Chapter 6 - Urban pollution

Edit the script, make questions and answer them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6QLx7vEyIY
Pollution And Its Types
Have a look at the spitzer nature at its exuberant best, turquoise blue sky eyeful of green
sparkling waters barraging wilderness and what about this picture? A land of vanishing beauty
shrinking open space of gray concrete air drying land, dirty waters and endangered
wilderness. This change which is called environmental degradation has become a major issue
before the world.
Let's then begin with waters pollution. Pollution is an undesirable change in the
physicochemical or biological characteristic of air water and soil due to addition of materials or
energy in quantity and quality which is harmful to living beings including man. Thus
substances which contaminate air water and soil are called pollutants. Pollutants may be
gases like carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides and nitric oxides metals like lead zinc and Mercury
chemicals like aldehydes detergents, pesticides, herbicides and CFCs sewage, radioactive
wastes and soon types of pollution. The major types of pollution are listed here. Click on the
links to learn the meaning of each type of pollution.
Air pollution The major causes of air pollution are the toxic gases and exhausts that
are let out into the air by industries, volcanoes, jet planes, automobiles, forest fires burning of
garbage, etc. These contain many harmful gases that cause diseases in human beings,
destruction of vegetation and damage to the structures on earth. These gases can also form
acid rain.
Water pollution The effluence let into water bodies from industries sewage from towns and
cities, washing clothes and cattle in water bodies and such other reasons cause water
pollution. The residual fertilizers and pesticides carried into water bodies during rain also
caused water pollution. The list of pollutants can be quite long: oil spills and oceans are
another major cause that harms the marine life.
Land pollution If you wizard big cities, you will find heaps of solid wastes in in around. The
sources of land pollution are mainly houses, cattle sheds, industries and agricultural fields. It
includes household wastes, glass fruit and vegetable, waste dead bodies of animals, old
clothes, paper, plastic bottles, cans, excreta, chemicals, wood pieces and so on. The heaps
of solid wastes provide breeding ground for germs. In addition to spoiling the beauty and
surroundings, they emit foul smell. Controlling land pollution disposal of waste should be done
very carefully and scientifically; it depends on the kind of solid waste. Solid waste originating
from constructing material, etc is varied in urban areas as landfills. Solid wastes like plastics,
tin cans, metal scrap, paper, etc must be recycled. Wastes originating from plant materials
and household organic material can be turned into men. Your biogas can be obtained from
biodegradable wastes. Waste from hospitals and nursing homes should be burned in
incinerators.
Soil pollution Pollution of soil is somewhat a localized phenomenon as compared to
air and water pollution which spreads to long distances. Soil pollution occurs due to two main
reasons by pollutants that are washed down from the atmosphere because of rain
insecticides and pesticides that are applied to the crops. Both these alter the composition and
quality of the soil.
Noise pollution Noise can be defined as any unwanted sound. Sound is measured in
a unit called decibel dB. The lowest sound measured in this unit is 1 decibel and the sound of
a rocket taking off is about 180 decibels in-between. The two are various levels of sounds
when we talk normally; the sound level is about 60 decibels. Noise is a pollutant because it
produces several adverse effects on human beings and other animal life. The loudness and
duration of noise is injurious to our physical and mental health. Sudden loud noise may cause
acute damage to the ear drum. Continued loud noise may cause deafness now as low as the
efficiency of work disturbs sleep and causes irritability.
Thermal pollution thermal pollution includes release of any kind of heated gases or
heated water repeatedly into the environment including the water bodies if released in the
atmosphere. They warm up the air in that area and if released in water bodies, they kill the
aquatic life.
http://www.cas.manchester.ac.uk/resactivities/pollution/background/
 Identify the expressions of causes and reasons in the text.
Urban Pollution
Motor vehicles are a major source of pollution in our cities.
In the western world and increasingly in the developing world, many people live or work in
cities, so the quality of the air we breathe in our cities is of great importance to our health.
There is significant evidence of damage to human health being caused by air pollution, not
just by visible pollution seen in cities in the developing world, or in the UK before the
introduction of the Clean Air Act in 1956, but also caused by lower concentrations found in
cities in the developed world. While the infamous London smog of December 1952 was
responsible for 4000 additional deaths in just a four days, studies have also shown that
exposure to lower concentrations of air pollution also contributes to respiratory and
cardiovascular disease.
Since the smogs of the 1950’s much has been done to improve air quality in UK cities, with
legislation preventing many types of emissions which were responsible for these smogs.
Additionally, increasing use of electricity and natural gas rather than solid fuels for domestic
heating has also drastically reduced quantities of smoke. Thus today there is very little visible
pollution in our cities. There are also strict limits imposed in legislation on levels of invisible
pollution such as oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, ozone and particulate matter. These
pollutants are continuously monitored at representative sites in towns and cities across the
country. Most urban pollution today comes from vehicles – engine exhaust and mechanical
wear. Some also comes from domestic and industrial sources such as heating systems and
industrial processes. Asthma and other respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are generally
increasing, with studies showing that air pollution contributes to, or aggravates existing
conditions. Thus an understanding of the type of pollution emitted and how it is distributed
within a city is vital.

Complex terrain in central Manchester.

Complex terrain in central Manchester.

Cities have somewhat complicated terrain consisting of relatively narrow streets surrounded
by tall buildings (sometime referred to as street canyons). This terrain significantly alters
airflow within a city and hence distribution of pollutants, producing areas where pollutants
become trapped, and others where it is efficiently removed. Additionally with most pollution
in modern cities being emitted at street level within the canyon rather than at rooftop level as
in the past, this also has a significant effect on the distribution of pollution within the city.
Further, pollution may become trapped at the city scale by wider geographical and
meteorological conditions and be processed photochemically in the atmosphere, to produce
photochemical smog with properties rather different than the original pollutants. In these
conditions pollutant levels may build up over several days, becoming significantly higher than
in moderately ventilated conditions.
Effects of pollution on human health are determined by both the detailed nature of the
pollutants and individual exposure to these pollutants. Individual exposure is significantly
influenced by day to day activities within the city and may be very different from exposure
indicated by measurements made at a monitoring site. For example walking along a busy bus
route, or sitting in a traffic jam, one is likely to experience much higher levels of pollution
than a monitoring station in a city centre garden, or at rooftop level. The length of time spent
in such conditions is also important, so the potential implications for bus and taxi drivers or
traffic wardens is likely to be much higher than for office workers.

Erosion to stonework on an old building in central Manchester.

Erosion to stonework on an old building in central Manchester.

In addition to its potential effects on human health, pollution in our cities has other impacts on
the urban environment. Regardless of hazards to health, breathing heavily polluted air is not
pleasant, thus highly polluted conditions can make cities an unpleasant place to be. Pollution
is deposited onto all surfaces within the city, including vegetation and buildings. This
pollution may cause damage to the surfaces upon which it is deposited, or cause buildings etc
to gradually take on a generally dirty appearance. Old buildings are thought to be particularly
at risk from damage caused by air pollution because of the nature of the materials from which
they are constructed. This is of particular concern to those responsible for caring for our built
heritage.

Identify the Noun clauses in the text.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/source-of-pollution
3.6.1.3 Sources of Water Pollution
The sources of pollution in general are divided into point sources and nonpoint sources.
Point sources are localized identifiable sources of contaminants, such as power
plants, refineries, mines, factories, wastewater treatment plants, etc. Nonpoint sources are
those that are distributed over a wide geographic area, such as a watershed. Nonpoint
sources can also include mobile sources such as cars, buses, and trains. Although each of
these is a point source, they are moving and thus spread their cumulative impact over a large
geographic area. A typical nonpoint source of pollution would be urban runoff, where the
contaminant load may be the sum of thousands of small point sources within the watershed.
11.2.1 Surface Water Pollution
The effects of pollution sources on receiving water quality are manifold and dependent upon
the type and concentration of pollutants. Soluble organics, as represented by high
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) wastes, cause depletion of oxygen in the surface water.
This can result in fish kills, undesirable aquatic life, and undesirable odors. Even trace
quantities of certain organics may cause undesirable taste and odors, and certain organics
may be biomagnified in the aquatic food chain. Suspended solids decrease water clarity and
hinder photosynthetic processes; if solids settle and form sludge deposits, changes in benthic
ecosystems result. Color, turbidity, oils, and floating materials are of concern because of their
aesthetic undesirability and possible influence on water clarity and photosynthetic processes.
Excessive nitrogen and phosphorous can lead to algal overgrowth, with water
treatment problems resulting from algae decay and interference with treatment processes.
Chlorides cause a salt taste to be imparted to water, and in sufficient concentration,
limitations on water usage can occur. Acids, alkalies, and toxic substances have the potential
to cause fish kills and create other imbalances in stream ecosystems.
2.2.5 Storage Tanks
Another source of pollution is leakage from storage tanks. At refineries and other oil/product
handling facilities, there are many aboveground crude oil and refined product storage tanks in
service. API Standard 653 requires tanks to be taken out of service periodically and to be
visually inspected for leaks. However, this standard is often ignored since inspection can be
very costly. Buried pipelines within refinery boundaries represent another source of leaks, and
according to the API they have caused more groundwater contamination than the more visible
storage tanks.
Tank washings and sludge from storage tanks and refineries, including those from the
cleaning of oil storage tanks, can be a source of contamination since they contain breakdown
products. In addition, tank washings can generate substantial volumes of waste, usually with
medium to low oil contents. Typical sources are oily bilge water, oily ballast water, water from
the jetting and cleaning of tanks both onboard ships and at land-based installations, and true
tank-cleaning residues. The range of oils encountered in the generation of these wastes can
be broad and can include accumulated oil sludge and sediment, tank scale, and even grit
from grit blasting and related cleaning work.
Air Pollution Law and Regulations
J. Jeffrey Peirce, ... P. Aarne Vesilind, in Environmental Pollution and Control (Fourth Edition),
1998
PROBLEMS OF IMPLEMENTATION
Both regulatory agencies and the sources of pollution have encountered difficulties in the
implementation of air pollution abatement measures. Because most major stationary
sources of air pollution have installed abatement equipment in response to federal pollution
control requirements, regulatory agencies must develop programs that promote continuing
compliance. However, the track records of the agencies indicate that current programs are
not always effective.
Flaws in design and construction of control equipment contribute to
significant noncompliance. Problems include the use of improper materials in constructing
controls, undersizing of controls, inadequate instrumentation of the control equipment, and
inaccessibility of control components for proper operation and maintenance. Design flaws
such as these cast doubt on how effectively the air pollution control agencies evaluate the
permit applications for these sources. Additionally, many permit reviewers working in
government lack the necessary practical experience to fully evaluate proposed controls and
tend to rely too heavily on the inadequate technical manuals available to them.
A source permit, as it is typically designed within the regulatory framework, could ensure that
an emitter will install necessary control equipment. It could also require the emitter to keep
records that facilitate proper operation and maintenance. However, agencies do not always
use the permit program to accomplish these objectives. For example, in some states, a
majority of the sources fail to keep any operating records at all that would enable an
independent assessment of past compliance. In other states, although many sources keep
good operating records, they are not required to do so by the control agency.
An agency's ability to detect violations of emission requirements may be critical to the
success of its regulatory effort. However, many agencies rely on surveillance by sight and
smell as opposed to stack testing or monitoring. Air pollution control agencies, for example,
often issue notices of violation for such problems as odor, dust, and excessive visible
emissions, even though it is recognized that this approach neglects other, perhaps more
detrimental pollutants.
The emitters of air pollution also face problems in complying with regulations. Although most
large stationary sources of pollution have installed control equipment, severe emission
problems may be caused by design or upsets with the control equipment or in the production
process. Poor design of the control equipment is probably the primary cause of excess
emissions in the greatest number of sources, and process upsets and routine component
failure appear to be a close second. Other causes include improper maintenance, lack of
spare parts, improper construction materials, and lack of instrumentation. Additionally, wide
variations in the frequency and duration of excess emissions are generally experienced by
different industrial categories.
 Identify the Types of sentences.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/noise-pollution/

Noise Pollution
Noise pollution can cause health problems for people and wildlife, both on land and in
the sea. From traffic noise to rock concerts, loud or inescapable sounds can cause
hearing loss, stress, and high blood pressure. Noise from ships and human activities in
the ocean is harmful to whales and dolphins that depend on echolocation to survive.
Noise pollution is an invisible danger. It cannot be seen, but it is present nonetheless,
both on land and under the sea. Noise pollution is considered to be any unwanted or
disturbing sound that affects the health and well-being of humans and other
organisms.
Sound is measured in decibels. There are many sounds in the environment, from
rustling leaves (20 to 30 decibels) to a thunderclap (120 decibels) to the wail of a siren
(120 to 140 decibels). Sounds that reach 85 decibels or higher can harm a person’s
ears. Sound sources that exceed this threshold include familiar things, such as power
lawn mowers (90 decibels), subway trains (90 to 115 decibels), and loud rock
concerts (110 to 120 decibels).
Noise pollution impacts millions of people on a daily basis. The most common health
problem it causes is Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Exposure to loud noise can
also cause high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep disturbances, and stress. These
health problems can affect all age groups, especially children. Many children who live
near noisy airports or streets have been found to suffer from stress and other
problems, such as impairments in memory, attention level, and reading skill.
Noise pollution also impacts the health and well-being of wildlife. Studies have
shown that loud noises cause caterpillars’ hearts to beat faster and bluebirds to have
fewer chicks. Animals use sound for a variety of reasons, including to navigate, find
food, attract mates, and avoid predators. Noise pollution makes it difficult for them to
accomplish these tasks, which affects their ability survive.
Increasing noise is not only affecting animals on land, it is also a growing problem for
those that live in the ocean. Ships, oil drills, sonar devices, and seismic tests have
made the once tranquil marine environment loud and chaotic. Whales and dolphins
are particularly impacted by noise pollution. These marine mammals rely
on echolocation to communicate, navigate, feed, and find mates, and excess noise
interferes with their ability to effectively echolocate.

A man working with a jackhammer in a construction site. Noise pollution becomes an increasingly
larger issue in big cities.
Photograph by Construction Photography/Avalon
Further reading: https://www.britannica.com/science/noise-pollution

 Make mindmap based on the text.

https://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2020/articles/land-and-soil-
pollution
Land and soil pollution — widespread, harmful and growing
Published 15 Oct 2020 Last modified 28 Sep 2021
The ground below our feet is much more than rocks, soil and silt. Every square metre can be
unique in terms of its composition, its structure and the life that it contains and supports.
Some contain more rocks rich in certain minerals; others are rich in plant residues with
pockets of air and water.
Soil is often a neglected domain of biodiversity but even a small patch can teem with life,
ranging from tiny organisms to fungi and earthworms, all playing a vital role in the
functioning of the soil ecosystem. It is also in this space that nutrients are turned into forms
that plants can take up, allowing biomass to form and store carbon. It is also here that our
prospective drinking water starts its natural purification journey towards groundwater.
A local problem?
The way we use land often introduces additional substances to these unique ecosystems in
order to protect selected crops or add nutrients. Pollutants released from industry, transport
and other economic activities can also travel long distances and reach soils, where they
become diluted and are temporarily stored. Soil, a component of land, is considered polluted
when contaminants adversely affect human health or the environment.
With every step we take, we could be standing on top of a very different mix and
concentration of contaminants in the ground. The large variation of contaminants, soils, and
climatic and land use conditions makes it costly to monitor and assess the full extent of land
and soil pollution. What we know is mostly based on field samples scattered across countries.
Heavy metals, fertilisers and pesticides
We need agriculture to grow our food but some unsustainable farming practices continue to
contaminate soils.
Plants need, among other things, nutrients to grow and intensive agriculture can deplete
nutrients in the soil faster than nature replenishes them. Fertilisers work by compensating this
deficit by introducing extra nutrients. Unfortunately, the whole amount is often not taken up
by the plants and the surplus that is initially in soil, sooner or later, enters lakes and rivers.
Once in water, surplus nitrogen often leads to excessive growth of plants and algae, the
decomposition of which can severely reduce oxygen levels in water, harming animal and
plant species in that ecosystem.
Copper has been used extensively as a fungicide in vineyards and orchards for decades. A
recent large-scale study showed that copper concentrations in vineyards were three times
higher than the average in European soils. Copper is also added to animal feed and is
introduced to the environment when manure is spread over grasslands and other agricultural
lands.
Cadmium is another highly toxic metal found in mineral phosphorus fertilizers. Some
‘organic fertilizers, such as sewage sludges, manure, compost and bio-waste, can also
introduce a broad mix of heavy metals and organic pollutants if they are not well regulated.
Chemicals from the long-term use of pesticides are also found in soil samples from across
Europe. Over 80 % of soils tested in one study contained pesticide residues, with 58 %
containing two or more types of residue.

 Make questions and answer the them.

AIR POLLUTION
INTRODUCTION
Air pollution is addition of harmful substances to the atmosphere resulting in damage to the
environment, human health, and quality of life. One of many forms of pollution, air pollution
occurs inside homes, schools, and offices; in cities; across continents; and even globally. Air
pollution makes people sick—it causes breathing problems and promotes cancer—and it
harms plants, animals, and the ecosystems in which they live. Some air pollutants return to
Earth in the form of acid rain and snow, which corrode statues and buildings, damage crops
and forests, and make lakes and streams unsuitable for fish and other plant and animal life.

Factory smoke darkens the sky above Prague, Czech Republic. The Czech Republic faces a
severe air pollution problem that is choking the natural land. Air pollution and subsequent
acid rain has killed or damaged many of the country’s trees and badly degraded its soil.

Pollution is changing Earth’s atmosphere so that it lets in more harmful radiation from
the Sun. At the same time, our polluted atmosphere is becoming a better insulator,
preventing heat from escaping back into space and leading to a rise in global average
temperatures. Scientists predict that the temperature increase, referred to as global
warming, will affect world food supply, alter sea level, make weather more extreme, and
increase the spread of tropical disease.
MAJOR POLLUTANT SOURCES
Most air pollution comes from one human activity: burning fossil fuels—natural gas,
coal, and oil—to power industrial processes and motor vehicles. Among the harmful
chemical compounds this burning puts into the atmosphere are carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and tiny solid particles—including lead from
gasoline additives.
When fuels are incompletely burned, various chemicals called volatile organic chemicals
(VOCs) also enter the air. Pollutants also come from other sources. For instance,
decomposing garbage in landfills and solid waste disposal sites emits methane gas.
LOCAL AND REGIONAL POLLUTION
Local and regional pollution take place in the lowest layer of the atmosphere and the
troposphere. The troposphere is the region in which most weather occurs. If the load of
pollutants added to the troposphere were equally distributed, the pollutants would be spread
over vast areas and the air pollution might almost escape our notice. Pollution sources tend to
be concentrated, however, especially in cities. In the weather phenomenon known as thermal
inversion, a layer of cooler air is trapped near the ground by a layer of warmer air above.
When this occurs, normal air mixing almost ceases and pollutants are trapped in the lower
layer. Local topography, or the shape of the land, can worsen this effect—an area ringed by
mountains, for example, can become a pollution trap.

Thermal inversion
Smog surrounds the Angel Monument in Mexico City, Mexico, during a thermal inversion.
Air pollution increases dramatically when a mass o/cold air is trapped below a mass of
warmer air. The absence of air circulation prevents pollution near Earth’s surface from
escaping.

SMOG AND ACID SMOG PRECIPITATION

Smog is intense local pollution usually trapped by a thermal inversion. Before the age of the
automobile, most smog came from burning coal. In 19th-century London, smog was so
severe that street lights were turned on by noon because soot and smog darkened the
midday sky. Burning gasoline in motor vehicles is the main source of smog in most regions
today. Powered by sunlight, oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds react in the
atmosphere to produce photochemical smog. Smog contains ozone, a form of oxygen gas
made up of molecules with three oxygen atoms rather than the normal two. Ozone in the
lower atmosphere is a poison—it damages vegetation, kills trees, irritates lung tissues, and
attacks rubber. Environmental officials measure ozone to determine the severity of smog.
When the ozone level is high, other pollutants, including carbon monoxide, are usually
present at high levels as well.

Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and other types of contaminants pouring from industrial
smokestacks contribute largely to the world’s atmospheric pollution. Carbon dioxide
contributes significantly to global warming, while sulfur dioxide emissions are the principal
cause of acid rain in the northeastern United States, southeastern Canada, and Eastern
Europe.
GLOBAL WARMING
Humans are bringing about another global-scale change in the atmosphere: the increase in
what are called greenhouse gases. Like glass in a greenhouse, these gases admit the Sun’s
light but tend to reflect back downward the heat that is radiated from the ground below,
trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. This process is known as the greenhouse effect.
Carbon dioxide is the most significant of these gases.

Global warning will have different effects in different regions. A warmed world is expected
to have more extreme weather, with more rain during wet periods, longer droughts, and more
powerful storms. Although the effects of future climate change are unknown, some predict
that exaggerated weather conditions may translate into better agricultural yields in areas such
as the western United States, where temperature and rainfall are expected to increase, while
dramatic decreases in rainfall may lead to severe drought and plunging agricultural yields in
parts of Africa.

POLLUTION CLEANUP AND PREVENTION

End-of-the-pipe devices include catalytic converters in automobiles and various kinds of
filters and scrubbers in industrial plants. In a catalytic converter, exhaust gases pass over
small beads coated with metals that promote reactions changing harmful substances into less
harmful ones. When end-of-the-pipe devices first began to be used, they dramatically reduced
pollution at a relatively low cost.
End-of-the-pipe controls, however sophisticated, can only do so much. As pollution efforts
evolve, keeping the air clean will depend much more on preventing pollution than on curing
it. Gasoline, for instance, has been reformulated several times to achieve cleaner burning.
Various manufacturing processes have been redesigned so that less waste is produced. Car
manufacturers are experimenting with automobiles that run on electricity or on cleaner-
burning fuels. Buildings are being designed to take advantage of sun in winter, shade, and
breezes in summer to reduce the need for artificial heating and cooling, which are usually
powered by the burning of fossil fuels.