Tag: environmental pollution and industries

Air pollution can directly affect plants via leaves or indirectly via soil acidification. When exposed to pollutants, most plants experience physiological changes before exhibiting visible damage to leaves like necrosis, chlorosis. The atmospheric SO$ _2$ adversely affects various morphological and physiological characteristics of plants through acid rain. 

Pollution in all forms can cause a disturbance in the ecosystem. Melting of glaciers can cause rising in sea levels, which increase the threat of mixing fresh and salt water and the species can be extinct, the food chain can be disrupted, climatic change can cause instability, several areas might become prone to erosions, landslides, heavy rainstorms can cause migrations and crisis of survival. When the abiotic environment is disturbed, the worst effects are finally faced by the biotic environment.

Bio gas is a natural gas produce through anaerobic decomposition of organic wastes. This burn with blue flame without producing fumes. It can be easily compressed and transported.

The visibility of less than 1 km is the standard range for fog, that is formed due to condensation of the water droplets near earth's surface. Mist is formed due to the dispersion of dust and smoke in the air along with nucleation of the water droplets and the visibility range for mist is between 1 km to 2 km. The visibility range for haze is between 2 km to 5 km.

In Tokyo, the excessive accumulation of the air pollutants in the atmosphere have severely deteriorated the oxygen availability because the primary pollutants like nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, hydrocarbon react with oxygen to form the ozone, PAN etc. So, the people working in fields like traffic policemen suffer from severe deoxygenation. So, they need hyperbaric oxygen treatment daily.

Waldsterben refers to the mass death of the trees wherein, the peripheral parts of the plants are killed and slowly the entire forest population dwindles. It was first reported in Germany in the early 1980s. The atmospheric pollution was the main cause of such deaths of trees. Tropospheric ozone is the secondary pollutant. Nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides are released by the industrial emissions and vehicular exhausts. Acid rain is the chemical reaction between these oxides and water to form their respective acids that precipitate with the rains. The pollutants have severe effects on the trees.

The big cities in India have witnessed an ever increase in the air pollution and deterioration of the air quality due to the increase in the use of the vehicles, construction material, industrial growth, deforestation etc. The increase in the suspended particles, the frequent appearance of the photochemical smog, the events of the acid rains and the increase in respiratory diseases in the population are the outcomes of air pollution. 

Atmospheric aerosol particles can be defined as any solid or liquid droplets suspended in the atmosphere. Fog, Dust, smoke are examples of aerosol. Aerosols increase atmospheric albedo due to which the rate of photosynthesis by plants on earth is decreased. Albedo is the part of the energy from the sunlight reflected back into the atmosphere. 

Biotic components are living things and abiotic components are non-living being in an ecosystem. Pollution of any kind adversely affect these components, contaminated air affects the natural cycle of respiration for trees, human and animals, excessive use of fertilisers diminish the quality of soil and malign the quality of water. Smoke and chemical production cause ozone depletion. Lands are becoming infertile, natural water bodies are drying up, and with the development new kind of pollution can be identified such as nuclear pollution making soil, water and atmosphere radioactive for long period.

Lead is the major heavy metal pollutant released by the vehicular exhausts. It persists in the air and precipitates with the rains. In reaches the human body when consumed through water or inhaled as suspended particle. At the concentration of 30μg/100ml in blood, it is considered poisoning as it can cause aplastic anaemia, tumour and cancer.