Dr Rajiv Desai

THE ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

January 23, 2010 by Dr Rajiv Desai

THE ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION:
The universe has billions of galaxies and every galaxy has billions of stars and the SUN is also a star and our Earth is one of the planets of the sun.Only the earth in the solar system has life because of water,oxygen rich atmosphere and suitable temperature.Atmosphere has many gases including nitrogen-N(78%);oxygen-O2(21%);carbon dioxide-CO2(0.03%)etc..
The sun-energy is trapped by the photosynthesis in plants.
Plants——-Co2+water+sun-energy=O2+sugar
Animals——O2+sugar=CO2+water+energy….
ENVIRONMENT is defined as the sum total of all external factors,both living and non-living; to which an organism is exposed and which affects the growth,development and survival of the organism.
Living factors to the human being are viruses,bacteria,plants,animals,fellow humans etc.
Non-living factors are air,water,soil,sound,temperature,light,etc.
Pollution is defined as undesirable changes in the natural environment brought by the human beings which adversely affects the living organisms.
Pollutions are of many types including air pollution,water pollution,soil pollution,thermal pollution,radioactive pollution,noise pollution etc.
Climate change is defined as the long-term change in the average weather of the earth over the period of decades which could be due to natural causes or man-made-causes.
Natural causes are continental drift,volcanoes,earth’s tilt,ocean currents etc.
Man-made-causes are industrial revolution,deforestation,population explosion,use of fossil-fuel(coal/oil/natural gas)etc.. which causes global warming.
The sun emits energy in the form of electromagnetic waves to the earth, of which 30% is reflected by the atmosphere and remaining 70% reaches earth which warms the earth.If this process is allowed unabated,the earth will become very hot which is unsuitable to life.So the earth emits heat in the form of infra-red rays to the space.If this process is allowed unabated,then,the earth will cool down to temp -18 degree celsius which is unsuitable to life.However,there is a Green-House effect in which atmospheric gases absorbs the earth’s heat and re-emit back the heat in the form of infra-red rays to the earth’s surface.This leads to the equilibrium of heat between the atmosphere and the surface of the earth maintaining the earth’s surface temperature at about 15 degree celsius due to which the life sustains.
The atmospheric gases which are involved in green-house effect are known as green-house-gases(GHG)which are water vapour,CO2,methane,NO,CHC etc.Water vapour contributes 70% green-house effect,CO2 25%,the rest 5% only.The GHG are 1% of atmosphere and make a warm blanket around the earth.This GHG are increased due to industrial revolution which causes global warming.
Global warming is defined as an increase in the average temperature of the earth’s surface by 0.7 degree celsius in the 20’th century and is expected to rise by 2 degree celsius by the end of the 21’st century.
Global warming causes the sea-level to rise,melting of ice-glaciers,modified rainfall etc which leads to floods,famines,tornadoes,heat waves,incresaed vector born diseases like malaria,dengue etc etc..
AIR POLLUTION :
Air pollution is defined as an introduction of harmful substances in the air(atmosphere)by human beings which adversely affects the living organisms.Major air pollutants are NO,SO2,CO,CO2,methane,CFC,ammonia,particulate matter,etc etc.
These pollutants come from coal power plants,automobile combustion emissions,factories,etc.
Acid rain is caused by deposition of nitric/sulfuric acid on the earth due to release of NO/SO2 from factories/automobiles which reacts with water in the atmosphere to form acid.
Ozone(O3) is a gas which has good and bad effects.When O3 is produced on earth surface due to automobile emissions,it is a major component of SMOG which harms us.However,the same O3 is found 10-15 km above earth surface in the atmosphere where it blocks the UV rays from the sun.This O3 layer is destroyed by CFC which leads to UV ray exposure which causes skin cancer,cataract etc.
Pollution statistics:CO2 produced in million tons per year
America-2795(22%)(12 tons per capita per year)
China—2680(18%)(2 ton per capita per year)
India–593(5%)(0.5 ton per capita per year)
America produces 22% of CO2 with 5% world population.
CO2 production is directly proportional to GDP.
There is a difference between survival emission and luxury emissions.India and China’s CO2 emissions are survival emissions while America’s CO2 emissions are luxury emissions.In the year 1997 at the Kyoto-climate- change-summit;it was agreed to reduce GHG by 5.2% by the year 2012.
75% of the energy produced by the world comes from fossil-fuel burning namely coal,oil,natural gas etc all of which produces CO2.About 30 billion tons of CO2 produced every year in the world which is 30% more than the year 1800.
Health damage due to air pollution:
In the year 1952,there was a great smog in london which killed 4000 people.In the year 1984,there was a gas leak from union carbide in the city of Bhopal in India which killed 2800 people.Air pollution leads to Asthma,chronic lung diseases,heart diseases,cancer etc.
3 million people die every year due to air pollution.
Global warming will affect 375 million people every year from the year 2015.
Water pollution:means contamination of water sources like river,well,ponds etc by harmful pollutants.Water pollution along with poor sanitation leads to infectious diseases like typhoid,jaundice,cholera.gastro,worm infestations etc.Water pollution kills 14000 people every day in the world.
Radioactive pollution is exposure to alfa/beta particles/gamma rays from radioactive substances/waste from nuclear power plants,uranium mining,manufacture of nuclear weapons,nuclear tests,improper disposal of radioactive wastes etc.It can cause cancer,birth defects etc.
Noise pollution is from aircrafts,automobiles,factories,parties,religious celebrations etc can cause mental fatigue,deafness etc.
Out of 6.5 billion people in the world,50 % people have poor sanitation with air pollution and 1.2 billion people donot have clean drinking water.
What should common people do to save the environment:
1)plant trees
2)save electricity
3)reduce use of car/scooter
4)use recycled paper
5)use ozone friendly products
Bio-sceptic are the minority scientists who believe that there is no global warming and bio-fuels like alcohol are worse than fossil-fuel gasoline.
I am with the majority.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY:
1) 40 percent of all deaths world-wide every year are due to environmental pollution.
2) United states is the biggest contributor to the pollution.
3)Clean energy like hydro power,wind power,solar power and nuclear power need to be harnassed more in future to save environment.
Dr.Rajiv Desai.MD.