Name - Riya

Roll no.-2210997198
EVS Assignment 2

1. What is pollution? Explain its types along with its effects.

Ans) Pollution occurs when pollutants contaminate the natural
surroundings; which brings about changes that affect our normal lifestyles
adversely. Pollutants are the key elements or components of pollution
which are generally waste materials of different forms. Pollution disturbs
our ecosystem and the balance in the environment. With modernisation
and development in our lives pollution has reached its peak; giving rise to
global warming and human illness.

Pollution occurs in different forms; air, water, soil, radioactive, noise, heat/
thermal and light. Every form of pollution has two sources of occurrence;
the point and the non-point sources. The point sources are easy to identify,
monitor and control, whereas the non-point sources are hard to control.

The different types of pollutions are :

Air Pollution is the most prominent and dangerous form of pollution. It

occurs due to many reasons.
1Excessive burning of fuel which is a necessity of our daily lives for cooking,
driving and other industrial activities; releases a huge amount of chemical
substances in the air everyday; these pollute the air.
2) Smoke from chimneys, factories, vehicles or burning of wood basically
occurs due to coal burning; this releases sulphur dioxide into the air
making it toxic.
The effects of air pollution are evident too. Release of sulphur dioxide and
hazardous gases into the air causes global warming and acid rain; which in
turn have increased temperatures, erratic rains and droughts worldwide;
making it tough for the animals to survive. We breathe in every polluted
particle from the air; result is increase in asthma and cancer in the lungs.

Water Pollution has taken toll of all the surviving species of the earth.
Almost 60% of the species live in water bodies. It occurs due to several
factors; the industrial wastes dumped into the rivers and other water bodies
cause an imbalance in the water leading to its severe contamination and
death of aquatic species. .
Also spraying insecticides, pesticides like DDT on plants pollutes the
ground water system and oil spills in the oceans have caused irreparable
damage to the water bodies. Eutrophication is another big source; it occurs
due to daily activities like washing clothes, utensils near lakes, ponds ,or
rivers; this forces detergents to go into water which blocks sunlight from
penetrating, thus reducing oxygen and making it inhabitable.

Water pollution not only harms the aquatic beings but it also contaminates
the entire food chain by severely affecting humans dependent on these.
Water-borne diseases like cholera, diarrhoea have also increased in all
places.

Soil pollution occurs due to incorporation of unwanted chemicals in the

soil due to human activities. Use of insecticides and pesticides absorbs the
nitrogen compounds from the soil making it unfit for plants to derive
nutrition from. Release of industrial waste, mining and deforestation also
exploits the soil. Since plants can’t grow properly, they can’t hold the soil
and this leads to soil erosion.

Noise pollution is caused when noise which is an unpleasant sound affects

our ears and leads to psychological problems like stress, hypertension,
hearing impairment, etc. It is caused by machines in industries, loud music,
etc. So an excess of noise in the outdoors leads to “Noise Pollution”.
This can be experienced by too many vehicles honking at the roads, heavy
machinery being operated in the open (for ex, a jackhammer), trains, clubs,
over populated crowds and many more.

Radioactive pollution is highly dangerous when it occurs. It can occur

due to nuclear plant malfunctions, improper nuclear waste disposal,
accidents, etc. It causes cancer, infertility, blindness, defects at the time of
birth; can sterilise soil and affect air and water.

Thermal/heat pollution is due to the excess heat in the environment

creating unwanted changes over long time periods; due to huge number of
industrial plants, deforestation and air pollution. It increases the earth’s
temperature, causing drastic climatic changes and extinction of wildlife.

2. Explain all the threats to biodiversity ?

Ans) The major threats to the biodiversity are:
(i) Habitat destruction :
Habitat destruction is the process by which a natural habitat becomes
incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that
previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby reducing
biodiversity and species abundance. Habitat destruction is the leading
cause of biodiversity loss.

(ii) Introduced and invasive species :

Introducing new species often leaves endemic and other local species
unable to compete with the exotic species and unable to survive. The
exotic organisms may be predators, parasites, or may
simply outcompete indigenous species for nutrients, water and light.
At present, several countries have already imported so many exotic
species, particularly agricultural and ornamental plants, that their own
indigenous fauna/flora may be outnumbered.

iii) Environmental pollution :

Loss of biodiversity due to pollution is very common nowadays.
When resources are consumed, only the biodegradable waste gets
broken down slowly and gets recycled. But the non-biodegradable
waste remains in the environment and enters our food chain. This
waste travels through the food webs, gets biomagnified and reaches
the tissues of all the living species. These wastes are very toxic and
their toxicity increases with time. Ultimately pollution is responsible
for global climatic changes and extinction of most of the species.

(iv) Over exploitation of resources :

Overexploitation is one of the main threats to global biodiversity.
Other threats include pollution, introduced and invasive species,
habitat fragmentation, habitat destruction, uncontrolled hybridisation,
climate change, ocean acidification and the driver behind many of
these, human overpopulation.

(v) Climate Change :

Climate change, and specifically the anthropogenic (meaning, caused
by humans) warming trend presently underway, is recognised as a
major extinction threat, particularly when combined with other threats
such as habitat loss. Scientists disagree about the likely magnitude of
the effects, with extinction rate estimates ranging from 15 percent to
 40 percent of species committed to extinction by 2050. Scientists do
agree, however, that climate change will alter regional climates,
including rainfall and snowfall patterns, making habitats less
hospitable to the species living in them.

3. How the acid rain has the impacts on humans and agriculture?
Elaborate it.
Ans) Effect of acid rain on humans :

Acid Rain Can Cause Health Problems in People

Air pollution like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can cause
respiratory diseases, or can make these diseases worse. Respiratory
diseases like asthma or chronic bronchitis make it hard for people to
breathe. Acid rainfall can cause serious repertory problems and greatly
impact human health. It has been estimated that around 550 premature
deaths each year occur due to acid rain.

Although, acid rain cannot harm human immediately,

the sulphur dioxide creates health problems for human beings.
Particularly, sulphur dioxide particles in the air can motivate chronic
lung issues such as asthma and bronchitis. In addition to this, the
nitrogen oxides that generate acid rain promote the formation of
ground-level ozone. While ozone high above the Earth helps block
ultraviolet radiation, base level ozone promotes severe lung issues such
as acute pneumonia and emphysema.

Effect of acid rain on agricultures :

Acid rain affects plants directly and decreases soil quality to reduce
yields from agriculture. Its effects are particularly severe in locations
near sources of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. In the United
States, about two-thirds of sulphur dioxide and one-quarter of
nitrogen oxides come from power generation plants burning fossil
fuels, while the rest is from industrial and transportation sources.

Q4. Describe the term of resettlement and rehabilitation in detail.

Ans) Resettlement and Rehabilitation:
 People are forced to move out of their land due to both natural
and man-made-disasters. Natural disasters like earthquakes, cyclones,
tsunami etc. render thousands of people homeless and sometime even
force them to move and resettle in other areas. Similarly, developmental
projects like construction of roads, dams, canals and flyovers displace
people from their home. You must all be aware of the recent nuclear
leakage in Japan due to which millions of people were forced to leave the
area for their safety. Thus, resettlement refer to the process of settling
again in a new area. Rehabilitation means restoration to the former state.

Reason for displacement of people:

• Natural disasters like earthquake, cyclones, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions,

prolonged droughts conditions, floods, hurricanes etc.

• Man-made disasters like industrial accidents (e.g. Bhopal gas tragedy),

nuclear accidents (Current disaster in Japan), oil spills (ExxonValdez oil
spill), toxic contamination of sites etc.

• In search of better employment opportunities.

• Developmental projects like:

• construction of dams, irrigation canals, reservoirs etc.

• Infrastructural projects like flyovers, bridges, roads etc.

• transportation activities like roads, highway, canal etc.

• Energy related project like power plants, oil exploration, mining

activities, pipelines like HBJ pipeline etc.