Land Pollution : an introduction

Land pollution basically is about contaminating the land surface of the Earth through dumping urban waste matter indiscriminately, dumping of industrial waste, mineral exploitation, and misusing the soil by harmful agricultural practices. Land pollution includes visible litter and waste along with the soil itself being polluted. The soil gets polluted by the chemicals in pesticides and herbicides used for agricultural purposes along with waste matter being littered in urban areas such as roads, parks, and streets.

Land Pollution Comprises Of: Solid Waste and Soil Pollution

Solid Waste: Semisolid or solid matter that are created by human or animal activities, and which are disposed because they are hazardous or useless are known as solid waste. Most of the solid wastes, like paper, plastic containers, bottles, cans, and even used cars and electronic goods are not biodegradable, which means they do not get broken down through inorganic or organic processes. Thus, when they accumulate they pose a health threat to people, plus, decaying wastes also attract household pests and result in urban areas becoming unhealthy, dirty, and unsightly places to reside in. Moreover, it also causes damage to terrestrial organisms, while also reducing the uses of the land for other, more useful purposes.

What can acid rain do to non-living things?

Acid rain can also damage non-living things, such as buildings and statues. It can decay building materials and paints. Worst of all, it can damage non-replaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation’s memories that we want to last for a very long time.
There are a lot of similarities in all of these pollutants. Most of the pollutants are from automobiles. Automobiles release harmful smoke into the air, which causes acid rain. Coal, oil, and gasoline are also some of the most common causes of all of the pollutants. If people reduce the amount of these things that they release into the air, then there will be less pollutants. Some of the most common health problems are breathing problems, nervous system problems, and lung problems.

Air Pollutant % that mobile sources contribute to acid rain % that other sources contribute to acid rain
Volatile organic compound 37% 63%
Nitrogen oxide 49% 51%
Carbon monoxide 81% 19%
Particulate matter 27% 73%
The table above shows that the biggest air pollutant that mobile sources contribute to acid rain is carbon monoxide. Of all of the carbon monoxide releases that contribute to acid rain, 81% of them come from mobile sources. The biggest other source is particulate matter, little particles of pollution that are released into the air by cars, trucks, and buses that are burning diesel fuel, fertilizers, pesticides, road construction, steel making, mining, and turning on fire places and wood stoves. 73% of the non-mobile sources that contribute to acid rain are caused by the release of particulate matter. The table above shows how much mobile and other sources of pollution can make acid rain more of a problem. Seeing that carbon monoxide and particulate matter are the leading sources of pollution, by cutting down on these, acid rain will not be as much of a problem.

What is acid rain caused by?

Acid rain is mainly caused by these substances that are being released into the air:

Carbon dioxide: Carbon dioxide is released by burning coal, oil, and natural gas. If you inhale carbon dioxide, then since it is toxic, it can cause you to have to breathe more than usual, unconsciousness, and other serious health problems.

Carbon monoxide: Carbon monoxide is released by burning gasoline, oil, and wood. When carbon monoxide enters your body, it goes into the bloodstream. When this happens, it will slow down the delivery of oxygen to the rest of the body, causing dizziness, headaches, and fatigue.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs): CFCs are the chemicals that are used in industry, refrigeration, air conditioning systems, and consumer products. Whenever CFCs are released into the air, they reduce the stratospheric ozone layer. The stratospheric ozone layer protects Earth’s surface from the harmful rays of the sun.


Hazardous air pollutants (HAPS): HAPS are released into the air by sources such as chemical plants, dry cleaners, printing plants, and motor vehicles (cars, trucks, buses, and planes). HAPS can cause serious health problems like cancer, birth defects, nervous system problems, and deaths that are all due to people accidentally letting them go into the air.

Lead: Lead is released by house and car paint as well as the manufacturing of lead batteries, fishing lures, certain parts of bullets, some ceramic ware, water pipes, and fixtures. In young children, lead can cause nervous system damage and learning problems.

Nitrogen oxides: Nitrogen Oxides are released into the air by burning fuels such as gasoline and coal. When nitrogen oxides combine with VOCs, they can cause breathing difficulty in people who have asthma, coughs in children, and general illness in your respiratory system.

Ozone: Ozone is released by motor vehicles, industries, burning coal, gasoline, and other fossil fuels, and in the chemicals that are in hairspray and paints. When ozone is close to the ground (ground level ozone) it can cause chest pain, irritated respiratory tract, or persistent cough, can make you unable to take deep breaths, and can make you more likely to get lung infections.

Particulate matter (PM): PM, little particles of pollution, is released by cars, trucks, and buses that are burning diesel fuel, fertilizers, pesticides, road construction, steel making, mining, and turning on fire places and wood stoves. When PMs mix with air particles and get breathed in by something, they get stuck in the lung tissue. There they can cause increased respiratory disease and lung damage.

Sulfur dioxides: Sulfur dioxides are released by burning coal, paper production, and melting metal. Sulfur dioxide can harm vegetation, harm metals, and cause lung problems, which include breathing problems and permanent lung damage.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs): VOCs are released into the air by burning gasoline, wood, coal, or natural gas, solvents, paints, glues, and other products that are used at work or at home.

What effect does acid rain have on the forests of the world?

Trees are also harmed by acid rain. In Germany, the forests are believed to be dying because acid rain is harming them. Scientists say that acid rain damages the waxy outer coating that protects
the leaves. When this happens, it allows the acid to seep into the tree. Instead of water changing from a liquid to a gas inside the leaves, gas is taking the place of the water. This prevents the plant from taking in carbon dioxide to perform photosynthesis, and the plant will eventually die.
Acid rain, acid fog, and acid vapor also damage forests by damaging the surface of the leaves and needles. This makes it harder for the trees to withstand the cold and will cause the tree to die. Acid rain also harms the soil that the trees are growing in by taking most of the valuable nutrients away from the soil. Acid rain also leaves a lot of aluminum in the soil, which can be harmful to the trees that grow there.


The atmosphere deposits a lot of toxic metals into the forests because acid rain contains metal. Some of these metals are lead, zinc, copper, chromium, and aluminum. When there is acid rain, the rain releases these metals. This is believed to stunt the growth of many trees and plants. This also stunts the growth of mosses, algae, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and fungi that are needed to help the forest grow. Forests need these because they eat the harmful things that will kill the trees, such as bad bacteria. Acid rain hurts trees because they cannot grow any more.

What is alternative energy?

Alternative energy is the name given to any type of energy used to replace a different source of energy, often because of the negative consequences of its use. Types of alternative energy throughout history have included coal, petroleum and alcohol. In the 21st century, these alternative sources have included bioenergy andbiofuels such as palm oil, ethanol, and other low carbonalternatives.

In the Middle Ages and Renaissance period from the 1200s to the 1500s, coal was used as the first source of alternative energy. When forests began to disappear due to the significant need for wood in any ever-modernizing world, coal was introduced as an alternative. Three hundred years later, in the early 1800s, petroleum was used to replace the depleted source of whale oil for fuel lamps.

In the early 1900s, the concern over the quickening use of coal and oil around the world led some to seek alternative energy sources for these precious fuels. Inventor Alexander Graham Bell first proposed using corn-based ethanol oil in 1917. These reusable energy sources came into use in the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in the United States and Brazil. In 2008, these were the top two ethanol oil users in the world. Brazil, in 2008, had over 35,000 stations that offered ethanol fuel in addition to gasoline.

In the 2000s, different biomass sources were introduced as another alternative to harmful fossil fuels, composed of recently deceased organic matter. Other recent sources have included zero carbon alternatives with low methane emissions, such as hydrogen and nuclear power.

Alternatives for transportation energy have been one of the most studied venues for alternative energy in the United States and around the world. With rising gas prices, many options are emerging as substitutes for gasoline, including previously mentioned ethanol fuels. Other sources have included electric and hybrid vehicles, as well as fuel cells and fly wheels.

What is climate change?

• the Earth’s surface has warmed by about 0.754°C on average since around 1900 and by around 0.4°C since the 1970s

·         human activity is the main cause of global warming observed over the last 100 years, particularly over the last 50 years

•     over 30 billion tonnes of CO2 are emitted globally each year by burning fossil fuels

·                            atmospheric concentration of CO2 is now higher than at any time in at least the the last 800,000 years

·                            average global temperatures are likely to rise between 1.1°C and 6.4°C above 1990 levels by the end of this century

Climate is the average weather experienced over a long period. This includes temperature, wind and rainfall patterns. The Earth’s climate is not fixed, and in the past has changed many times in response to a variety of natural causes. However, the Earth’s surface has warmed by about 0.754°C on average since around 1900 and by around 0.4°C since the 1970s.

The 2007 Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) leaves no doubt that human activity is the main cause of the warming observed over the last 100 years, particularly over the last 50 years.

The main human influence on global climate is the emission of so called greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide. As these gases build up in the atmosphere, they strengthen what is known as the ‘“greenhouse effect’”. At present, over 30 billion tonnes of CO2 are emitted globally each year by burning fossil fuels, and another 7 billion tonnes by changes in land use, mainly deforestation. Atmospheric concentration of CO2 is now higher than at any time in at least the the last 800,000 years.

According to the AR4, average global temperatures are likely to rise between 1.1°C and 6.4°C (with a best estimate of 1.8 to 4°C) above 1990 levels by the end of this century, depending on our future greenhouse gas emissions. This will result in global sea levels rising by at least26 to59cm by the end of this century, continued melting of ice caps glaciers and sea ice, significant changes in rainfall patterns and intensification of tropical cyclones such as hurricanes.

politics and environment

The news that international leaders in Italy were not able to commit to strong, binding climate change agreements probably doesn't surprise anybody. "It is no small task for 17 leaders to bridge their differences on an issue like climate change," said president Obama. But tackling an issue of this urgency, complexity, and enormity may have an upside.
Right now, leaders of so-called 'developed' and 'developing' countries are at a standoff with good reason: developed countries have polluted more in the past, but developing countries are rapidly outpacing us. Countries like the US have much higher emissions per capita, while poorer nations argue they're simply trying to provide basic services for their people. "Developed countries like my own have a historic responsibility to take the lead," Obama said. But without the help of developing nations like China and India, our best efforts will not stop global warming.
Clearly, this impasse will not be resolved using the current paradigm of 'developed' and 'developing' nations. Leaders of the so-called 'First World' and 'Third World' are confronting the reality that we live on one world; that the atmosphere has no borders, and that the old ways of exploiting, outsourcing, offshoring etc. won't work in this crisis. When I hear these leaders argue, I wonder if climate change might not be the issue that ultimately resolves this artificial distinction between developed and developing nations. Could this crisis be a spur to creating whole-world institutions and global solutions? After all, it's happened before.
World War II was also a global crisis that required nations to overcome artificial boundaries and reshape social institutions. A desperate need for soldiers forced us to address racism, and integrate the military. A desperate need for labor forced us to address sexism, and let women work in factories. Both of these changes paved the way for civil rights and women's liberation. Back then we needed new technologies, and we needed to produce them rapidly and deploy them all over the world. Today, the same is true. But there are differences as well.
Fighting a war against other humans was a challenge everybody understood and agreed upon. Fighting a war to re-establish harmony with Mother Nature is an oxymoron; clearly, this is a very different type of struggle. And while alliances were developed in the course of fighting WWII, stronger international agreements and institutions were not developed until after the shooting stopped. This time, we need international agreements before the shooting starts. If climate change disrupts crop production, hundreds of millions of starving refugees will come knocking at our doors, creating worldwide political chaos of tragic proportion.

Developing nations don't trust us, because of years of exploitation and entanglement - politically, economically, and socially. But the power-plants dismantled in Germany have been rebuilt in China and are now polluting the Yangtze river instead of the Rhine. Meanwhile, the wind turbines and solar panels that dirty power is creating are being sold to the West, because they're too expensive for the Chinese to buy themselves. Estimates are that up to 20% of CA's air pollution is blowing across the Pacific from China; and the ocean is rising on all continents regardless of political boundaries or economics. In essence, climate change is the reality that puts the lie to our illusions of separateness.
Just as we saw with the economic crisis, environmental crises are not strictly national problems - they affect us all. After the 1973 Oil Crisis, the US created the Library Group, which became the G-6, then G7, then G8. On the financial side, we had the G20, the G22 and now the G33. While it's not surprising that these leaders don't all agree, it's encouraging that they're meeting at all, because this irreversible trend toward getting everybody to the table is a necessary first step to true global agreement.
Creating global carbon markets; developing cheap, reliable solar energy; implementing best practices on energy efficiency; improving battery technology; promoting sustainable agriculture and effective water reuse strategies - none of these will be easy. But we've always been good at responding to a crisis. The true test of 'development' this time will be to see if we can get out in front of it.
History may look back on these fledgling climate change agreements as the first step in dissolving a paradigm that pits developed and developing countries against each other; as the end of the 'Third World' and the idea that we can ignore other people's problems. When I hear that international leaders for the first time in history have signed agreements regarding the world's temperature, I know we are entering a new era of global opportunity.
The crisis of climate change presents us with three critical opportunities: a moral opportunity to change what's negative about our systems, and help those in need; an economic opportunity to invest in the winning technologies of the future; and a political opportunity to form new international commitments that will strengthen all nations.
Now, if we could just agree on that, we might be getting somewhere!

An introduction to Global Warming

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. According to the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the 20th century. Most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century has been caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, which result from human activity such as the burning of fossil fuel and deforestation. Global dimming, a result of increasing concentrations of atmospheric aerosols that block sunlight from reaching the surface, has partially countered the effects of warming induced by greenhouse gases.
Climate model projections summarized in the latest IPCC report indicate that the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the 21st century. The uncertainty in this estimate arises from the use of models with differing sensitivity to greenhouse gas concentrations and the use of differing estimates of future greenhouse gas emissions. An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably including expansion of subtropical deserts. Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic and would be associated with continuing retreat of glaciers,permafrost and sea ice.



Other likely effects include changes in the frequency and intensity ofextreme weather events, species extinctions, and changes in agricultural yields. Warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe, though the nature of these regional variations is uncertain. As a result of contemporary increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, the oceans have become more acidic, a result that is predicted to continue.
The scientific consensus is that anthropogenic global warming is occurring. Nevertheless, political and public debate continues. The Kyoto Protocol is aimed at stabilizing greenhouse gas concentration to prevent a "dangerous anthropogenic interference". As of November 2009, 187 states had signed and ratified the protocol.

whom to blame?

• Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree  Celsius) around the globe since 1880, a lot of this in recent decades,  in accordance with NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. • The speed of warming is increasing. The 20th century’s last twenty years  seem to have been the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for some  millennia, according to a range of climate studies. And the United  Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) news that  11 of the past 12 years is some of the dozen warmest since 1850.

• The Arctic is feeling the outcomes essentially the most. Average temperatures in  Alaska, western Canada, as well as eastern Russia have risen at twice the  global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Effect  Assessment report compiled within 2000 and 2004.

• Arctic ice is quickly disappearing, and the region could have the first of all entirely ice-free summer by 2040 or before. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice harm.

• Glaciers and mountain snows are quickly melting—for instance, Montana’s Glacier National Park at the moment have solely 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. In the Northern  Hemisphere, thaws additionally come a week before in spring plus freezes commence one week later.<span class="full post">