Groundwater pollution - Definition and causes

Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of lithological formations. This water forms as the part of the natural water cycle present in aquifers (layer of porous substrate that contains and transmits groundwater). Groundwater has many very important functions in agricultural, municipal and industrial use. It is of vital importance to maintain the appropriate level of quantity and quality of discharging groundwater as this has significant impact on surface-water quality.

The simplest groundwater pollution definition would be an introduction of certain pollutant(s) into the groundwater which reduces the quality of groundwater making its use very limited, or in some cases impossible. Many different chemicals, and various synthetic products we use today are usually the main causes of groundwater pollution.

Love Canal was one of the most famous examples of groundwater pollution. In 1978, residents of the Love Canal neighbourhood in upstate New York noticed high rates of cancer and an alarming number of birth defects. The reason for this? Organic solvents and dioxins from an industrial landfill, which had been infiltrated into the water supply and evaporated in basements to further contaminate the air. Eight hundred families were reimbursed for their homes and moved, after extensive legal battles and huge media coverage.

It is of vital importance to preserve groundwater because groundwater that is not polluted presents the clearest water on our planet that unlike other other open water sources like rivers and streams hasn't been contaminated but was in fact purified by the cleanest process of them all, namely the natural filtration.

In the future, freshwater resources will become extremely precious, and groundwater could play one of the most important roles in world's global water supply. Therefore we have to do our best not to release pollutants into the ground because they can work their way down into groundwater, and the end result could be the interaction of groundwater contamination with surface waters that often makes the water supplies unsafe for use.

Herbicide use still rising in United States

Agricultural chemicals, mostly in form of herbicides, are now widely used throughout the whole United States. The latest report for United States says how the use of herbicides has increased steadily in the last 10 or so years. The data shows that herbicide use has grown by 383 million pounds in 12 years from 1996 to 2008, and 46 percent of that increase happened during 2007 and 2008, mostly due to higher corn and other crops price. Current numbers for the U.S. say how herbicides account for about 70% of all agricultural pesticide use.

While the use of herbicides still looks to be the big problem in U.S. agriculture the use of insecticides has decreased by 64 million pounds since 1996. If you wonder why Americans use fewer insecticides now then they used to the answer lies in the genetically modified crops that is resistant to insect attacks.

Given all of this you have to wonder what exactly do we eat each day. I mean crops are being heavy sprayed by herbicides that do not harm them since they are herbicide-resistant but are our organisms herbicides resistant too, and what health effects can such food have in people?

Weeds are tougher and tougher to kill, farmers want higher crops, and in the end this results in excessive herbicide use that creates not only pollution problem for our environment but also has negative effect on human health since this food full of herbicides is served as food on our tables. Herbicides are not only highly toxic there is also the concern of their possible carcinogenicity but this sadly isn't enough to stop the growth in their use.

Science surely has to come up with the better way to control weeds than the excessive use of herbicides.

Weeds destroyed by herbicides.

Dust - Major factor in indoor pollution

If you thought that pollution is only happening outdoor then you were dead wrong because indoor pollution problem is becoming bigger and bigger. This has plenty to do with our way of life, that is responsible for introduction of different pollutants that pollute our homes and offices making them unhealthy places to be in.

Many people do not pay the necessary attention to indoor pollution problem like they are forgetting that we all spend most of our lives in our offices and our homes. Therefore it is of vital importance to protect our homes and offices  from indoor pollution because indoor pollution can not only cause allergies but even some other more serious diseases. In order to control pollution in your homes and offices you need to know the major pollutants that are causing it.

The most common of all pollutants is dust. Sometimes you have the feeling like dust is everywhere and how it is literally impossible to get rid of it because it requires daily cleaning (sometimes even couple of times per day). Maybe you'll be more happy when cleaning dust if knowing that dust can lead to acute breathing problems. So make sure not just to clean your homes and offices but also to ventilate it regularly. You should also try to locate the major sources of dust that come to your interior and do what it takes to eliminate them, if possible of course. When cleaning try not to use some toxic products or air fresheners, fresh air from your window is more than enough in most cases to freshen the room you're in.

The dust looks to be everywhere as it loves carpets, curtains, bedding, soft toys furniture, and with just a little of warm moisture in the air dust can become major issue. Daily cleaning and daily ventilation are probably two best allies against dust, so don't be lazy to protect your interior from this annoying pest. After all, we are talking about your health.

Environmental pollution - Definition and meaning

The most appropriate definition of environmental pollution would be the introduction of different harmful pollutants into certain environment that make this environment unhealthy to live in. The most common pollutants are usually chemicals, garbage, and waste water. Environmental pollution is happening in many parts of the world, especially in form of air and water pollution. The best example for air pollution are some of China's cities, including capital Beijing, and the best example for water pollution is India with its Ganges river pollution problem.

Globally speaking environmental pollution problem is much bigger than we think it is, even in many our cities there are problems with dirty air, or sound pollution from traffic and different other disturbing noises. The most severe environmental pollution is happening in developing countries of the third world because not only to they lack any form of sustainable management but they also lack even the basic sanitation so you can imagine how bad is the environmental condition in these countries.

Pollution of the environment is causing great damage to ecosystem that depend upon the health of this environment. Air and water pollution can cause death of many organisms in given ecosystem, including humans. Water pollution according to some estimates cause 14.000 deaths each day in the world, most of them in India. This is really no surprise when you look at the data that says that 700 million Indians do not even have access to a proper toilet, whether alone clean water.

Many developed countries have introduced certain laws to not only regulate various types of pollution but also the laws to mitigate the adverse effects of pollution. Pollution levels need to be controlled all the time if we want to keep our environment safe and healthy. Without proper pollution control environment soon becomes unhealthy. Preventing introduction of pollutants into some environment is the best way to protect environment from pollution. To do so it is important to develop ecological conscience of nearby communities, and effective waste management in form of recycling.

Healthy environment is prerequisite of healthy life for us and our children, and fighting pollution is definitely the best way to keep our environmental healthy.

How does air pollution affect our environment?

Air pollution presents big environmental threat in many parts of the world. Air pollution includes variety of different harmful chemicals and gases released from our vehicles and our industrial facilities that make our air dirty. Vehicles are the biggest source of air pollution, and in some Asian states like India and China life in some cities is almost unbearable because of tremendous air pollution resulting from cars.

Air pollution has extremely negative effect on our environment, and the most obvious negative effect is the negative effect it has on our health. According to World Health Organization 2.4 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air pollution, mostly from different respiratory diseases, but it can also lead to heart problems (heart strokes).

Air pollution also has negative impact on climate change, harmful emissions are not only polluting air we breathe but are also giving greenhouse effect much more impact, therefore increasing average temperature on our planet. More vehicles and more industries that are the main source of air pollution on this planet also means more impact to global warming problem.

Globally, vehicles are the main source of air pollution.

Negative environmental effect on climate change is not everything air pollution is capable to do, it also has negative impact on ozone layer, especially some damaging chemicals that shrink our ozone layer, making it thinner, therefore opening the door for harmful ultraviolet rays, and increased risk of developing skin cancer.

Acid rains are yet another negative example that air pollution has on our environment. Acid rains destroy habitats of many animals, pollute water by affecting their acidity, and in general do great damage to many ecosystems.

Now that we know these negative effects of air pollution the question is what can we do to reduce it, and make our planet healthier place to be, and our air clean to breathe. First of all we should start using much less our cars than we used them now, or if we are really dependable upon them we should buy hybrid cars that release significantly less polluting particles compared to traditional cars. Second we should make our industries more green, and green in this case means using renewable energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal energy instead of highly polluting fossil fuels like coal and oil.

If we continue this current trend the number of harmful emissions from vehicles and industry will only increase in years to come, and air pollution problem will continue to grow. We can only hope that world will soon see that current environmental state of air planet is more than worrying and that we must do something to prevent seeing the worse of it. Fighting air pollution is definitely one of the best ways to help our environment.