Tag: soil pollution and its effects

Plant twigs are biodegradable. Rest of them are non-biodegradable.

Vehicles do not directly cause soil pollution. Deforestation, excessive use of fertilizers and solid wastes may cause soil pollution

Forests and grasslands are an excellent binding material that keeps the soil intact and healthy. They support many habitats and ecosystems, which provide innumerable feeding pathways or food chains to all species. Their loss would threaten food chains and the survival of many species.

DDT  is a colorless, crystalline, tasteless organochlorine compound having insecticidal impacts.

The portion of solid waste that is hazardous are oils, battery metals, heavy metals from smelting industries and organic solvents. These can in the long run, get deposited to the soils of the surrounding area and pollute them by altering their chemical and biological properties. They also contaminate drinking water aquifer sources. More than 90% of hazardous waste is produced by chemical, petroleum and metal-related industries and small 
businesses such as dry cleaners and gas stations contribute as well.

The over use of NPK fertilizers reduce quantity of vegetables and crops grown on soil over the years. It also reduces the protein content of wheat, maize, grams, etc., grown on that soil. The carbohydrate quality of such crops also gets degraded. Excess potassium content in soil decreases 
Vitamin C and carotene content in vegetables and fruits. The vegetables and fruits grown on overfertilized soil are more prone to attacks by insects and disease. 

Rice is grown in flooded fields, a situation that depletes the soil of oxygen. Soils that are anaerobic (lacking oxygen) allow the bacteria that produce methane from decomposing organic matter to thrive. Some of this methane then bubbles to the surface, but most of it is diffused back into the atmosphere through the rice plants themselves. Hence, rice Paddy field that produces maximum methane gas into the atmosphere.

Soil erosion occurs when the weathered soil particles are dislodged and carried away by wind or water. Deforestation, agricultural development, temperature extremes, precipitation including acid rain, and human activities contribute to this erosion. Humans speed up this process by construction, mining, cutting of timber, over cropping and overgrazing. It results in floods and cause soil erosion.

Animal wastes, papers, leaves are biodegradable. Glass pieces are non-biodegradable.

Deforestation, clearance or clearing is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use. The less the soil is covered with vegetation, mulches, crop residues, etc., the more the soil is exposed to the impact of raindrops. When a raindrop hits bare soil, the energy of the velocity detaches individual soil particles from soil clods. Thus Deforestation would decrease the water holding capacity of the soil, so statement is false and Option B is correct.