United Arab Emirates
Ministry of Education
R.A.K Education Zone
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Report on :
Cause environmental
pollution
Prepared by:
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Grade:
12-Science 1
Teacher’s name: <<<<<<<<
2008-2009
Main ideas
* Introduction
* Subject
* What is Pollution?
* Air Pollution
* Water Pollution
* Land/Soil Pollution
* Noise Pollution
* Conclusion & recommendations
Introduction
We all create pollution therefore everyone can make a difference to
reduce pollution. Although it may seem like it is difficult to stop
pollution, there are lots of things that can be done every day to reduce
or eliminate pollution altogether
What is Pollution?
Every day we pour or release harmful substances such as poisonous ,
chemicals and garbage into our environment. These harmful substances
that end up damaging the environment, are called pollution. Most
pollution comes from factories and transportation but as you will see
we all contribute to it in many different ways.
All pollution is waste. Waste is unwanted or discarded material and
when it is released into the environment it becomes pollution. When
most people think of waste they think of garbage or trash that is
littered all over the land. This type of waste is the one that most
people are familiar with and it is commonly called solid waste. But solid
waste pollution is not the only type of pollution out there. Can you
think of other types? In addition to solid waste there is air pollution,
water pollution, soil pollution and even noise pollution. As you will see, if
not handled properly, pollution can and has contaminated our air,
water, soil and land.
Air Pollution
Every living creature relies on clean air to survive. Air is made up of a
mixture of gases, mainly oxygen and nitrogen, with small amounts of
carbon dioxide plus water. Air has no colour or smell, except when it is
polluted. Dirty air can affect the health of humans, animals, plants and
can even damage buildings. Industry and transportation produce most
of the air pollution, releasing millions of tons of harmful substances
into the environment each year.
The burning of fossil fuels (coal and oil) is the source of or generates
most of the world's energy. Unfortunately it also generates most of
the world's air pollution. That is because when we burn the fossil fuels
to. produce energy we end up releasing waste in the form of toxic
gases Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur
dioxides are some of the most dangerous gases produced during the
burning of fossil fuels.
Carbon dioxide gases play a big role in the greenhouse effect by
trapping heat rather than allowing it to escape into space. It is not
just what is released into the air that causes problems; it is also how
individual pollutants interact with each other, water and/or sunlight.
Water Pollution
One of the most damaging forms of water pollution is from oil. Oil
spills from ships and oil tankers at sea cause devastating water
pollution and harm wildlife. These events receive lots of attention on
television and from environmental groups, however these spills only
represent a small percentage of the total amount of oil that
contaminates our water.
Tankers dump oil into oceans as part of their routine cleaning,
refineries pump oily wastewater into surface water and oil from city
streets are washed into storm drains that eventually enter our.
Waterways When people rinse materials down the drain, flush their
toilets or do a load of wash, the wastewater usually goes to sewage
treatment plants to be purified. These plants will then remove dirt,
biodegradable materials such as food waste and a number of other
pollutants before the water reaches our waterways. However, most
treatment plants can't remove all of the chemicals that are used in
products such as paint thinners or phosphates that are used in many
detergents and these substances end up passing right through the
sewage treatment plant untreated. Other sources of water pollution
include the dirt and litter from the streets that are washed into
storm drains. In most areas these storm drains empty into
underground pipes that will eventually dump directly into our lakes,
rivers and oceans.
Land/Soil Pollution
Disposing of acids, pesticides, chemicals, radioactive waste, sewage
sludge and other types of hazardous waste on our lands has become
one of the most dangerous pollution and waste problem. Most of this
hazardous waste is sent to landfill sites or burned in incinerators
which in turn create toxic runoff and air pollution. In the past this
hazardous waste has also been buried deep underground. However,
because of poor storage methods older landfills and underground
storage sites may end up leaking hazardous materials into surrounding
soils and sometimes groundwater. This results in contaminated lands
that pose a threat to people living in the area as well as to wildlife and
the environment Not only should we be concerned about the leaking of
these wastes but we should also be concerned about the amount of
waste that is being disposed of in these landfill sites. Per person,
Canadians throw away more garbage than any other country. The more
garbage we produce the more resources and space we will need to
dispose of it. This is a problem because we are running out of places to
locate landfill sites. Nobody wants to live next to a dumpsite but what
do we do with all that garbage? We can learn to reduce the amount of
garbage that we create.
Even more disturbing is what we are actually throwing out and sending
to these dumpsites. There is more paper than any other material found
in landfills. Over 38% of all materials a landfill is paper. The next
highest is metal, glass and plastics at 34%. Finally, about 15% of the
material disposed of in dumps are food and yard waste. All of these
materials can and should be kept out of our landfills. If you add up all
these numbers, over 87% of what makes up a landfill site could have
been recycled, reused or composted. But instead we are polluting our
land by throwing them away as garbage and using up our natural
resources unnecessarily (i.e. cutting down more trees to make more
paper).
Noise Pollution
Modern towns and cities are noisy. Within these cities there is a
constant rumble from cars, trucks, buses, machines, alarms and sirens.
Even loud music is a form of noise pollution. Some communities are also
located in noisy areas such as airports or near a train track/station.
Other people have to work in noisy factories.
When these vehicles, horns, radios, heavy machinery, make loud and
continuing sounds they are producing noise pollution. We don't think of
noise as being able to hurt us but it does. Noise can cause damage to
our hearing and lead to other health problems, especially if you are
exposed to loud noises for long periods of time.
Conclusion
At the end, pollution prevention is not difficult. Opportunities can be
found at home, when you shop at the store, when you go to school or
when you go to work. You can take steps every day to help stop
pollution.
Once you get in the habit of thinking about the pollution you are
creating, you will soon recognize more and more opportunities for
preventing it.
Challenge yourself to find a new way to reduce pollution each week or
improve on something you have already started, like riding your bike
more often, or walking to school every day instead of once or twice a
week.
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Reference
Student book grade 12
http://netmlmarticles.com
http://www.ieee.org/organizations/rab/gold/PrMgrSucssRecod.html.