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ENVIRONMENTAL

ISSUES

POLLUTION
It is defined as any undesirable
changes in the physical, chemical
and biological characteristics of air
.water and soil that adversely
affects the living organisms.

Types of pollution

1.AIR POLLUTION.
2.WATER POLLUTION.
3.SOIL POLLUTION.
In order to control environmental pollution
and to protect and improve the quality of
environment ,the government of India, passed
the Environment (protection) Act,1986.
Pollutants-types.
1.Biodegradable pollutants.-ex.sewage , paper

AIR POLLUTION
It is defined as any undesirable changes in
the physical, chemical and biological
characteristics of air , that adversely affects
the living organisms.
CAUSES 1.Smoke stacks of thermal power plants ,
smelters and other industries.
2.Burning of fossil fuels.
3.Smoke from forest fires, volcanic eruption.

Air pollutants.
Particulate matter ex, metallic particles , dust
particles ,soot , aerosoles etc.
Gaseous pollutants like CO, Sulphurdioxide,
nitrogen oxide.

Harmful effects of air pollution

It depends upon.
1.Concentration of the pollutants.
2.Duration of exposure to the pollutant.
3. The organism.
EFFECTS.
1.The respiratory system of animals gets
damaged by pollutants.
2.It causes injury to plants.
3.It causes the premature death of plants.

Methods to control Air pollution.


1. Use electrostatic precipitator.
It is the most widely used method which can
remove about 99% of the particulate matter
from the exhaust of the thermal power plant.
It contain an electrode wires and stage of
collecting plates.
The electrode wires are maintained at several
thousand volts, which produce a corana, that
release electrons.
These electrons are get attached to the dust
particles and give them a negative charge

ESP

ESP

SCRUBBER

SCRUBBER

SCRUBER
It is used to remove gases like sulphur dioxide
from the industrial exhaust.
The exhaust is passed through a spray of
water lime.
Water dissolves the gases and lime reacts with
sulphurdioxide to form precipitate of calcium
sulphate or sulphite.
According to Central Pollution Control Board
(CPCB), particulate size 2.5 micrometers or
less in diameter are responsible for causing

CATALYTIC CONVERTER.
These are used in automobiles for reducing
emissions of harmful gases.
They have expensive metals like platinum
,palladium , rhodium as catalysts.
As the exhaust passes through the catalytic
converter, unburnt hydrocarbons are
converted into carbon dioxide and water,
carbon monoxide and nitric oxide are changed
into carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas
respectively.

VEHICULAR AIR POLLUTION


CONTROL IN DELHI
STEPS ADOPTED.
1.From the end of 2002 , the switching over of
public transport from Diesel to Compressed
Natural Gas(CNG).
2.Phasing out of old vehicles.
3. Use of unleaded petrol and low sulphur
petrol and Diesel.
4. Use of catalytic converter in vehicles.
5.Application of Euro=II norms for all vehicles.

As a result, there is a substantial fall n the


level of sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide
leading to significant improvement in the air
quality of Delhi

AUTO FUEL POLICY


The Government of India has laid out a road
map to cut down the vehicular air pollution in
many cities of India through Auto Fuel Policy.
The goal of this policy is to reduce sulphur to
50 ppm and Diesel and reduction to 35 % of
the fuel.
From APRIL 1 2005, the Bharat Stage II will be
APPLICABLE in all cities of India.
The cities will have to meet Euro-III EMISSION
norm from April 1 2005 and Euro IV NORM

NOISE POLLUTION

NOISE POLLUTION
Noise is defined as undesired high level of
sound.
Causes.
1.Loud speakers and music systems used for
entertainment.
JET planes and rockets.
Industrial noises etc.
HARMFUL EFFECTS.
Sleeplessness.

Control methods.
Industrial noise can be reduced by using
sound absorbent materials.
De elimination of horn- free zones arround
hospitals and schools.
Stringent laws should be laid for permissible
sound levels of crackers and loud speakers..
Setting timing after which loud speakers
cannot be played.

WATER POLLUTION

Water pollution
It is defined as any undesirable change in the
physical ,chemical and biological properties
of water that may affect the human beings
and domestic animals.
The Govt. of India has passed the Water(
Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,
1974, to safe guard our water resources.

Sources of water pollution and its


effects on living organisms.
1.Domestic sewage.
It mainly contains biodegradable organic
wastes.
It includes everything that comes from
residential area to common public sewage
system
It contains suspended solids, ex. Sand,slit
and clay.
colloidal materials ex. Faecal matter,
bacteria,paper and cloth fibres.

2. Industrial wastes.
Industries like petroleum , paper
manufacturing, metal extraction and
processing etc
Industries release waste water containing
heavy metals like mercury and many other
organic compounds.
Mercury and DDT are well known for
biological magnification

Biological magnification
It is defined as increase in concentration of
toxic chemicals at successive trophic levels.
Toxic chemicals cannot be metabolised or
excreted, there fore they get accumulated in
an organism and passed on to higher trophic
levels.
Effects of DDT accumulation in birds.
Calcium metabolism in birds is disturbed
which results in thinning of egg shell.
This results to decline in birds population.

Eutrophication
It is defined as the natural aging of a lake by
biological enrichment of its water.
Steps.
1.Water in a young lake is cold and clear to
support life.
2.With time , it is enriched with nutrients by
streams draining into it.
3.This encourages growth of aquatic life-plant
and animal life.

BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand)


The amount of oxygen required for microbial
breakdown of biodegradable organic matter
is called BOD.
IT IS HIGHER IN POLLUTED WATER AND LESSER
IN DRINKING WATER.
FIGURE.

Causes a
At the point of sewage discharge fishes get
killed and clear water organisms
disappear.decomposer organisms will become
increases in number. They require a lot of
oxygen .
Thus BOD will increases and quantity of
dissolved oxygen falls.
Causes-b
At the point b there is a degradation of
organic matter and reappearance of clear
water organisms and BOD FALLS .

As BOD refers to the amount of oxygen


consumed if all the organic matter in one liter
of water oxidized by bacteria.
Thus greater the BOD ,lesser will be the
dissolved oxygen in sewage water.
When sewage is discharged into river, the
oxygen concentration declines sharply
because large amount of oxygen is consumed
by aerobic microorganisms in river to
decompose the organic matter in river.

ALGAL BLOOM
Domestic sewage contains nutrients like
nitrogen and phosphorus which favor the
excessive growth of planktonic (free floating)
algae called an ALGAL BLOOM.
It causes fish mortality and deterioration of
water quality.
Excessive growth of water
hyacinth(Eichhornia crassipes-Terror of
Bengal), the worlds most problematic aquatic
weed grows abundantly in eutrophic water

Integrated Waste Water


Treatment
(IWWT)

In the town of Arcata on Northern cost of


California, an integrated waste water
treatment process was developed with the
help of biologist from Humboldt State
University.
A citizens group called Friends Of the Arcata
Marsh (FOAM) have taken the responsibility to
keep the project.
Cleaning occurs in two stages.
1.The conventional sedimentation, filtration

ECOSAN toilets have been developed in areas


of Kerala and Sri Lanka for ecological
sanitation.
Advantages of ecological sanitation.
1.It is practical, hygienic and efficient method
of waste disposal.
2. It is cost effective.
3. Human excreta can be recycled into natural
fertilizer to replace chemical fertilizer.

Ground water depletion and ways


for its replenishment
Ground water is depleting due to various
reasons like deforestation , agricultural use
daily use at home etc.
Ground water level is going down in several
states due to its unjudicious use.
Replenishment of ground water can be done
by rain water harvesting and reforestation.
Rain water can be collected on the roof top of
the building and can be stored underground
for later use.

Solid wastes.
These are discarded solid materials which are
produced due to various human activities.
Solid wastes may be biodegradable, recyclable
or non biodegradable.
Types of solid wastes.
1.Municipal solid wastes- wastes from home
,offices , schools , hospitals etc.
These are collected and disposed by
municipality, which generally consists of paper
, leather, textile ,rubber, glass etc.

Methods of solid waste disposal


1. Open burning- municipal waste is reduced
by burning in open.
Unburned wastes serve as breeding places of
rats and flies.
2. Sanitary landfill-wastes are dumped in a
depression after compaction and coveted with
dirt.
Seepage of chemicals from these land fills
can pollute underground water resources.

3.Rag pickers- wastes are collected and


separated out into reusable and recyclable
ones.
4.Natural breakdown the biodegradable
wastes are kept into deep pits in the ground
for natural break down.
5. Recycling- e wastes can be recycled.
6. Incineration-developed countries is
exported their e-wastes to developing
countries where they are incinerated.

Remedy for plastic waste.


A fine powder of recycle modified plastic is
called POLYBLEND(Ahmed Khans formula
Bangalore)
POLYBLEND has been mixed with bitumen to
lay roads.
Polyblend enhanced bitumen s water
repellent properties and helped increase the
life of road.

Soil pollution
Undesirable changes in soil profile affecting its
productivity is called soil pollution.
Causes.
1. Chemical seepage from industries.
2. Inorganic fertilizers and pesticides etc.

HARMFUL EFFECTS.
1. Non target organisms in the soil are killed.
2. Soil becomes unfertile.
3. Pesticides can results in biomagnifications

Control methods
1.Safe disposal of industrial wastes.
2. Organic farming- It is a cyclical zero waste
procedure where waste products from one
process are cycled in as nutrients for other
process., allowing maximum utilization of
resource and increasing the efficiency of
production.

Case study of Organic Farming.


Ramesh Chandra Dagar (A farmer of
Sonipat,Haryana) includes beekeeping ,dairy
management, water harvesting, composting
and agriculture in a chain of processes.
ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIC FARMING.
1.Waste is not accumulated .
2.Efficiency and utilization of resources is
increased.
3.It is a economical procedure as recycling
take place.

Radioactive pollution
Nuclear energy was assumed to be a natural ,
non polluting way of electricity generation till
the incidents at Three Mile Island and
Chernobyl .
It is now considered as as the most potent
pollution.
Causes.
1.Leakage of radioactive materials from power
plants.
2. Unsafe disposal of radioactive wastes.

Harmful effects.
1.Radiations from nuclear wastes cause
mutation at very high rate.
2.At high doses, nuclear radiations are lethal.
3. At low doses ,radiation causes diorders and
cancer.
Disposal of radioactive waste.
Nuclear waste should be pre-treated and
stored in shielded containers and then buried
about 500 m deep within rocks.

Greenhouse effect.
The phenomenon of keeping the earth warm
due to presence of certain gases in the
atmosphere is called green house effect.
One fourth of the incoming solar radiation is
reflected by the atmospheric gases and
clouds and only half of the incoming solar
radiation falls on the earths surface , heating
it . Of this only a small portion is reflected
back.

Green house gases


Carbon dioxide ,methane nitrous oxide CFCS.
Green house gases allow the solar radiations
to enter but prevent the escape of heat
radiations of longer wavelength.
The absorbed radiations again come to earths
surface and heat it up .
This cycle is repeated many times
,considerably heating the Earth.

Carbon dioxide its contributes to 60% of


total global warming.
Concentration of carbon dioxide was 280
ppm in 1750s ,368 ppm in 2000.
It is due to excessive combustion of fossil
fuels, biomass burning and deforestation.
Methane- Its atmospheric concentration has
doubled from 700 ppb in 1750s to 1450 ppb
in 2000.
The gas contributes 20% to global warming.
The major sources are paddy field enteric
fermentation is cattle and wet land.

Global warming.
The gradual continuous increase in average
temperature of Earth as a result of increase
in concentration of green house gases is
termed as Global warming.
Cause
Increase in level of green house gases.
These gases allow the heat waves to reach
earth but prevent their escape and thus the
earth becomes warm.

Ozone depletion
Two types ozone
1.Bad ozone-formed in troposphere and is
harmful to plants and animals.
2. Good ozone- formed in stratosphere and
absorbs harmful UV radiations from the sun.
The thickness of the ozone is measured in
Dobson unit(DU).

FORMATION OF OZONE

Nascent oxygen combines with molecular


oxygen to form ozone by the action of UV rays.
O2
[O] + [O]-Nascent oxygen
O2 + [O]
O3-ozone
Ozone is degraded into molecular oxygen in
the stratosphere by UV action into maintain a
balance between production and degradation.
O3
O2 +[O]
O2+[O]
O3

CAUSES OF OZONE DEPLETION


1.Ozone degradation has increased due to
chloroflurocarbons (CFCs).
2.CFCs reacts with UV in stratosphere to
release chloride atoms.
3.Chloride atoms act as a catalyst to degrade
ozone and release molecular oxygen.
4.CFCs have permanent and continued effect
as chloride atoms are not consumed.
5.Over Antarctic region, there has been
thinning of large area of ozone layer that has

Harmful effects.
1. UV B damages DNA and proteins of living
organisms causing mutation.
2.It causes skin aging, skin cell damage and
skin cancers.
3.UV-B is absorbed by human eye at high dose
it causes inflammation in cornea. This is
called SNOW BLINDNESS cataract.

Measures to control global


warming.

1.Reduction in Fossil fuel usage.


2.Energy should be efficiently used.
3.Deforestation should be reduced.
4. Reduction in Human population
5. Alternative to emission of green house
gases.
6.Montreal Protocol-It has been signed at
Montreal in1987 to control the emission of
ozone emission substances.

Deforestation
National Forest Policy(NFP)1988 of India has
recommended 33% forest cover for plains and
67% for hills.
Slash and burn agriculture.( Jhum
cultivation).
In NE States of India ,farmers cut down the
trees of the forest and burn the plant remains
Ash is used as fertilizer and land is used for
farming or cattle grazing.
Thus land is left uncultivated for several years.

Major effects of deforestation.


1.carbon dioxide concentration is increased in
the atmosphere due to biomass loss caused
by deforestation.
2.Biodiversity is lost due habitat destruction.
3. Deforestation disturbs hydrological cycle.
4. Soil erosion is more due to cutting of trees.
5. Desertification of land occurs in extreme
cases.

Reforestation
It is a process of restoring a forest that was
already existing some time.
It can be done by planting trees in a deserted
areas.
It also occurs naturally.

A case study of people


participation in forest
conservation.

In 1731, A King of Jodhpur wanted to arrange


wood for his new palace.
Bishnoi community being peaceful co-exists
with nature never allowed them to cut the
trees.
Thus few Bishnois hugged the trees and asked
them to cut them first rather than cutting
trees so hundreds of Bishnois lost their lives.

Amerita Devi Bishnoi Wild Life Protection


Award .
It is instituted for individuals of rural areas
who take keen interest in protecting wild life.
Chipko Movement.
Chipko Movement of Garhwal ,was started by
local women .
They hugged the trees to protect them the axe
of contractors.
JFM.
Joint Forest Management- this concept was
started by Government of India IN 1980 in

EI Nino effect.
It refers to the odd climatic changes due to
rise in temperature.
It leads to increased melting of polar ice caps
as well as other places like the Himalayan
snow caps.
This will result in a rise in sea level that can
submerge many coastal areas.
Thus resulting in biodiversity loss.

Oil spill
An oil spill is the release of
a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the
environment, especially marine areas, due to
human activity, and is a form of pollution. The
term is usually applied to marine oil spills,
where oil is released into the ocean or coastal
waters, but spills may also occur on land. Oil
spills may be due to releases of crude
oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling
rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined

Oil spill

Important terms
ACCELERATED EUTROPHICATION :- The
acceleration of aging process of water by
humans activities like effluents from the
industries and homes.
AGRO-CHEMICALS :- The chemicals used in
agriculture such as inorganic fertilizers,
pesticides, herbicides, fungicides etc. are
called agro-chemicals.
ALGAL BLOOM :- Presence of large amount of
nutrients in water that cause excessive

E-WASTE :- Irreparable computers and other


electronic wastes
GREEN HOUSE EFFECT :- The naturally
occurring phenomenon that is responsible for
heating of Earths surface and atmosphere.
INTEGRATED ORGANIC FARMING :-A Cyclical,
zero waste procedure, where waste products
from one process are cycled in as nutrients
for other processes.
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTES :- The wastes from

POLYBLEND :- A fine powder of recycled


modified plastic.
REFORESTATION :- The process of restoring a
forest that once existed but was removed at
same point of time in the past.
SANITARY LANDFILLS :- The process in which
wastes are dumped in a depression or trench
after compaction and covered with dirt
everyday.
SNOW-BLINDNESS CATARACT :- High dose of

DIFERENCES
Primary pollutants Secondary pollutants
1.These enter our atmosphere directly from
different sources and these may be solid
,liquid and gas. 2.e.g.CO,CO2,SO2,N2O
Secondary pollutants
1.These are formed during chemical reaction
b/w primary and other atmospheric pollutants
2.e.g.smog, brown air.

Deforestation Desertification
1.It is called the cutting and clearing of forests.
2.Caused due cattle grazing, urbanization and
industrialisation
Desertification
1.It is the conversion of grassland into desert.
2.Caused due to cattle grazing and soil erosio

ASSIGNMENTS

1.Define eutrophication.
2. What is biomagnification?
3. What is BOD?
4.Which is the worlds most problematic
weed, also known as terror of Bengal
5. Differentiate between biodegradable and
non-biodegradable wastes.
6. Describe Chipko Movement.
7. Mention harmful effects of noise pollution

1. What is meant by algal blooms?


What is its significance?
2 What is Jhum cultivation? 3 What is snow
blindness?
4. Mention the harm caused by fine
particulate matter to human beings?
5.What are the advantages of Organic
farming? 6. How do radioactive wastes cause
damage to living organism?
7. What measures should be taken to reduce
global warming?
8. Write a short note on ozone depletion

1. What is the effect of DDT in birds?


2. Why are nuclear wastes called potent
pollutants?
3. Mention two problems that have arisen due
to green revolution.
4. What is ecological sanitation? What are its
advantages?
5. How can we reduce automobile pollution?
6.Mention the adverse effects agrochemicals
7..Mention the Supreme Court directions to
the Government to reduce pollution.

1.What do you mean by point source pollution


?
2What is the cause of minimata disease ?
Write its symptoms .
3.Which type of UV radiations can be lethal to
the organisms ?
4 .Expand the term PAN ?
5. Write constituents of smog ?
6.BOD of two samples of water A and B were

END

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