There are three types of pollution, namely, i. Air pollution, ii. Water pollution, and iii. Land or soil pollution.
Note : Noise pollution is not recognized as a type of pollution because noise itself is a source of air or atmospheric pollution.
In our efforts to produce more food and raise our standard of living, we increased our agricultural and industrial activities. These activities released agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes and energy (heat, sound, etc.) Into the various ecosystems,
• disturbing their delicate balance;
• making the non living environment undesirable or unfit for life ; and
• threatening the health and existence of living organisms including humans.
This is known as pollution.
Pollution is a Greek word that means defilement'. In a general sense, pollution may be defined as the addition of materials or energy to the environment that damages (or defiles) it, making it undesirable or unfit for life. The materials and energy that cause pollution are known as pollutants. Most pollutants are produced by industrial and agricultural activities. However, natural processes such as excretion and volcanic eruptions also produce pollutants.
Many pollutants accumulate in the environment because they are non biodegradable, I.e. they cannot be broken down into simple harmless substances. These include plastics , glasses , tin , cans and metal scraps. All products of living organisms including wastes are biodegradable.
Some pollutants like the salts of heavy metals (e.g. mercury and leads) and certain insecticides (e.g. DDT) are poisonous. Although, these pollutants are released in low concentrations into the environment, they tend to accumulate in living organisms and events reach toxic levels.
Under normal conditions, biodegradable pollutants such as faeces are removed by the circles that operate I'm nature. However, when these pollutants are produced in large amounts, the natural cycled cannot cope, and the pollutants starts to accumulate in the environment.
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