damage, cancer, and death. In the United States, people of color are 1.5 times more likely than whites to live in areas with poor air quality, according to the ALA.

Historically, racist zoning policies and discriminatory lending practices known as redlining have combined to keep polluting industries and car-choked highways away from white neighborhoods and have turned communities of color—especially low-income and working-class communities of color—into sacrifice zones, where residents are forced to breathe dirty air and suffer the many health problems associated with it. In addition to the increased health risks that come from living in such places, the polluted air can economically harm residents in the form of missed workdays and higher medical costs.

Environmental racism isn't limited to cities and industrial areas. Outdoor laborers, including the estimated three million migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States, are among the most vulnerable to air pollution—and they’re also among the least equipped, politically, to pressure employers and lawmakers to affirm their right to breathe clean air.

Recently, cumulative impact mapping , which uses data on environmental conditions and demographics, has been able to show how some communities are overburdened with layers of issues, like high levels of poverty, unemployment, and pollution. Tools like the Environmental Justice Screening Method and the EPA’s EJScreen provide evidence of what many environmental justice communities have been explaining for decades: that we need land use and public health reforms to ensure that vulnerable areas are not overburdened and that the people who need resources the most are receiving them.

In the United States, the Clean Air Act has been a crucial tool for reducing air pollution since its passage in 1970, although fossil fuel interests aided by industry-friendly lawmakers have frequently attempted to weaken its many protections. Ensuring that this bedrock environmental law remains intact and properly enforced will always be key to maintaining and improving our air quality.

But the best, most effective way to control air pollution is to speed up our transition to cleaner fuels and industrial processes. By switching over to renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar power), maximizing fuel efficiency in our vehicles, and replacing more and more of our gasoline-powered cars and trucks with electric versions, we'll be limiting air pollution at its source while also curbing the global warming that heightens so many of its worst health impacts.

And what about the economic costs of controlling air pollution? According to a report on the Clean Air Act commissioned by NRDC, the annual benefits of cleaner air are up to 32 times greater than the cost of clean air regulations. Those benefits include up to 370,000 avoided premature deaths, 189,000 fewer hospital admissions for cardiac and respiratory illnesses, and net economic benefits of up to $3.8 trillion for the U.S. economy every year.

“The less gasoline we burn, the better we’re doing to reduce air pollution and the harmful effects of climate change,” Walke explains. “Make good choices about transportation. When you can, ride a bike, walk, or take public transportation. For driving, choose a car that gets better miles per gallon of gas or buy an electric car .” You can also investigate your power provider options—you may be able to request that your electricity be supplied by wind or solar. Buying your food locally cuts down on the fossil fuels burned in trucking or flying food in from across the world. And most important: “Support leaders who push for clean air and water and responsible steps on climate change,” Walke says.

“When you see in the news or hear on the weather report that pollution levels are high, it may be useful to limit the time when children go outside or you go for a jog,” Walke says. Generally, ozone levels tend to be lower in the morning.
If you exercise outside, stay as far as you can from heavily trafficked roads. Then shower and wash your clothes to remove fine particles.
The air may look clear, but that doesn’t mean it’s pollution free. Utilize tools like the EPA’s air pollution monitor, AirNow , to get the latest conditions. If the air quality is bad, stay inside with the windows closed.
If you live or work in an area that’s prone to wildfires, stay away from the harmful smoke as much as you’re able. Consider keeping a small stock of masks to wear when conditions are poor. The most ideal masks for smoke particles will be labelled “NIOSH” (which stands for National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) and have either “N95” or “P100” printed on it.
If you’re using an air conditioner while outdoor pollution conditions are bad, use the recirculating setting to limit the amount of polluted air that gets inside.

This story was originally published on November 1, 2016, and has been updated with new information and links.

This NRDC.org story is available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer(s) must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and link to the original; the story cannot be edited (beyond simple things such as grammar); you can’t resell the story in any form or grant republishing rights to other outlets; you can’t republish our material wholesale or automatically—you need to select stories individually; you can’t republish the photos or graphics on our site without specific permission; you should drop us a note to let us know when you’ve used one of our stories.

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Air pollution.

Air pollution consists of chemicals or particles in the air that can harm the health of humans, animals, and plants. It also damages buildings.

Biology, Ecology, Earth Science, Geography

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Air pollution consists of chemicals or particles in the air that can harm the health of humans, animals, and plants. It also damages buildings. Pollutants in the air take many forms. They can be gases , solid particles, or liquid droplets. Sources of Air Pollution Pollution enters the Earth's atmosphere in many different ways. Most air pollution is created by people, taking the form of emissions from factories, cars, planes, or aerosol cans . Second-hand cigarette smoke is also considered air pollution. These man-made sources of pollution are called anthropogenic sources . Some types of air pollution, such as smoke from wildfires or ash from volcanoes , occur naturally. These are called natural sources . Air pollution is most common in large cities where emissions from many different sources are concentrated . Sometimes, mountains or tall buildings prevent air pollution from spreading out. This air pollution often appears as a cloud making the air murky. It is called smog . The word "smog" comes from combining the words "smoke" and " fog ." Large cities in poor and developing nations tend to have more air pollution than cities in developed nations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) , some of the worlds most polluted cities are Karachi, Pakistan; New Delhi, India; Beijing, China; Lima, Peru; and Cairo, Egypt. However, many developed nations also have air pollution problems. Los Angeles, California, is nicknamed Smog City. Indoor Air Pollution Air pollution is usually thought of as smoke from large factories or exhaust from vehicles. But there are many types of indoor air pollution as well. Heating a house by burning substances such as kerosene , wood, and coal can contaminate the air inside the house. Ash and smoke make breathing difficult, and they can stick to walls, food, and clothing. Naturally-occurring radon gas, a cancer -causing material, can also build up in homes. Radon is released through the surface of the Earth. Inexpensive systems installed by professionals can reduce radon levels. Some construction materials, including insulation , are also dangerous to people's health. In addition, ventilation , or air movement, in homes and rooms can lead to the spread of toxic mold . A single colony of mold may exist in a damp, cool place in a house, such as between walls. The mold's spores enter the air and spread throughout the house. People can become sick from breathing in the spores. Effects On Humans People experience a wide range of health effects from being exposed to air pollution. Effects can be broken down into short-term effects and long-term effects . Short-term effects, which are temporary , include illnesses such as pneumonia or bronchitis . They also include discomfort such as irritation to the nose, throat, eyes, or skin. Air pollution can also cause headaches, dizziness, and nausea . Bad smells made by factories, garbage , or sewer systems are considered air pollution, too. These odors are less serious but still unpleasant . Long-term effects of air pollution can last for years or for an entire lifetime. They can even lead to a person's death. Long-term health effects from air pollution include heart disease , lung cancer, and respiratory diseases such as emphysema . Air pollution can also cause long-term damage to people's nerves , brain, kidneys , liver , and other organs. Some scientists suspect air pollutants cause birth defects . Nearly 2.5 million people die worldwide each year from the effects of outdoor or indoor air pollution. People react differently to different types of air pollution. Young children and older adults, whose immune systems tend to be weaker, are often more sensitive to pollution. Conditions such as asthma , heart disease, and lung disease can be made worse by exposure to air pollution. The length of exposure and amount and type of pollutants are also factors. Effects On The Environment Like people, animals, and plants, entire ecosystems can suffer effects from air pollution. Haze , like smog, is a visible type of air pollution that obscures shapes and colors. Hazy air pollution can even muffle sounds. Air pollution particles eventually fall back to Earth. Air pollution can directly contaminate the surface of bodies of water and soil . This can kill crops or reduce their yield . It can kill young trees and other plants. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide particles in the air, can create acid rain when they mix with water and oxygen in the atmosphere. These air pollutants come mostly from coal-fired power plants and motor vehicles . When acid rain falls to Earth, it damages plants by changing soil composition ; degrades water quality in rivers, lakes and streams; damages crops; and can cause buildings and monuments to decay . Like humans, animals can suffer health effects from exposure to air pollution. Birth defects, diseases, and lower reproductive rates have all been attributed to air pollution. Global Warming Global warming is an environmental phenomenon caused by natural and anthropogenic air pollution. It refers to rising air and ocean temperatures around the world. This temperature rise is at least partially caused by an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases trap heat energy in the Earths atmosphere. (Usually, more of Earths heat escapes into space.) Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that has had the biggest effect on global warming. Carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels (coal, gasoline , and natural gas ). Humans have come to rely on fossil fuels to power cars and planes, heat homes, and run factories. Doing these things pollutes the air with carbon dioxide. Other greenhouse gases emitted by natural and artificial sources also include methane , nitrous oxide , and fluorinated gases. Methane is a major emission from coal plants and agricultural processes. Nitrous oxide is a common emission from industrial factories, agriculture, and the burning of fossil fuels in cars. Fluorinated gases, such as hydrofluorocarbons , are emitted by industry. Fluorinated gases are often used instead of gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs have been outlawed in many places because they deplete the ozone layer . Worldwide, many countries have taken steps to reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming. The Kyoto Protocol , first adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, is an agreement between 183 countries that they will work to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. The United States has not signed that treaty . Regulation In addition to the international Kyoto Protocol, most developed nations have adopted laws to regulate emissions and reduce air pollution. In the United States, debate is under way about a system called cap and trade to limit emissions. This system would cap, or place a limit, on the amount of pollution a company is allowed. Companies that exceeded their cap would have to pay. Companies that polluted less than their cap could trade or sell their remaining pollution allowance to other companies. Cap and trade would essentially pay companies to limit pollution. In 2006 the World Health Organization issued new Air Quality Guidelines. The WHOs guidelines are tougher than most individual countries existing guidelines. The WHO guidelines aim to reduce air pollution-related deaths by 15 percent a year. Reduction Anybody can take steps to reduce air pollution. Millions of people every day make simple changes in their lives to do this. Taking public transportation instead of driving a car, or riding a bike instead of traveling in carbon dioxide-emitting vehicles are a couple of ways to reduce air pollution. Avoiding aerosol cans, recycling yard trimmings instead of burning them, and not smoking cigarettes are others.

Downwinders The United States conducted tests of nuclear weapons at the Nevada Test Site in southern Nevada in the 1950s. These tests sent invisible radioactive particles into the atmosphere. These air pollution particles traveled with wind currents, eventually falling to Earth, sometimes hundreds of miles away in states including Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Washington. These areas were considered to be "downwind" from the Nevada Test Site. Decades later, people living in those downwind areascalled "downwinders"began developing cancer at above-normal rates. In 1990, the U.S. government passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. This law entitles some downwinders to payments of $50,000.

Greenhouse Gases There are five major greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere.

water vapor
carbon dioxide
nitrous oxide

London Smog What has come to be known as the London Smog of 1952, or the Great Smog of 1952, was a four-day incident that sickened 100,000 people and caused as many as 12,000 deaths. Very cold weather in December 1952 led residents of London, England, to burn more coal to keep warm. Smoke and other pollutants became trapped by a thick fog that settled over the city. The polluted fog became so thick that people could only see a few meters in front of them.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Air Pollution — Air Pollution: Causes, Effects, And Solutions

Air Pollution: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

Categories: Air Pollution Environmental Issues Pollution

About this sample

Words: 1158 |

Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 1158 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Causes and effects of air pollution, possible solutions to the problem of air pollution.

This essay explores the critical issue of air pollution, emphasizing human activities as the primary contributors, including fossil fuel combustion, industrial emissions, and transportation. It discusses the harmful effects of air pollution on human health, the environment, and global ecosystems, highlighting the urgency of addressing this global crisis. Offering practical solutions, such as adopting renewable energy sources and implementing cleaner technologies, the essay serves as a problem and solution essay example detailed , advocating for collective action to mitigate the adverse effects of air pollution and protect the planet for future generations.

Works Cited

Begum, B. A., & Hill, J. A. (2019). Air Pollution and Public Health: A Primer. In Air Pollution and Health (pp. 3-22). Elsevier.
Bhaskar, A., & Upadhyay, R. (2021). Air Pollution: Causes, Impacts and Control Measures. In Environmental Pollution and Control Measures (pp. 29-52). Springer.
Chakraborty, S., & Pervez, S. (2019). Impact of Air Pollution on Human Health and Environment: An Overview. In Environmental Impact of Chemical Pollution (pp. 3-24). Elsevier.
Dockery, D. W., & Pope III, C. A. (2020). Air Pollution and Health. In Air Pollution and Health (pp. 23-35). Elsevier.
Garg, A., Martin, R. V., & Crounse, J. D. (2021). Air Pollution and Its Effects on Climate and Health. In Climate and Air Pollution (pp. 1-21). Springer.
Hidy, G. M., & Pennell, W. T. (2020). Air Pollution: Chemicals and Particles in Ambient Air and Their Health Effects. In Encyclopedia of Environmental Health (pp. 22-31). Elsevier.
Kampa, M., & Castanas, E. (2020). Human Health Effects of Air Pollution. Environmental Pollution, 151, 362-367.
Lelieveld, J., Evans, J. S., Fnais, M., Giannadaki, D., & Pozzer, A. (2015). The Contribution of Outdoor Air Pollution Sources to Premature Mortality on a Global Scale. Nature, 525(7569), 367-371.
Pruss-Ustun, A., Wolf, J., Corvalan, C., Bos, R., & Neira, M. (2016). Preventing Disease through Healthy Environments: A Global Assessment of the Burden of Disease from Environmental Risks. World Health Organization.
World Health Organization. (2018). Ambient Air Pollution: A Global Assessment of Exposure and Burden of Disease. World Health Organization.

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4 Causes and Effects of Air Pollution

Air pollution refers to the release of pollutants into the air, which can be harmful and impose significant health risks to the population, including increased chances of coronary and respiratory diseases, as well as preliminary deaths. Made up of chemicals and pollutant particles, air pollution is one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime . Read on to learn about the major causes and effects of air pollution.

Sources of Air Pollution

1. burning fossil fuels.

The biggest contributors of air pollution are from industry sources and power plants to generate power, as well as fossil fuel motor vehicles. The continuous burning of fossil fuels releases air pollutants, emissions and chemicals into the air and atmosphere.

In 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that about 68 million tons of air pollution were emitted into the atmosphere in the US, contributing to the “formation of ozone and particles, the deposition of acids, and visibility impairment.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates around 91% of the world’s population lives in places where air quality levels exceed limits. Developing and low-income countries experienced the greatest impacts from outdoor air pollution, particularly in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions.

Climate change has an interrelated relationship with the environment and air pollution. As more air pollutants and greenhouse gases are released, this alters the energy balance between the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface , which leads to global warming. The global temperature increase in turns raises the production of allergenic air pollutants such as mold and extends pollen seasons.

2. Ozone and Smog

Ozone is a gas that when it forms air pollution and reaches too close to the ground, it significantly reduces visibility. We call this smog. This form of air pollution occurs when sunlight reacts with nitrogen oxides released from car exhausts and coal power plants. The ozone typically forms a protective layer in the atmosphere to protect the population from ultraviolet radiation (UV), but as it transforms into smog, it is harmful to human health and poses higher risks of respiratory illnesses like asthma and lung cancer.

3. Weather Conditions

Air pollution and poor air quality can be attributed to changing weather conditions. For example, dust storms in China would carry clouds of industrial pollutants and particulate pollution across the Gobi desert into neighbouring countries such as Korea and Japan during spring season. Likewise during periods of high air pressure, air becomes stagnant and pollutants are more concentrated over certain areas.

4. Heatwaves and Wildfires

Heatwaves not only lead to an increase of temperature, but are some of the causes and effects of air pollution. Hotter, stagnant air during a heat wave increases the concentration of particle pollutants. Extreme heat wave events also have higher risks of large-scale wildfires, which in turn, releases more carbon emissions, smog and pollutants into the air.

You might also like: 15 Most Polluted Cities in the World

Effects of Air Pollution

Air pollution contributes to the death of 5 million every year and about 6% of the global population, according to Our World in Data . The lethal combination of outdoor air pollution and toxic emissions from burning fossil fuel has been one of the leading causes of chronic and often terminal health issues including heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and lower respiratory infections.

The WHO estimates that nine out of 10 people breathe air that contains high levels of pollutants. In 2017, close to 15% of population deaths in low income countries like South and East Asia are attributed to air pollution, while the higher income countries experience only about 2%.

The drastic difference in mortality numbers can be linked to legislations such as the Clean Air Act implemented by high-income countries like the US. Such legislations usually establishes national air quality standards and regulations on hazardous air pollutants. The UK in particular, saw a sharp 60% decline in air pollutant emissions between the 1970 and 2016.

The environmental effects of air pollution are also vast, ranging from acid rain to contributing to birth defects, reproductive failure, and diseases in wildlife animals. Agriculture is also a victim of air pollution as increased pollutants can affect crop and forest yields, reduce growth and increased plant susceptibility to disease from increased UV radiation caused by ozone depletion.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, air pollution has once again returned to the spotlight in relation to its role in transmitting virus molecules. Preliminary studies have identified a positive correlation between COVID-19-related mortalities and air pollution. China, being one of the most polluted countries in the world, can potentially link its high death toll during the pandemic to its poor air quality. Although, more research needs to be conducted to make any substantive correlation.

You might also like: History of Air Pollution: Have We Reached the Point of No Return?

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Causes of Pollution Essay

Pollution is the result of dangerous compounds, or pollutants, interacting with the elements of the natural environment. There are many different types of pollution—soil, air, water, and land pollution. Whatever type of pollution it is, it has a negative impact on our environment, people, animals and ecosystem as a whole. Here are some essays on ‘Causes of Pollution’ that students can refer to for their school assignments and projects.

100 Words Essay Causes of Pollution

200 words essay causes of pollution, 500 words essay causes of pollution.

Pollution is the release of undesired elements into the environment, which can harm our planet. Water pollution, air pollution, soil contamination, and noise pollution are the four basic forms of pollution. Our reckless actions have resulted in pollution of many types. We directly dump waste into bodies of water, which causes water contamination. Vehicles and Industrial waste that emit smoke into the air generate air pollution, which makes it difficult for all living things to breathe. Directly depositing the waste into landfills leads to soil pollution. Although it cannot be seen, noise pollution is a severe type of pollution that can harm our ears.

Environmental pollution is caused by a variety of human activities. Global population growth and widespread development have led to a rise in human activity, including deforestation, industrialization, and urbanisation, among other things. Each of these activities has a different impact on the environment. For example, industrialization pollutes air and water bodies because manufacturing sectors produce a large amount of harmful pollutants in both gaseous and liquid forms. Lack of effective management causes these contaminants to be released into the environment, causing pollution of the air and water sources. Similarly, vehicles used for transportation run on fossil fuels, which when burned release dangerous chemicals like Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide etc.

These gases then interact with the atmosphere, generating air pollution that is the cause for several respiratory diseases and also result in genetic problems in both plants and animals. Even while human actions like deforestation didn't directly cause pollution, they nonetheless make the planet less able to combat it. Natural air filters and buffer zones are provided by forests. In addition to absorbing noise pollution, they also convert carbon dioxide into vital oxygen. When more forests are destroyed, the concentration of these harmful chemicals in the atmosphere rises, which has a negative impact on both human and animal health.

The natural order of our ecosystems has been disturbed by pollution, which has had serious negative impacts on the inhabitants of Earth. Unchecked and unlawful activities that abuse natural resources and disregard regulations established by pollution control boards around the nation are the main cause of pollution. A pollutant can be in any form. It might be a liquid, a solid, or even a gas. No matter what condition the pollutant is in, if it is not controlled, it could have catastrophic repercussions on our natural ecosystem.

Factors Leading To Pollution

We've covered a few of the key causes of environmental contamination below. All of the elements are related to human activities and the human desire to extend, explore, and grow.

Plastic Usage | One of the primary contributors to environmental degradation is the excessive use of plastic in consumable products like bags and other consumable materials. Plastic is not biodegradable and will remain in the environment in its current form for generations. Thin plastic bags shatter into tiny fragments that end up in the land and water bodies, polluting them.

Industrialisation | Our pursuit of economic development has given rise to several industries around the world. As a result, many manufacturing businesses release harmful gases into the atmosphere. Industrial emissions may also include solids, chemicals, and harmful gases. These compounds are freely released into the environment by industries due to a lack of appropriate policies, which in turn results in environmental damage.

Fossil Fuels | The primary fuel for transportation vehicles is fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are byproducts of burning fossil fuels. The quantity of these harmful chemicals in the atmosphere increases as the number of automobiles on the road increases. Additionally, businesses that produce fossil fuels release toxic gaseous compounds that are particularly bad for the environment.

Heavy Machinery And Development | Every minute, new buildings are being built; within a few hours, people and equipment can be transported between locations using large jet liners and transportation vehicles. The biggest sources of noise pollution are these large equipment used in construction and aircrafts. Despite not being as serious as air and water pollution, noise pollution nevertheless has a negative influence on both the environment and human health.

Agricultural Activities | Agricultural practices, such as the use of chemical fertilisers, damage the soil, causing soil pollution. Modern fertilisers contain chemicals that, while temporarily increasing crop productivity, are bad for the environment in the long run. These substances mix with the soil and are later carried away by runoff into our surface and groundwater supplies.

How To Combat Pollution

After becoming aware of the damaging effects of pollution, everyone has a duty to take steps to prevent it. We should be aware of every precaution that can be taken to reduce pollution. For instance, we should avoid using fireworks during celebrations, use public transit or carpool, use loudspeakers sparingly, and stop from honking in public to lessen noise pollution. We must keep this situation in mind at all times so that we can react appropriately. It is our responsibility to practise caution and spread awareness among people around us at first. We should take actions that are good for the environment, including planting more trees, using less plastic, using more eco-friendly household items, etc.When addressing global pollution, always keep in mind that every small action now will have a greater impact tomorrow.

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Photo of polluted stormwater draining into a creek from an overflow

Water pollution: an introduction

by Chris Woodford . Last updated: October 1, 2023.

O ver two thirds of Earth's surface is covered by water ; less than a third is taken up by land. As Earth's population continues to grow, people are putting ever-increasing pressure on the planet's water resources. In a sense, our oceans, rivers , and other inland waters are being "squeezed" by human activities—not so they take up less room, but so their quality is reduced. Poorer water quality means water pollution .

We know that pollution is a human problem because it is a relatively recent development in the planet's history: before the 19th century Industrial Revolution, people lived more in harmony with their immediate environment. As industrialization has spread around the globe, so the problem of pollution has spread with it. When Earth's population was much smaller, no one believed pollution would ever present a serious problem. It was once popularly believed that the oceans were far too big to pollute. Today, with around 7 billion people on the planet, it has become apparent that there are limits. Pollution is one of the signs that humans have exceeded those limits.

Photo: Stormwater pollution entering a river from a drain. Photo by Peter C Van Metre courtesy of US Geological Survey .

What is water pollution?

Water pollution can be defined in many ways. Usually, it means one or more substances have built up in water to such an extent that they cause problems for animals or people. Oceans, lakes, rivers, and other inland waters can naturally clean up a certain amount of pollution by dispersing it harmlessly. If you poured a cup of black ink into a river, the ink would quickly disappear into the river's much larger volume of clean water. The ink would still be there in the river, but in such a low concentration that you would not be able to see it. At such low levels, the chemicals in the ink probably would not present any real problem. However, if you poured gallons of ink into a river every few seconds through a pipe, the river would quickly turn black. The chemicals in the ink could very quickly have an effect on the quality of the water. This, in turn, could affect the health of all the plants, animals, and humans whose lives depend on the river.

Photo: Pollution means adding substances to the environment that don't belong there—like the air pollution from this smokestack. Pollution is not always as obvious as this, however.

Thus, water pollution is all about quantities : how much of a polluting substance is released and how big a volume of water it is released into. A small quantity of a toxic chemical may have little impact if it is spilled into the ocean from a ship. But the same amount of the same chemical can have a much bigger impact pumped into a lake or river, where there is less clean water to disperse it.

"The introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment (including estuaries) resulting in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance to marine activities, including fishing, impairment of quality for use of sea water and reduction of amenities." [1]

What are the main types of water pollution?

When we think of Earth's water resources, we think of huge oceans, lakes, and rivers. Water resources like these are called surface waters . The most obvious type of water pollution affects surface waters. For example, a spill from an oil tanker creates an oil slick that can affect a vast area of the ocean.

Photo: Detergent pollution entering a river—an example of surface water pollution. Photo courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife Service Photo Library.

Not all of Earth's water sits on its surface, however. A great deal of water is held in underground rock structures known as aquifers, which we cannot see and seldom think about. Water stored underground in aquifers is known as groundwater . Aquifers feed our rivers and supply much of our drinking water. They too can become polluted, for example, when weed killers used in people's gardens drain into the ground. Groundwater pollution is much less obvious than surface-water pollution, but is no less of a problem. In 1996, a study in Iowa in the United States found that over half the state's groundwater wells were contaminated with weed killers. You might think things would have improved since then, but, two decades on, all that's really changed is the name of the chemicals we're using. Today, numerous scientific studies are still finding weed killers in groundwater in worrying quantities: a 2012 study discovered glyphosate in 41 percent of 140 groundwater samples from Catalonia, Spain; scientific opinion differs on whether this is safe or not. [2]

Surface waters and groundwater are the two types of water resources that pollution affects. There are also two different ways in which pollution can occur. If pollution comes from a single location, such as a discharge pipe attached to a factory, it is known as point-source pollution . Other examples of point source pollution include an oil spill from a tanker, a discharge from a smoke stack (factory chimney), or someone pouring oil from their car down a drain. A great deal of water pollution happens not from one single source but from many different scattered sources. This is called nonpoint-source pollution .

When point-source pollution enters the environment, the place most affected is usually the area immediately around the source. For example, when a tanker accident occurs, the oil slick is concentrated around the tanker itself and, in the right ocean conditions, the pollution disperses the further away from the tanker you go. This is less likely to happen with nonpoint source pollution which, by definition, enters the environment from many different places at once.

Sometimes pollution that enters the environment in one place has an effect hundreds or even thousands of miles away. This is known as transboundary pollution . One example is the way radioactive waste travels through the oceans from nuclear reprocessing plants in England and France to nearby countries such as Ireland and Norway.

How do we know when water is polluted?

Some forms of water pollution are very obvious: everyone has seen TV news footage of oil slicks filmed from helicopters flying overhead. Water pollution is usually less obvious and much harder to detect than this. But how can we measure water pollution when we cannot see it? How do we even know it's there?

There are two main ways of measuring the quality of water. One is to take samples of the water and measure the concentrations of different chemicals that it contains. If the chemicals are dangerous or the concentrations are too great, we can regard the water as polluted. Measurements like this are known as chemical indicators of water quality. Another way to measure water quality involves examining the fish, insects, and other invertebrates that the water will support. If many different types of creatures can live in a river, the quality is likely to be very good; if the river supports no fish life at all, the quality is obviously much poorer. Measurements like this are called biological indicators of water quality.

What are the causes of water pollution?

Most water pollution doesn't begin in the water itself. Take the oceans: around 80 percent of ocean pollution enters our seas from the land. [16] Virtually any human activity can have an effect on the quality of our water environment. When farmers fertilize the fields, the chemicals they use are gradually washed by rain into the groundwater or surface waters nearby. Sometimes the causes of water pollution are quite surprising. Chemicals released by smokestacks (chimneys) can enter the atmosphere and then fall back to earth as rain, entering seas, rivers, and lakes and causing water pollution. That's called atmospheric deposition . Water pollution has many different causes and this is one of the reasons why it is such a difficult problem to solve.

With billions of people on the planet, disposing of sewage waste is a major problem. According to 2017 figures from the World Health Organization, some 2 billion people (about a quarter of the world's population) don't have access to safe drinking water or the most basic sanitation, 3.4 billion (60 people of the population) lack "safely managed" sanitation (unshared, with waste properly treated). Although there have been great improvements in securing access to clean water, relatively little, genuine progress has been made on improving global sanitation in the last decade. [20] Sewage disposal affects people's immediate environments and leads to water-related illnesses such as diarrhea that kills 525,000 children under five each year. [3] (Back in 2002, the World Health Organization estimated that water-related diseases could kill as many as 135 million people by 2020; in 2019, the WHO was still estimating the annual death toll from poor water and sanitation at over 800,000 people a year.) In developed countries, most people have flush toilets that take sewage waste quickly and hygienically away from their homes.

Yet the problem of sewage disposal does not end there. When you flush the toilet, the waste has to go somewhere and, even after it leaves the sewage treatment works, there is still waste to dispose of. Sometimes sewage waste is pumped untreated into the sea. Until the early 1990s, around 5 million tons of sewage was dumped by barge from New York City each year. [4] According to 2002 figures from the UK government's Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the sewers of Britain collect around 11 billion liters of waste water every day; there are still 31,000 sewage overflow pipes through which, in certain circumstances, such as heavy storms, raw sewage is pumped untreated into the sea. [5] The New River that crosses the border from Mexico into California once carried with it 20–25 million gallons (76–95 million liters) of raw sewage each day; a new waste water plant on the US-Mexico border, completed in 2007, substantially solved that problem. [6] Unfortunately, even in some of the richest nations, the practice of dumping sewage into the sea continues. In early 2012, it was reported that the tiny island of Guernsey (between Britain and France) has decided to continue dumping 16,000 tons of raw sewage into the sea each day.

In theory, sewage is a completely natural substance that should be broken down harmlessly in the environment: 90 percent of sewage is water. [7] In practice, sewage contains all kinds of other chemicals, from the pharmaceutical drugs people take to the paper , plastic , and other wastes they flush down their toilets. When people are sick with viruses, the sewage they produce carries those viruses into the environment. It is possible to catch illnesses such as hepatitis, typhoid, and cholera from river and sea water.

Photo: Nutrients make crops grow, but cause pollution when they seep into rivers and other watercourses. Photo courtesy of US Department of Agriculture (Flickr) .

Suitably treated and used in moderate quantities, sewage can be a fertilizer: it returns important nutrients to the environment, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which plants and animals need for growth. The trouble is, sewage is often released in much greater quantities than the natural environment can cope with. Chemical fertilizers used by farmers also add nutrients to the soil, which drain into rivers and seas and add to the fertilizing effect of the sewage. Together, sewage and fertilizers can cause a massive increase in the growth of algae or plankton that overwhelms huge areas of oceans, lakes, or rivers. This is known as a harmful algal bloom (also known as an HAB or red tide, because it can turn the water red). It is harmful because it removes oxygen from the water that kills other forms of life, leading to what is known as a dead zone . The Gulf of Mexico has one of the world's most spectacular dead zones. Each summer, according to studies by the NOAA , it typically grows to an area of around 5500–6500 square miles (14,000–16,800 square kilometers), which is about the same size as the state of Connecticut. [21]

Waste water

A few statistics illustrate the scale of the problem that waste water (chemicals washed down drains and discharged from factories) can cause. Around half of all ocean pollution is caused by sewage and waste water. Each year, the world generates perhaps 5–10 billion tons of industrial waste, much of which is pumped untreated into rivers, oceans, and other waterways. [8] In the United States alone, around 400,000 factories take clean water from rivers, and many pump polluted waters back in their place. However, there have been major improvements in waste water treatment recently. Since 1970, in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has invested about $70 billion in improving water treatment plants that, as of 2021, serve around 90 percent of the US population (compared to just 69 percent in 1972). However, another $271 billion is still needed to update and upgrade the system. [15]

Factories are point sources of water pollution, but quite a lot of water is polluted by ordinary people from nonpoint sources; this is how ordinary water becomes waste water in the first place. Virtually everyone pours chemicals of one sort or another down their drains or toilets. Even detergents used in washing machines and dishwashers eventually end up in our rivers and oceans. So do the pesticides we use on our gardens. A lot of toxic pollution also enters waste water from highway runoff . Highways are typically covered with a cocktail of toxic chemicals—everything from spilled fuel and brake fluids to bits of worn tires (themselves made from chemical additives) and exhaust emissions. When it rains, these chemicals wash into drains and rivers. It is not unusual for heavy summer rainstorms to wash toxic chemicals into rivers in such concentrations that they kill large numbers of fish overnight. It has been estimated that, in one year, the highway runoff from a single large city leaks as much oil into our water environment as a typical tanker spill. Some highway runoff runs away into drains; others can pollute groundwater or accumulate in the land next to a road, making it increasingly toxic as the years go by.

Chemical waste

Detergents are relatively mild substances. At the opposite end of the spectrum are highly toxic chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) . They were once widely used to manufacture electronic circuit boards , but their harmful effects have now been recognized and their use is highly restricted in many countries. Nevertheless, an estimated half million tons of PCBs were discharged into the environment during the 20th century. [9] In a classic example of transboundary pollution, traces of PCBs have even been found in birds and fish in the Arctic. They were carried there through the oceans, thousands of miles from where they originally entered the environment. Although PCBs are widely banned, their effects will be felt for many decades because they last a long time in the environment without breaking down.

Another kind of toxic pollution comes from heavy metals , such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. Lead was once commonly used in gasoline (petrol), though its use is now restricted in some countries. Mercury and cadmium are still used in batteries (though some brands now use other metals instead). Until recently, a highly toxic chemical called tributyltin (TBT) was used in paints to protect boats from the ravaging effects of the oceans. Ironically, however, TBT was gradually recognized as a pollutant: boats painted with it were doing as much damage to the oceans as the oceans were doing to the boats.

The best known example of heavy metal pollution in the oceans took place in 1938 when a Japanese factory discharged a significant amount of mercury metal into Minamata Bay, contaminating the fish stocks there. It took a decade for the problem to come to light. By that time, many local people had eaten the fish and around 2000 were poisoned. Hundreds of people were left dead or disabled. [10]

Radioactive waste

People view radioactive waste with great alarm—and for good reason. At high enough concentrations it can kill; in lower concentrations it can cause cancers and other illnesses. The biggest sources of radioactive pollution in Europe are two factories that reprocess waste fuel from nuclear power plants : Sellafield on the north-west coast of Britain and Cap La Hague on the north coast of France. Both discharge radioactive waste water into the sea, which ocean currents then carry around the world. Countries such as Norway, which lie downstream from Britain, receive significant doses of radioactive pollution from Sellafield. [19] The Norwegian government has repeatedly complained that Sellafield has increased radiation levels along its coast by 6–10 times. Both the Irish and Norwegian governments continue to press for the plant's closure. [11]

Oil pollution

Photo: Oil-tanker spills are the most spectacular forms of pollution and the ones that catch public attention, but only a fraction of all water pollution happens this way. Photo by Lamar Gore courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife Service Photo Library and US National Archive .

When we think of ocean pollution, huge black oil slicks often spring to mind, yet these spectacular accidents represent only a tiny fraction of all the pollution entering our oceans. Even considering oil by itself, tanker spills are not as significant as they might seem: only 12 percent of the oil that enters the oceans comes from tanker accidents; over 70 percent of oil pollution at sea comes from routine shipping and from the oil people pour down drains on land. [12] However, what makes tanker spills so destructive is the sheer quantity of oil they release at once — in other words, the concentration of oil they produce in one very localized part of the marine environment. The biggest oil spill in recent years (and the biggest ever spill in US waters) occurred when the tanker Exxon Valdez broke up in Prince William Sound in Alaska in 1989. Around 12 million gallons (44 million liters) of oil were released into the pristine wilderness—enough to fill your living room 800 times over! Estimates of the marine animals killed in the spill vary from approximately 1000 sea otters and 34,000 birds to as many as 2800 sea otters and 250,000 sea birds. Several billion salmon and herring eggs are also believed to have been destroyed. [13]

If you've ever taken part in a community beach clean, you'll know that plastic is far and away the most common substance that washes up with the waves. There are three reasons for this: plastic is one of the most common materials, used for making virtually every kind of manufactured object from clothing to automobile parts; plastic is light and floats easily so it can travel enormous distances across the oceans; most plastics are not biodegradable (they do not break down naturally in the environment), which means that things like plastic bottle tops can survive in the marine environment for a long time. (A plastic bottle can survive an estimated 450 years in the ocean and plastic fishing line can last up to 600 years.)

While plastics are not toxic in quite the same way as poisonous chemicals, they nevertheless present a major hazard to seabirds, fish, and other marine creatures. For example, plastic fishing lines and other debris can strangle or choke fish. (This is sometimes called ghost fishing .) About half of all the world's seabird species are known to have eaten plastic residues. In one study of 450 shearwaters in the North Pacific, over 80 percent of the birds were found to contain plastic residues in their stomachs. In the early 1990s, marine scientist Tim Benton collected debris from a 2km (1.5 mile) length of beach in the remote Pitcairn islands in the South Pacific. His study recorded approximately a thousand pieces of garbage including 268 pieces of plastic, 71 plastic bottles, and two dolls heads. [14]

Alien species

Most people's idea of water pollution involves things like sewage, toxic metals, or oil slicks, but pollution can be biological as well as chemical. In some parts of the world, alien species are a major problem. Alien species (sometimes known as invasive species ) are animals or plants from one region that have been introduced into a different ecosystem where they do not belong. Outside their normal environment, they have no natural predators, so they rapidly run wild, crowding out the usual animals or plants that thrive there. Common examples of alien species include zebra mussels in the Great Lakes of the USA, which were carried there from Europe by ballast water (waste water flushed from ships ). The Mediterranean Sea has been invaded by a kind of alien algae called Caulerpa taxifolia . In the Black Sea, an alien jellyfish called Mnemiopsis leidyi reduced fish stocks by 90 percent after arriving in ballast water. In San Francisco Bay, Asian clams called Potamocorbula amurensis, also introduced by ballast water, have dramatically altered the ecosystem. In 1999, Cornell University's David Pimentel estimated that alien invaders like this cost the US economy $123 billion a year; in 2014, the European Commission put the cost to Europe at €12 billion a year and "growing all the time. [18]

Other forms of pollution

These are the most common forms of pollution—but by no means the only ones. Heat or thermal pollution from factories and power plants also causes problems in rivers. By raising the temperature, it reduces the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water, thus also reducing the level of aquatic life that the river can support. Another type of pollution involves the disruption of sediments (fine-grained powders) that flow from rivers into the sea. Dams built for hydroelectric power or water reservoirs can reduce the sediment flow. This reduces the formation of beaches, increases coastal erosion (the natural destruction of cliffs by the sea), and reduces the flow of nutrients from rivers into seas (potentially reducing coastal fish stocks). Increased sediments can also present a problem. During construction work, soil, rock, and other fine powders sometimes enters nearby rivers in large quantities, causing it to become turbid (muddy or silted). The extra sediment can block the gills of fish, effectively suffocating them. Construction firms often now take precautions to prevent this kind of pollution from happening.

What are the effects of water pollution?

Some people believe pollution is an inescapable result of human activity: they argue that if we want to have factories, cities, ships, cars, oil, and coastal resorts, some degree of pollution is almost certain to result. In other words, pollution is a necessary evil that people must put up with if they want to make progress. Fortunately, not everyone agrees with this view. One reason people have woken up to the problem of pollution is that it brings costs of its own that undermine any economic benefits that come about by polluting.

Take oil spills, for example. They can happen if tankers are too poorly built to survive accidents at sea. But the economic benefit of compromising on tanker quality brings an economic cost when an oil spill occurs. The oil can wash up on nearby beaches, devastate the ecosystem, and severely affect tourism. The main problem is that the people who bear the cost of the spill (typically a small coastal community) are not the people who caused the problem in the first place (the people who operate the tanker). Yet, arguably, everyone who puts gasoline (petrol) into their car—or uses almost any kind of petroleum-fueled transport—contributes to the problem in some way. So oil spills are a problem for everyone, not just people who live by the coast and tanker operates.

Sewage is another good example of how pollution can affect us all. Sewage discharged into coastal waters can wash up on beaches and cause a health hazard. People who bathe or surf in the water can fall ill if they swallow polluted water—yet sewage can have other harmful effects too: it can poison shellfish (such as cockles and mussels) that grow near the shore. People who eat poisoned shellfish risk suffering from an acute—and sometimes fatal—illness called paralytic shellfish poisoning. Shellfish is no longer caught along many shores because it is simply too polluted with sewage or toxic chemical wastes that have discharged from the land nearby.

Pollution matters because it harms the environment on which people depend. The environment is not something distant and separate from our lives. It's not a pretty shoreline hundreds of miles from our homes or a wilderness landscape that we see only on TV. The environment is everything that surrounds us that gives us life and health. Destroying the environment ultimately reduces the quality of our own lives—and that, most selfishly, is why pollution should matter to all of us.

How can we stop water pollution?

There is no easy way to solve water pollution; if there were, it wouldn't be so much of a problem. Broadly speaking, there are three different things that can help to tackle the problem—education, laws, and economics—and they work together as a team.

Making people aware of the problem is the first step to solving it. In the early 1990s, when surfers in Britain grew tired of catching illnesses from water polluted with sewage, they formed a group called Surfers Against Sewage to force governments and water companies to clean up their act. People who've grown tired of walking the world's polluted beaches often band together to organize community beach-cleaning sessions. Anglers who no longer catch so many fish have campaigned for tougher penalties against factories that pour pollution into our rivers. Greater public awareness can make a positive difference.

One of the biggest problems with water pollution is its transboundary nature. Many rivers cross countries, while seas span whole continents. Pollution discharged by factories in one country with poor environmental standards can cause problems in neighboring nations, even when they have tougher laws and higher standards. Environmental laws can make it tougher for people to pollute, but to be really effective they have to operate across national and international borders. This is why we have international laws governing the oceans, such as the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (signed by over 120 nations), the 1972 London (Dumping) Convention , the 1978 MARPOL International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships , and the 1998 OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic . The European Union has water-protection laws (known as directives) that apply to all of its member states. They include the 1976 Bathing Water Directive (updated 2006), which seeks to ensure the quality of the waters that people use for recreation. Most countries also have their own water pollution laws. In the United States, for example, there is the 1972 Clean Water Act and the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act .

Most environmental experts agree that the best way to tackle pollution is through something called the polluter pays principle . This means that whoever causes pollution should have to pay to clean it up, one way or another. Polluter pays can operate in all kinds of ways. It could mean that tanker owners should have to take out insurance that covers the cost of oil spill cleanups, for example. It could also mean that shoppers should have to pay for their plastic grocery bags, as is now common in Ireland, to encourage recycling and minimize waste. Or it could mean that factories that use rivers must have their water inlet pipes downstream of their effluent outflow pipes, so if they cause pollution they themselves are the first people to suffer. Ultimately, the polluter pays principle is designed to deter people from polluting by making it less expensive for them to behave in an environmentally responsible way.

Our clean future

Life is ultimately about choices—and so is pollution. We can live with sewage-strewn beaches, dead rivers, and fish that are too poisonous to eat. Or we can work together to keep the environment clean so the plants, animals, and people who depend on it remain healthy. We can take individual action to help reduce water pollution, for example, by using environmentally friendly detergents , not pouring oil down drains, reducing pesticides, and so on. We can take community action too, by helping out on beach cleans or litter picks to keep our rivers and seas that little bit cleaner. And we can take action as countries and continents to pass laws that will make pollution harder and the world less polluted. Working together, we can make pollution less of a problem—and the world a better place.

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Air pollution (introduction)
Climate change and global warming
Environmentalism (introduction)
Land pollution
Organic food and farming

For older readers

For younger readers.

Earth Matters by Lynn Dicks et al. Dorling Kindersley, 2008: A more general guide to problems Earth faces, with each major biome explored separately. In case you're interested, I contributed the polar regions chapter. The book is mostly a simple read and probably suitable for 7–10 (and maybe 9–12).

Selected news articles

Water pollution videos, notes and references.

This article was originally written for the UK Rivers Network and first published on their website in April 2006. It is revised and updated every year.

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Environmental Pollution Essay

Essay on Environmental Pollution

The environment is the surrounding of an organism. The environment in which an organism lives is made up of various components like air, water, land, etc. These components are found in fixed proportions to create a harmonious balance in the environment for the organism to live in. Any kind of undesirable and unwanted change in the proportions of these components can be termed as pollution. This issue is increasing with every passing year. It is an issue that creates economic, physical, and social troubles. The environmental problem that is worsening with each day needs to be addressed so that its harmful effects on humans as well as the planet can be discarded.

Causes of Environmental Pollution

With the rise of the industries and the migration of people from villages to cities in search of employment, there has been a regular increase in the problem of proper housing and unhygienic living conditions. These reasons have given rise to factors that cause pollution.

Environmental pollution is of five basic types namely, Air, Water, Soil, and Noise pollution.

Air Pollution: Air pollution is a major issue in today’s world. The smoke pouring out of factory chimneys and automobiles pollute the air that we breathe in. Gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulphur dioxide are emitted with this smoke which mixes with air and causes great harm to the human body, flora, and fauna. The dry-farm waste, dry grass, leaves, and coal used as domestic fuels in our villages also produce harmful gases. Acid rain occurs due to an excess of sulphur dioxide in the air.

The Main Sources of Air Pollution are as Follows:

Automobile pollution

Industrial air pollution

Burning garbage

Brick kilns

Indoor air pollution

Decomposed animals and plants

Radioactive elements

Water Pollution: Water pollution is one of the most serious environmental issues. The waste products from the growing industries and sewage water are not treated properly before disposing of the wastewater into the rivers and other water bodies, thus leading to water pollution. Agricultural processes with excess fertilizers and pesticides also pollute the water bodies.

The Main Sources of Water Pollution as Follows:

Marine commerce.

Industrial effluents joining seas and oceans.

Dumping of radioactive substances into seawater.

Sewage is disposed of into the sea by rivers.

Offshore oil rigs.

Recreational activities.

Agricultural pollutants are disposed of into the water bodies.

Soil or Land Pollution: Soil pollution or land pollution results from the deposition of solid waste, accumulation of biodegradable material, deposition of chemicals with poisonous chemical compositions, etc on the open land. Waste materials such as plastics, polythene, and bottles, cause land pollution and render the soil infertile. Moreover, the dumping of dead bodies of animals adds to this issue. Soil pollution causes several diseases in man and animals like Cholera, Dysentery, Typhoid, etc.

The Main Causes of Soil Pollution are as Follows:

Industrial waste

Urban commercial and domestic waste

Chemical fertilizers

Biomedical waste

Noise Pollution: With an increasing population, urbanization, and industrialization, noise pollution is becoming a serious form of pollution affecting human life, health, and comfort in daily life. Horns of vehicles, loudspeakers, music systems, and industrial activities contribute to noise pollution.

The Main Sources of Noise Pollution as Follows:

The machines in the factories and industries produce whistling sounds, crushing noise, and thundering sounds.

Loudspeakers, horns of vehicles.

Blasting of rocks and earth, drilling tube wells, ventilation fans, and heavy earth-moving machinery at construction sites.

How Pollution Harms Health and Environment

The lives of people and other creatures are affected by environmental pollution, both directly and indirectly. For centuries, these living organisms have coexisted with humans on the planet.

1. Effect on the Environment

Smog is formed when carbon and dust particles bind together in the air, causing respiratory problems, haze, and smoke. These are created by the combustion of fossil fuels in industrial and manufacturing facilities and vehicle combustion of carbon fumes.

Furthermore, these factors impact the immune systems of birds, making them carriers of viruses and diseases. It also has an impact on the body's system and organs.

2. Land, Soil, and Food Effects

The degradation of human organic and chemical waste harms the land and soil. It also releases chemicals into the land and water. Pesticides, fertilisers, soil erosion, and crop residues are the main causes of land and soil pollution.

3. Effects on water

Water is easily contaminated by any pollutant, whether it be human waste or factory chemical discharge. We also use this water for crop irrigation and drinking. They, too, get polluted as a result of infection. Furthermore, an animal dies as a result of drinking the same tainted water.

Furthermore, approximately 80% of land-based pollutants such as chemical, industrial, and agricultural waste wind up in water bodies.

Furthermore, because these water basins eventually link to the sea, they contaminate the sea's biodiversity indirectly.

4. Food Reaction

Crops and agricultural produce become poisonous as a result of contaminated soil and water. These crops are laced with chemical components from the start of their lives until harvest when they reach a mass level. Due to this, tainted food has an impact on our health and organs.

5. Climate Change Impact

Climate change is also a source of pollution in the environment. It also has an impact on the ecosystem's physical and biological components.

Ozone depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, and global warming are all examples of environmental pollution. Because these water basins eventually link to the sea, they contaminate the sea's biodiversity indirectly. Furthermore, their consequences may be fatal for future generations. The unpredictably cold and hot climate impacts the earth’s natural system.

Furthermore, earthquakes, starvation, smog, carbon particles, shallow rain or snow, thunderstorms, volcanic eruptions, and avalanches are all caused by climate change, caused entirely by environmental pollution.

How to Minimise Environmental Pollution?

To minimise this issue, some preventive measures need to be taken.

Principle of 3R’s: To save the environment, use the principle of 3 R’s; Reuse, Reduce and Recycle.

Reuse products again and again. Instead of throwing away things after one use, find a way to use them again. Reduce the generation of waste products.

Recycle: Paper, plastics, glass, and electronic items can be processed into new products while using fewer natural resources and lesser energy.

To prevent and control air pollution, better-designed equipment, and smokeless fuels should be used in homes and industries. More and more trees should be planted to balance the ecosystem and control greenhouse effects.

Noise pollution can be minimised by better design and proper maintenance of vehicles. Industrial noise can be reduced by soundproofing equipment like generators, etc.

To control soil pollution, we must stop the usage of plastic. Sewage should be treated properly before using it as fertilizers and as landfills. Encourage organic farming as this process involves the use of biological materials and avoiding synthetic substances to maintain soil fertility and ecological balance.

Several measures can be adopted to control water pollution. Some of them are water consumption and usage that can be minimized by altering the techniques involved. Water should be reused with treatment.

The melting icebergs in Antarctica resulted in rising sea levels due to the world's environmental pollution, which had become a serious problem due to global warming, which had become a significant concern. Rising carbon pollution poses a risk for causing natural disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, and other natural disasters.

The Hiroshima-Nagasaki and Chernobyl disasters in Russia have irreversibly harmed humanity. Different countries around the world are responding to these calamities in the most effective way possible.

Different countries around the world are responding to these calamities in the most effective way possible. More public awareness campaigns are being established to educate people about the hazards of pollution and the importance of protecting our environment. Greener lifestyles are becoming more popular; for example, energy-efficient lighting, new climate-friendly autos, and the usage of wind and solar power are just a few examples.

Governments emphasise the need to plant more trees, minimise the use of plastics, improve natural waste recovery, and reduce pesticide use. This ecological way of living has helped humanity save other creatures from extinction while making the Earth a greener and safer ecology.

Conclusion

It is the responsibility of every individual to save our planet from these environmental contamination agents. If preventive measures are not taken then our future generation will have to face major repercussions. The government is also taking steps to create public awareness. Every individual should be involved in helping to reduce and control pollution.

FAQs on Environmental Pollution Essay

1. What do you understand by ‘Environmental Pollution’?

Environmental pollution is the contamination of the environment and surroundings like air, water, soil by the discharge of harmful substances.

2. What preventive measures should be taken to save our environment?

Some of the preventive measures that should be taken to save our environment are discussed below.

We can save our environment by adopting the concept of carpooling and promoting public transport to save fuel. Smoking bars are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations that prohibit tobacco smoking in workplaces and other public places.

The use of Fossil fuels should be restricted because it causes major environmental issues like global warming.

Encourage organic farming to maintain the fertility of the soil.

3. What are the main sources of soil pollution?

The main sources of soil pollution as follows:

Industrial waste

Urban commercial and domestic waste

Chemical fertilizers

Biomedical waste

4. What is organic farming?

It is a farming method that involves growing and nurturing crops without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

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Air Pollution

What to know.

Climate change is increasing ground-level ozone and particulate matter air pollution in some locations. This leads to many negative impacts on human health.

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Health impact

Climate change is projected to harm human health by increasing ground-level ozone and/or particulate matter air pollution in some locations. Ground-level ozone (a key component of smog) is associated with many health problems:

Decreased lung function
Increased hospital visits
Increased emergency room visits for asthma
Increases in premature deaths

Ozone formation

Factors that affect ozone formation include heat, concentrations of precursor chemicals, and methane emissions. Wildfires, air stagnation, and other factors affect particulate matter concentrations.

Climate change intensifies these factors, projecting higher ozone and particulate matter concentrations in specific regions.

Increases in global temperatures could cause associated increases in premature deaths related to worsened ozone and particle pollution.

Health outcome predictions

By 2050, researchers predict that there could be an increase of 1,000 to 4,300 premature deaths annually in the United States due to the combined effects of ozone and particle pollution. This is assuming no changes in regulations or population characteristics. The impact of climate change on airborne particles is less certain compared to ozone.

The current health costs of ozone pollution, which surpass national standards, have resulted in an estimated $6.5 billion nationwide in 2008. These estimates are based on a U.S. assessment of health impacts from ozone levels between 2000 and 2002.

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Impact of Microplastic on the Environment Essay

While the environmental impact of plastic has been proven, and people are trying to reduce its use in everyday life, the issue of the impact of microplastics on the environment still needs to be fully understood. Microplastics are not large particles of plastic that tend to accumulate in an ecosystem. Consequently, its momentary negative impact on the environment and ecology may not be noticeable at first glance, but it can cause significant harm in the future. Animals, such as fish, can ingest microplastics, and large accumulations can destroy animals’ natural habitats, leading to their extinction. In addition, it may contain potentially toxic chemicals that harm the environment. Therefore, the question of the negative impact of microplastics requires additional research.

The ways in which microplastics enter the environment are very different. However, human activity is the main source of plastic pollution (Booth & Sørensen, 2020). This environmental problem is especially evident in regions with high population density and developed industries. As a result of industrial activity, large arrays of microplastics enter the environment, where they accumulate and accumulate. Minor emissions of this element do not pose a significant threat since its particles are very small. However, on a large industrial scale, microplastics are released in large quantities, negatively affecting the environment and ecology. In addition, microplastic particles can accumulate even in regions with no large factories and factories and where people try to lead an environmentally-friendly way of life (Booth & Sørensen, 2020). This element settles on various surfaces and, therefore, can be transported along with the movement of people.

While a wealth of information and resources is available on the origins of microplastics, little research has been done on its negative impact and how it can be reduced. The need to study these aspects of this topic is due to the need to attract more public attention to plastic pollution and provide people with options to reduce harm. For example, researchers focus on the toxic substances and chemicals in microplastics (Mitrano & Wohlleben, 2020). However, illustrative examples of negative and possible future environmental impacts have been little analyzed. In addition, Mitrano & Wohlleben (2020) propose a microplastic regulation solution at the federal level, which implies policy development and transformation of industrial practices. Since manufacturers building their activities are based on consumer behavior and take into account their needs in making management decisions, it is necessary to convey information to society about the problem of microplastic pollution. Therefore, it is necessary to develop information campaigns and educational programs to protect the environment from this element’s negative impact.

The topic is interesting for research due to a large amount of missing information and the study of the impact of microplastics on the environment. Over the past few years, environmentalists have mainly focused on solving the problem of plastic pollution and searching for materials that can replace plastic in daily use. However, microplastics continue to accumulate in ecosystems due to the activities of industries using them. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and adopt methods for regulating the use of this element for large enterprises.

In personal practices, I try to reduce my negative impact on the environment and promote sustainability. For example, I try not to buy products in plastic packaging and choose other materials, such as paper or glass, whenever possible. Moreover, I would like to do more research on the companies that emit the most microplastics into the environment in order to ignore their products. In addition, I will disseminate the information I have learned through research to the community to have a more massive impact on manufacturers.

Booth, A.M., & Sørensen, L. (2020). Microplastic Fate and Impacts in the Environment. In: T. Rocha-Santos, M. Costa, & C. Mouneyrac (Eds.) Handbook of microplastics in the environment (pp. 1-24). Springer.

Mitrano, D. M., & Wohlleben, W. (2020). Microplastic regulation should be more precise to incentivize both innovation and environmental safety . Nature Communications, 11 (1), 1-12. Web.

Plastic Waste and Its Effects on Marine Life
Why Plastic Lingers and Other Materials Do Not
Trashy Truth: Causes, Impacts, and Solutions
Environmental Threats and Political Instability
Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships
Deforestation as a Human-Made Environmental Problem
Getting to Carbon Footprint Reduction
Negative Consequences of Burning Oil on the Planet
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IvyPanda. (2024, May 23). Impact of Microplastic on the Environment. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-microplastic-on-the-environment/

"Impact of Microplastic on the Environment." IvyPanda , 23 May 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-microplastic-on-the-environment/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'Impact of Microplastic on the Environment'. 23 May.

IvyPanda . 2024. "Impact of Microplastic on the Environment." May 23, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-microplastic-on-the-environment/.

1. IvyPanda . "Impact of Microplastic on the Environment." May 23, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-microplastic-on-the-environment/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Impact of Microplastic on the Environment." May 23, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-microplastic-on-the-environment/.

A heap of twisted metal tubes and rusted machinery

Wars cause widespread pollution and environmental damage − here’s how to address it in peace accords

Assistant Professor of Environment, Peace, and Global Affairs at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame

Professor of the Practice in International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

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As wars grind on in Ukraine and Gaza , another location ravaged by conflict is taking steps to implement a historic peace agreement. From the mid-1960s through 2016, Colombia was torn by conflict between the government, leftist guerrilla movements and right-wing paramilitary groups. Now the government and rebels are working to carry out a sweeping accord that addresses many critical sectors, including environmental damages and restoration.

University of Notre Dame researchers Richard Marcantonio and Josefina Echavarria Alvarez study peace and conflict issues, including their effects on the environment. They currently are advising negotiations between the Colombian government and several rebel factions over wartime damage to soil, water and other natural resources. They explain that while Colombia’s transition from war to peace has been difficult, the accord offers a model for addressing the ravages of war in places such as Gaza and Ukraine.

Is it common for peace settlements to address environmental harm?

Few agreements include environmental provisions, and even fewer see them carried out, even though research shows that many drivers of conflict can be directly or indirectly related to the environment .

We work with a research program at the University of Notre Dame called the Peace Accords Matrix , which monitors the implementation of comprehensive peace accords in 34 countries worldwide. Only 10 of the accords have natural resource management provisions agreements, and these typically have not triggered major steps to protect the environment.

Aerial view of a degraded plateau with bare soil

How is the Colombia accord different?

Colombia’s is seen as the most comprehensive peace accord that has been signed to date. It considers issues ranging from security to social justice and political participation, in great detail.

The accord acknowledges that a peaceful postwar society requires not only respect for human rights but also “protection of the environment, respect for nature and its renewable and nonrenewable resources and biodiversity .” More than 20% of the commitments in the agreement have an environmental connection.

They fall into four main categories:

– Adapting and responding to climate change

– Preserving natural resources and habitats

– Protecting environmental health through measures such as access to clean water

– Process issues, such as ensuring that communities can participate in decisions about rural programs and resource management

There also are gaps. For example, many protected areas have been deforested for ranching and coca production in the postaccord period. And there are no provisions addressing toxic pollution, an issue other agreements also neglect .

Often there are power vacuums during transitions between war and peace , when government agencies are working to reestablish their operations. Natural resources and environmental health need protection during these phases.

In Sierra Leone, for example, resource extraction by foreign companies drastically ramped up immediately after the Lome Peace Agreement eventually ended that nation’s civil war in 2002. Companies exploited a lack of governance and support in the rural areas and often mined metals illegally or hazardously without any regulatory oversight. Today these areas still struggle with mining impacts, including contaminated drinking water and fish , the primary protein source in the area.

What is the environmental toll of war in Ukraine?

The damage is vast: There’s air, water and soil contamination, deforestation and enormous quantities of waste, including ruined buildings, burned-out cars and thousands of tons of destroyed military equipment. Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka Dam flooded villages, destroyed crops and wrecked irrigation systems.

The cost estimates are staggering. A joint commission of the World Bank, the government of Ukraine and other institutions currently estimate direct damages at roughly US$152 billion .

In addition, cleaning up sites, rebuilding infrastructure and other repairs could cost more than $486 billion over the next decade, as of late 2023. That figure rises every day that the war continues .

There’s broad interest in a green and sustainable reconstruction that would include steps like using sustainable building materials and powering the electricity grid with renewable energy. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been adamant that Russia must pay for the damage it has caused. It’s still unclear how this would work, although some U.S. and European lawmakers support seizing frozen Russian assets held in Western banks to help cover the cost.

There is a legal basis for holding Russia accountable. In 2022, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a set of principles for protecting the environment during armed conflicts . Among other existing statutes, they draw on a protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 that prohibits using “methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment .”

There has been only modest discussion so far of how to integrate these principles into a formal peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. But a working group that included Ukrainian and European Union officials and former leaders from Sweden, Finland, Ireland and Brazil has recommended a framework for addressing environmental damage and holding perpetrators accountable .

What environmental impacts are known or asserted in Gaza?

Environmental damage in Gaza also is devastating . The U.N. estimated in early 2024 that over 100,000 cubic meters (26 million gallons) of untreated sewage and wastewater were flowing daily onto land or into the Mediterranean Sea .

Gaza’s drinking water system was insufficient before the war and has been further weakened by military strikes . On average, Gazans now have access to about 3 liters of water per person per day – less than 1 gallon.

Thousands of buildings have been destroyed, spreading hazardous materials such as asbestos . Every bomb that’s dropped disperses toxic materials that will persist in the soil unless it’s remediated. Simultaneous environmental and infrastructure impacts, such as water and power shortages, are contributing to larger crises , such as the collapse of Gaza’s health care system, that will have long-lasting human costs.

A man carrying three large plastic jugs walks next to a donkey cart

How can future peace accords address these impacts?

Integrating the environment into peace accords isn’t easy. Resources such as energy, clean soil and water are vital for life, which is precisely why military forces may seek to control or destroy them . This is happening in both Ukraine and Gaza .

Peace negotiators tend to focus on social, political and economic issues, rather than environmental reparations. But leaving environmental damage unresolved until after a peace accord is signed keeps people who have been displaced and marginalized by conflict in precarious positions .

It may even cause fighting to resume. According to the U.N. Environment Program, at least 40% of all wars within states in the past 60 years have had a link to natural resources. In those cases, fighting was twice as likely to resume within five years after conflict ended .

We see some lessons for future negotiations.

First, it’s important for accords to recognize environmental harm as one of war’s main consequences and to acknowledge that a healthy environment is essential for sustainable livelihoods and peace.

Second, connecting environmental provisions with other issues, such as rural reform and political participation, can create better, more sustainable and equal conditions for reestablishing democracy. The Colombia accords are an example.

Third, it is important to clearly define goals, such as what infrastructure and institutions need to be rebuilt, who is in charge of getting those tasks done, and the timetable for doing it. This can help ensure that environmental restoration doesn’t become a secondary goal.

Fourth, the international community has an important role to play in monitoring and verifying environmental restoration and providing financial and technical support. Foreign donors have already pledged $66 billion for rebuilding Ukraine and have said that they will require grantees to follow strict environmental standards in order to receive financing.

Reconstructing nations and simultaneously regenerating communities and ecosystems after wars is a daunting mission, but it’s also an opportunity to build something better . We see Ukraine and Gaza as potential test cases for addressing war’s toll on the environment and creating a more sustainable future.

International law
Environment
Reparations
Peace accord
Colombia peace agreement
Russia-Ukraine
Environmental harms
Kakhovka dam
Israel-Hamas conflict

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A hidden threat

Fast-rising seas could swamp septic systems in parts of the south.

On the worst days, when the backyard would flood and the toilet would gurgle and the smell of sewage hung thick in the air, Monica Arenas would flee to her mother-in-law’s home to use the bathroom or wash laundry.

“It was a nightmare,” Arenas, 41, recalled one evening in the modest house she shares with her husband and teenage daughter several miles north of downtown Miami.

She worried about what pathogens might lurk in the tainted waters, what it might cost to fix the persistent problems and whether the ever-present anxiety would ever subside.

Residents in neighborhoods around Arenas’s have similar tales to share — of out-of-commission toilets, of groundwater rising through cracks in their garage floors, of worries about their own waste running through the streets and ultimately polluting nearby Biscayne Bay.

For all the obvious challenges facing South Florida as sea levels surge, one serious threat to public health and the environment remains largely out of sight, but everywhere:

Septic tanks.

Millions of them dot the American South, a region grappling with some of the planet’s fastest-rising seas, according to a Washington Post analysis . At more than a dozen tide gauges from Texas to North Carolina, sea levels have risen at least 6 inches since 2010 — a change similar to what occurred over the previous five decades.

One village’s risk

Officials worry about the threat of rising groundwater along the Little River in and around El Portal, where many homes rely on septic systems

Septic systems

Elevation above king tide*

Profile along NW Second Avenue

Above king tide

Below king tide

Little River

Officials worry about the threat of rising

groundwater along the Little River in and

around El Portal, where many homes rely

on septic systems

Unincorporated

Miami Shores

To Biscayne

King tide shown is the highest observed tide at Virginia Key on Oct. 28, 2023 (1.96 ft.)

Source: Miami-Dade County

Northwest 2nd AVe

BISCAYNE BAY

Along those coastlines, swelling seas are driving water tables higher and creating worries in places where septic systems abound, but where officials often lack reliable data about their location or how many might already be compromised.

“These are ticking time bombs under the ground that, when they fail, will pollute,” said Andrew Wunderley, executive director of the nonprofit Charleston Waterkeeper, which monitors water quality in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

To work properly, septic systems need to sit above an adequate amount of dry soil that can filter contaminants from wastewater before it reaches local waterways and underground drinking water sources. But in many communities, that buffer is vanishing.

How rising waters threaten

septic systems

The most common type of septic systems rely on gravity to move sewage through a tank where solids settle and liquid waste is slowly released into the soil through a series of perforated pipes called a drain field.

Normal operation

DRAIN FIELD

Sewage enters

Wastewater filters

through soil

GROUNDWATER

The soil acts as a natural filter, neutralizing germs and pollutants before they can contaminate groundwater.

Rising water table

Contamination

Sea level rise and extreme rainfall are raising groundwater levels, resulting in more shallow buffers of soil that help protect local waterways and underground aquifers.

System failure

If a conventional septic system becomes submerged, wastewater will not be properly treated. Toilets can stop working and sewage can flood yards.

How rising waters threaten septic systems

An estimated 120,000 septic systems remain in Miami-Dade County, their subterranean concrete boxes and drain fields a relic of the area’s feverish growth generations ago. Of those, the county estimated in 2018, about half are at risk of being “periodically compromised” during severe storms or particularly wet years.

Miami, where seas have risen six inches since 2010, offers a high-profile example of a predicament that parts of the southeast Atlantic and Gulf coasts are confronting — and one scientists say will become only more pervasive — as waters continue to rise.

Virginia Key, Biscayne Bay, Fla.

sea level rise since 2010

0.4 inches per year

0.1 inches per year

Annual mean

Here, expensive repairs afflict homeowners as septic systems falter. Fetid water increases the risk of gastrointestinal diseases and other health hazards as floodwaters fill yards and streets. Profound worries persist about the environmental toll — which, researchers in Miami say, means submerged septic tanks are leaking nutrients into the porous limestone, potentially fueling algae blooms that kill fish .

“It’s really pretty gross,” said Michael Sukop, a hydrogeologist at Florida International University.

Rising seas will only exacerbate the problem, he added. “As the water table gets higher, all bets are off.”

Miami-Dade County is racing to replace as many septic tanks as possible, as quickly as possible. But it is a tedious, expensive and daunting task, one that officials say will ultimately cost billions of dollars they don’t yet have.

It also is far beyond a Florida problem.

In Georgia, officials have documented more than 55,000 septic tanks in counties near the Atlantic Coast in an ongoing data gathering effort. In North Carolina, researchers estimate, the discharge from approximately 1 million septic systems drains to waterways that eventually reach the ocean. In South Carolina, the issue has been the subject of legal fights and proposals in the state legislature.

In numerous states, researchers are studying the potential effects of what they call a largely unseen and unquantified environmental and public health threat.

“We don’t even know the scale of the problem,” said Rob Young, director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University. “I think it’s everywhere. And it can’t get better as long as sea levels are rising. The only question is how quickly it can get worse.”

An environmental mess

More than 700 miles north of Miami, Mike O’Driscoll is among the scientists trying to decipher just how quickly rising seas are driving water tables higher, and why that matters.

O’Driscoll, a coastal studies professor at East Carolina University, and several colleagues have spent recent years documenting how rising groundwater is altering the hydrology along the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

In Nags Head, the group installed technology to monitor nearly a half-dozen aquifer wells for fluctuations in groundwater levels. They compared their findings to similar data from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality stretching back to 1983, and a clear trend emerged: Rising sea levels are raising the groundwater.

“If you look around the Outer Banks, the groundwater has risen one and a half feet in some places,” O’Driscoll said.

North Carolina requires about a foot to a foot and a half of separation between septic drain fields and the seasonal high-water table, depending on the soil type. But in places, that cushion is dwindling.

The Drowning South

“Rising groundwater has started to inundate systems in low-lying areas,” O’Driscoll said. “Some may be failing right now, but within a couple of decades, in some places, it won’t be viable to use conventional septic systems anymore.”

Beyond the environmental concerns, O’Driscoll worries about the financial impact for coastal communities and residents. It can cost homeowners $30,000 or more to install more advanced on-site wastewater treatment systems, and it costs localities many millions to expand existing infrastructure.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that roughly 20 percent of households in the United States rely on septic systems to treat their wastewater. That figure rises to more than one-third of homes in the Southeast, according to the agency . Florida is home to an estimated 2.6 million such systems.

In some places, such as rural areas not served by a centralized sewer and not threatened by encroaching groundwater, the approach can work well and be cost effective .

When conventional systems work as designed, solids from a home or business’s waste settle within the septic tank, while liquid waste is discharged into a drain field — usually a set of perforated pipes designed to slowly release effluent into the ground. The soil acts as a natural filter, neutralizing disease-causing pathogens, and reducing nitrogen, phosphorus and other contaminants before it reaches groundwater.

But that process is under increasing strain as seas push higher in the region and torrential rainfalls become more common, a combination that can inundate buffers that once existed.

EPA-funded research in Maryland has shown that many coastal properties with septic systems, which already face significant flood risk, will become far more vulnerable in the coming decades. As more septic systems fail, said Allison Reilly, a University of Maryland civil and environmental engineering professor, the more widespread the consequences will become, disproportionately harming low-income and minority residents.

“Right now it’s an environmental issue,” she said, “but as we warm, we’d expect it to become more of a public health issue.”

‘W e know what’s coming ’

Roy Coley , Miami-Dade County’s top sewer and water official, stood in the backyard of a home on NE 87th Street one afternoon. Nearby, workers had dug a trench as they prepared to connect the house and others nearby to a municipal sewer line.

“You’ve got so many thousands to do, where do you start? You start with one,” he said. “These houses are the low-hanging fruit.”

Over the past several years, leaders in Miami-Dade have aggressively pursued federal and state funding to decommission septic tanks and connect homes to sewage lines. The homes along NE 87th Street, not far from the Little River, just off Biscayne Bay, were converted in part using a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Miami-Dade County said it has so far been awarded about $280 million in grants. About 100 homes have been converted, and workers have put in place the public infrastructure to connect another 775. Coley said the county also is trying various approaches to offset connection costs for homeowners, which average around $15,000.

“We are seeking every way in the world to ease that pain,” he said.

But it remains a herculean task. The county estimates that about 9,000 septic tanks already are vulnerable to compromise or failure under current conditions — a number expected to climb as sea levels rise. Coley said roughly 11,000 septic tanks are on the priority list for removal.

Eradicating septic entirely could cost more than $4 billion, the county estimated in 2020. And the future of the effort, officials said in an email, “is strongly dependent on identifying and securing funding sources.”

But Coley said there has been a key shift over time: buy-in from elected officials and residents.

“I think up until now, there was just a general lack of understanding about how failing septic tanks impacted the environment,” he said. But that’s no longer the case. “When you know better, you do better.”

The problem of leaky and failing septic tanks is hardly a new one in Miami, and the area’s geography and geology have always made them a risky proposition.

The author of a 1949 article in Look Magazine titled “Florida’s Polluted Paradise” detailed the estimated 150,000 septic tanks already around greater Miami, many wedged side-by-side in a region that is “prairie-flat” and hardly above sea level.

Even then, South Florida’s heavy rains often overwhelmed them. “I, myself, have seen septic tanks in numbers back up and overflow into lawns and onto sidewalks in residential areas, owning to the fact that the underlying ground was too burdened with sewage and water to contain any more,” wrote the author, Philip Wylie.

Two decades later, little had changed.

A 1970 report from the Federal Water Quality Administration found that as many as 800,000 people around the county relied on septic tanks, and that many waterways suffered from low oxygen concentrations and startling levels of coliform bacteria, which can signal the presence of fecal waste.

“Septic tanks, widely used in Dade County, are public health hazards,” the report concluded.

The federal government insisted the county develop a master plan to reduce sewage pollution and combat leaking waste from septic tanks.

Using hundreds of million dollars of federal money along with public bonds, the county did build new wastewater treatment plants to ease some of the pollution, but it was not a panacea. Today, there remain neighborhoods that are surrounded by municipal sewer service, but where most homes still rely on septic tanks.

“They were intended to be temporary in Miami, and here we are 50, 70 years later,” said Rachel Silverstein, executive director of Miami Waterkeeper, which has campaigned to end septic pollution.

“There’s water everywhere, and there’s nowhere for it to go,” she said one sunny morning as a high tide sent water sloshing over the bulkheads along Biscayne Bay.

As bad as the problem has been historically, there is one aspect long-ago planners did not factor in: sea-level rise.

“Septic systems were not designed with the assumption that groundwater levels would rise gradually over time,” found a 2018 county report , “and as a result many are not functioning as they were originally designed.”

That report emphasizes how elevated groundwater levels are creating an “immediate” public health risk. “There are also many financial and environmental risks, including contamination of the freshwater aquifer, which is the community’s sole source of potable water,” the study found.

In recent years, Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado has led the charge toward trying to phase out failing septic systems in the county.

“I hate them all. I want to get rid of all of them,” the Republican lawmaker said of the old concrete tanks.

She spearheaded a moratorium on any new septic systems on county-owned properties, pushed to ensure that development within a certain distance of sewer lines be required to connect, oversaw rules that require more sophisticated, self-monitoring septic tanks when outdated ones must be replaced and supported trying to offset costs of sewer conversions for homeowners.

“We have to get ahead of this, because we know what’s coming,” Regalado said. “It’s an environmental disaster waiting to happen.”

‘It will keep happening’

The lawsuit came from two South Carolina environmental groups — the Charleston Waterkeeper and the Coastal Conservation League.

Amid a building boom, the groups claim, state regulators have failed to adequately consider the effects of sea-level rise and stronger storms when approving growing numbers of septic tank permits across eight coastal counties.

“[Their] failures place the public’s health at risk and expose our state’s waterways, marshes, beaches, and fisheries to significant, documented harms that can be traced to untreated sewage from malfunctioning, ill-maintained, and/or ill-placed septic systems,” one filing read .

The lawsuit, filed in late 2022, cites existing or planned housing developments in vulnerable areas, including several near the town of Awendaw, about 25 miles northeast of Charleston. There, the suit states, hundreds of homes built close together would rely on septic tanks, all near the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.

“A large percentage of the developed land is actually comprised of septic drain fields,” one filing argues , saying that such a situation risks “significant, irreparable harms” to public health and that of nearby marshes, beaches and fisheries. That includes the possibility of diseases such as hepatitis A and salmonellosis, which can be transmitted through fecal matter, and degradation of water quality, the filing said.

The groups want state officials to give special consideration to the cumulative impact of such clusters of septic permits. Already, they argue, South Carolina has no comprehensive inventory of existing septic tanks and little way for the public to challenge permits before they are approved.

“Sea level rise is happening. It will keep happening,” said Leslie Lenhardt, a senior managing attorney for the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, which is working on the case. “It’s steady, and it’s coming for these developments.”

In legal filings and in an email to The Post, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said that it follows current law, which requires the agency “to conduct a coastal zone consistency review of only those wastewater treatment systems and septic tanks that handle more than 1,500 gallons per day or handle other than domestic waste.”

The agency acknowledged that there is no database of all septic tanks in the state, and said there is “no legal authority” that requires public notice about pending septic permits — though anyone can request such information by email.

Data provided by the agency shows it has approved increasing numbers of septic permits in the state’s coastal counties: nearly 16,000 from 2018 through 2023, with the largest numbers in Charleston County.

Beyond the courtroom, other South Carolina officials also are attempting to change the status quo.

“Everyone is very proud of the natural resources around here, but it’s fragile,” said state Rep. Joe Bustos (R), whose district encompasses a coastal swath of Charleston County, an area where seas have risen 7 inches since 2010, according to The Post’s analysis.

Bustos has co-sponsored a bill, unpassed by the legislature, that would ban new septic permits within two miles of the coast.

Wunderley, the Charleston Waterkeeper, supports that legislation and has watched both sea-level rise and the area’s growth accelerate in recent years. “It’s creating this dual pressure that’s really hard to deal with,” he said.

The legal and legislative efforts in South Carolina offer a glimpse at the tensions that states and localities face as they confront the legacy of conventional septic tanks in coastal areas where seas are rising fast.

There are success stories, but none are cheap or fast.

In 1999, with evidence that water quality was deteriorating along parts of the Florida Keys, the state mandated that the island chain eliminate the use of tens of thousands of septic tanks and other outdated waste systems. The cost reached roughly $1 billion as Monroe County built centralized sewage and hooked up thousands of homes and businesses.

“There was a huge change in water quality,” said Coley, who spent a decade working for the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority.

For years, Georgia has worked to compile one of the most robust databases of where its remaining septic systems are — an effort that at times has involved digging through handwritten permits in dusty county filing cabinets. The result is a detailed list that allows state officials to better understand the risks that exist, both now and as groundwater rises over time.

“There are places where septic systems are clearly unsuitable, and that needs to be factored into future land planning,” said Scott Pippin, an attorney and environmental planner at the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

Skip Stiles, a senior adviser at the Norfolk-based group Wetlands Watch, said septic failures are “like a blinking yellow light” that foreshadow a wider set of problems. As waters rise, he said, it will raise wrenching questions where the problem already is shifting from a nuisance to a persistent hazard.

“It’s forcing that decision that all of us in coastal communities are going to face eventually, but some are already facing now: Do I stay or do I go?”

Buying time

Arenas and her family are among the first homeowners to benefit from Miami-Dade County’s race to replace the most vulnerable systems.

Last year, crews removed their septic tank and hooked their house into a nearby municipal sewer line. Overnight, the nightmare vanished. No more monthly calls to have her underground tank pumped out. No more fretting over toxic water in the yard, or racing to a relative’s house to use the bathroom.

“It is 100 percent changed,” Arenas said.

That remains far from the case everywhere.

Less than a mile away, in the quaint village of El Portal, where peacocks lounge on the steps of the municipal building and Spanish moss hangs from giant oaks, Elizabeth Fata Carpenter spent years worried about water rising underneath the community she loves.

Carpenter and her husband moved to the neighborhood in 2019, and their yard flooded on multiple occasions, undermining the septic system behind their 87-year-old house. Especially after heavy rains, water oozed from the cracks in their garage floor. Their overmatched drain field overflowed into their yard and across the patio. They carried their 70-pound dog to higher ground for walks, and kept boots nearby to wade to their cars.

“We know the floodwater on our property is septic tank water,” Carpenter said one morning last fall outside her home, steps from the Little River. “I know it’s flowing into the river, and not just from my house, but everybody’s homes.”

Earlier this spring, the couple sold the house and moved to Fort Lauderdale. But Carpenter remains as chair on El Portal’s sustainability and resilience task force . And as an environmental attorney, she continues to fret about the collective pollution caused by septic tanks.

El Portal Mayor Omarr Nickerson shares those worries, and is working to end his community’s reliance on septic systems. But there is an inescapable obstacle: money.

Nickerson estimates that it would take roughly $50 million to convert the homes of El Portal to the municipal sewer system. The village’s annual budget is about $2 million, he said, more than half of which goes to the police department.

The county has designated roughly $6 million to help kick-start the effort, Nickerson said, but El Portal also must compete for funding with dozens of other local governments.

He worries that the issue, if left unsolved, might not only pollute the bay, but eventually drive people from his community.

Walking the streets on a postcard-perfect morning, Nickerson points to houses where unseen troubles lie. Where toilets back up. Where sewage-tainted water sometimes swamps yards and driveways. Where homeowners keep sandbags close at hand.

“It’s just going to continue,” Nickerson said.

The mayor points out an easily overlooked clue about the changing landscape of his village. Outside some houses, unnatural mounds of earth rise from the otherwise pancake-flat ground — an unmistakable sign that an old septic tank has been replaced with a newer, elevated version.

Some mounds are unadorned. Others are neatly landscaped. One resident built an entire deck around what she called the “mountain” in her backyard.

Several years ago, the septic system behind Kristen McLean’s home along the Little River failed as groundwater filled the tank and rendered her plumbing useless. For weeks, she relied on a composting toilet while she had a new engineered system installed.

“When we dug the hole for that septic system, the groundwater was 18 inches below my lawn,” she said. “This little area is a microcosm of what South Florida is up against.”

McClean sold the house in 2021 and jokes that she moved two miles away but seven feet higher.

These days, the mound rising in her old front yard is ringed with native plants.

It’s now a butterfly garden.

About this story

Design and development by Emily Wright .

Photo editing by Sandra M. Stevenson . Video editing by Alice Li and John Farrell . Design editing by Joseph Moore .

Editing by Anu Narayanswamy , Katie Zezima and Monica Ulmanu . Additional editing by Juliet Eilperin . Project editing by KC Schaper . Copy editing by Phil Lueck .

Additional support from Jordan Melendrez, Erica Snow , Kathleen Floyd and Victoria Rossi.

More on climate change

Understanding our climate: Global warming is a real phenomenon , and weather disasters are undeniably linked to it . As temperatures rise, heat waves are more often sweeping the globe — and parts of the world are becoming too hot to survive .

What can be done? The Post is tracking a variety of climate solutions , as well as the Biden administration’s actions on environmental issues . It can feel overwhelming facing the impacts of climate change, but there are ways to cope with climate anxiety .

Inventive solutions: Some people have built off-the-grid homes from trash to stand up to a changing climate. As seas rise, others are exploring how to harness marine energy .

What about your role in climate change? Our climate coach Michael J. Coren is answering questions about environmental choices in our everyday lives. Submit yours here. You can also sign up for our Climate Coach newsletter .

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