Definition of Environmental Pollution

As a whole, the advance of civilization has been accompanied by the improvement of the quality of life of people. In advanced countries the population It has running water, electricity, means of transport and all kinds of devices that facilitate daily life. However, all these advances have negative effects on the environment and these effects make up the fundamental idea of ​​the contamination environmental.

The risks of environmental pollution

Soil, water and the atmosphere have products that are not typical of nature. Some of the products used by the industry are dangerous for human health and for the Balance of the planet as a whole. Radioactive waste, fumes from factories or dumping of waste into the seas contribute to the degradation of the environment.

If the physical environment is degraded, on the other hand, there is a decrease in the natural resources available. As a result, concern about environmental pollution has become a global problem.

The biological cycles of nature and the intervention of humans

Any living being generates waste products that can harm other living beings or the environment. Nature has adapted to this phenomenon and in this sense some animals live on the excrement of others or feed on the meat of dead animals. In this way, nature has its own mechanisms to eliminate organic matter residues that could potentially cause infectious diseases. This natural balance has been disturbed by the intervention of the humans.

Human civilization generates so much waste that nature does not have enough capacity to assimilate it properly. This imbalance produces serious alterations in the environment: changes in biological cycles, disappearance of species, etc.

The human being pollutes the environment through several ways:

1) a consumption excessive products,

2) the combustion of certain organic substances (coal, wood, etc.) and

3) waste products from industry.

In this sense, if we take as a reference the sulfur dioxide emitted to the air By certain industries, this substance ends up combining in the air with the evaporation water and this generates sulfuric acid (the phenomenon is known as acid rain and its polluting effect affects rivers and life vegetable).

Apart from industrial processes, cities are also a source of environmental pollution. In them there is pollution of the atmosphere through pollution and a volume of garbage that must be subjected to recycling processes to minimize its negative impact on the environment.

Photos: Fotolia. carlac / Riza