The Benchmark/May 28, 2020

By: Sarah Naseer

Pollution
Pollution is the introduction
of harmful materials into
the environment. These harmful
materials are called pollutants.
Pollutants can be natural, such
as volcanic ash. They can Cmalso  In the middle of the northern Pacific
be created by human activity, Ocean, a huge collection of microscopic risk of lung cancer.
such as trash or runoff by facto- plastic particles forms what is known as Sometimes, air pollution kills
ries. Pollutants damage the qua- the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. quickly. In 1984, an accident at a
lity of air, water, and land.
The three major types of pollution are air pesticide plant in Bhopal, India,
Many things that are useful to pollution, water pollution, and land released a deadly gas into the air.
people produce pollution. Cars pollution. At least 8,000 people died within
spew pollutants from exhaust days.
pipes. Burning Coal to create
Natural disasters can also cause
electricity pollutes the air. Indu-
. air pollution to increase quickly
stries and homes generates gar-
. . when volcanoes erupt, they
bage and sewage that can po-
… eject Volcanic Ash and
llute water and land. Pest-
….. gases into the
icides (chemical poiso-
………….. atmosphere.
ns used to kill weeds a
nd insects) seep into w Most air pollution is
aterways and harm wild I not natural, however
life. I it comes from burning
f fossil fuels (coal, oil
All living things from one-
and and natural gas). When
celled microbes to blue wha-
…… gasoline is burned to ……
les depends on Earth’s supply
power cars and trucks, it produce
of water and air. When these
carbon monoxide, a colorless and
sources are polluted, all forms
odorless gas. City traffic produces
of life are threatened.
highly concentrated carbon
Pollution is a global problem. Air Pollution monoxide.
Although urban areas are
Sometimes, air pollution is visible. A Greenhouse gases are another
usually more polluted than the
person can see dark smoke pour from the source of air pollution.
countryside, pollution can
exhaust pipes of large trucks or factories, Greenhouse gases such as carbon
spread to remote places where
for example. More often, however, air dioxide and methane occur
no people live.  For example,
Polluted air can be dangerous, even if the naturally in the atmosphere. In
pesticides and other chemicals
pollutants are invisible. It can make fact, they are necessary for life on
have been found in the
people’s eyes burn and make them have Earth. They absorb sunlight
Antarctic ice sheet.
difficulty breathing. It can also increase the reflected from Earth, preventing it
risk of lung cancerollution is invisible. from escaping into space. 
from escaping into space. By Water Pollution Garbage also fouls the ocean.
trapping heat in the atmosphere, Many plastic bottles and other
they keep Earth warm enough for Some polluted water looks muddy, smells bad, pieces of trash are thrown
people to live. This is called and has garbage floating in it. Some polluted overboard from boats. The wind
the greenhouse effect. water looks clean, but is filled with harmful blows trash out to sea. Ocean
chemicals you can’t see or smell. currents carry plastics and other
But human activities such as floating trash to certain places on
burning fossil fuels and destroying Polluted water is unsafe for drinking and the globe, where it cannot escape.
forests have increased the amount swimming. Some people who drink polluted
of greenhouse gases in the water are exposed to hazardous chemicals that Land Pollution
atmosphere. This has increased the may make them sick years later. Others
greenhouse effect, and Pesticides and fertilizers from
consume bacteria and tiny aquatic organisms
average temperatures across the agricultural fields are blown by the
that cause disease. The United
globe are rising. The decade that wind. They can harm plants,
Nations estimates that 4,000 children die every
began in the year 2000 was the animals, and sometimes people.
day from drinking dirty water.
warmest on record. This increase Some fruits and vegetables absorb
in worldwide average There are some natural sources of water the pesticides that help them grow.
temperatures, caused in part by pollution. Oil and natural gas, for example, can When people consume the fruits
human activity, is called global leak into oceans and lakes from natural and vegetables, the pesticides enter
warming. underground sources. These sites are their bodies. Some pesticides can
called petroleum seeps. The world’s largest cause cancer and other diseases.
Global warming is causing ice petroleum seep is the Coal Oil Point Seep, off
sheets and glaciers to melt. The Trash is another form of land
the coast of the U.S. state of California. The
melting ice is causing sea levels to pollution. Around the world, paper,
Coal Oil Point Seep releases so much oil
rise at a rate of 2 millimeters (0.09 cans, glass jars, plastic products,
that tar balls wash up on nearby beaches. Tar
inches) per year. The rising seas and junked cars and
balls are small, sticky pieces of pollution that
will eventually flood low- appliances mar the landscape.
eventually decompose in the ocean.
lying coastal regions. Litter makes it difficult for plants
Entire nations, such as the islands Human activity also contributes to water and other producers in the food
of Maldives, are threatened by pollution. Chemicals and oils from factories web to create nutrients. Animals
this climate change. are sometimes dumped or seep into waterways. can die if they mistakenly eat
These chemicals are called runoff. Chemicals plastic.
Scientists have predicted that in runoff can create a toxic environment for
global warming will cause an Inefficient garbage collection
aquatic life.
increase in severe storms. It will systems contribute to land
also cause more droughts in Mining and drilling can also contribute to pollution. Often, the garbage is
some regions and more flooding in water pollution. Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) picked up and brought to a dump,
others. is a major contributor to pollution of rivers and or landfill. Garbage is buried in
streams near coal mines. Acid helps miners landfills. Sometimes, communities
In the 1980s, scientists noticed that remove coal from the surrounding rocks. produce so much garbage that their
the ozone layer over Antarctica landfills are filling up. They are
was thinning. This is often called Oil spills are another source of water pollution.
running out of places to dump their
the “ozone hole.” No one lives In April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil
trash.
permanently in Antarctica. But rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing oil
Australia, the home of more than to gush from the ocean floor. In the following Pollutants leaked from landfills
22 million .people, lies at the edge months, hundreds of millions of gallons of oil also leak into local groundwater
of the hole. spewed into the gulf waters.  supplies. There, the aquatic food
web (from microscopic algae to
web (from microscopic algae to fish Recycling reduces the amount of garbage
to predators such as sharks or that ends up in landfills, incinerators, and How Long Does It
eagles) can suffer from waterways. Austria and Switzerland have
the highest recycling rates. These nations
Last?
bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals
recycle between 50 and 60 percent of their Different materials
Some communities do not garbage. The United States recycles about decompose at different rates.
have adequate garbage collection 30 percent of its garbage.
systems, and trash lines the side of How long does it take for
roads. In other places, garbage International agreements can also reduce these common types of trash
washes up on beaches. Kamilo pollution. The Kyoto Protocol, a United to break down?
Beach, in the U.S. state of Hawaii, is Nations agreement to limit the emission of
littered with plastic bags and bottles greenhouse gases, has been signed by 191
carried in by the tide. The trash is countries. The United States, the world’s  Paper: 2-4 weeks
dangerous to ocean life and second-largest producer of greenhouse
 Orange peel: 6
reduces economic activity in the gases, did not sign the agreement. Other
countries, such as China, the world’s largest months
area. Tourism is Hawaii’s
largest industry. Polluted beaches producer of greenhouse gases, have not met  Milk carton: 5 years
discourage tourists from investing in their goals.    Plastic bag: 15 years
the area’s hotels, restaurants, and  Tin can: 100 years
Still, many gains have been made. In 1969,
recreational activities.
the Cuyahoga River, in the U.S. state of  Plastic bottle: 450
Some cities incinerate, or burn, their Ohio, was so clogged with oil and trash that years
garbage. Incinerating trash gets rid it caught on fire. The fire helped spur  Glass bottle: 500
of it, but it can release the Clean Water Act of 1972. years
dangerous heavy metals and This law limited what pollutants could be  Styrofoam: Never
chemicals into the air. So while released into water and set standards for
trash incinerators can help with the how clean water should be. Today, the
problem of land pollution, they Cuyahoga River is much cleaner. Fish have
sometimes add to the problem of air returned to regions of the river where they
pollution. once could not survive.
Reducing pollution requires environmental,
political, and economic leadership.
Reducing Pollution Developed nations must work to reduce and
recycle their materials, while developing
Around the world, people and
nations must work to strengthen their
governments are making efforts to
economies without destroying the
combat pollution. Recycling, for
environment. Developed and developing
instance, is becoming more
countries must work together toward the
common. In recycling, trash is
common goal of protecting the environment
processed so its useful materials can
for future use.
be used again. Glass, aluminum
cans, and many types of plastic can
be melted and reused. Paper can be
broken down and turned into new
paper